His hand shot out to wrap around her wrist.
“No.” He swallowed. “I need—can you?—”
A beat of silence. He felt her pulse underneath his fingers, and something about that sharpened his mind, brought him back to himself for the first time since he’d turned off the truck.
“You want me to stay?”
“If you’re not uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, Dell. I can stay.”
The second he heard the confirmation, he dropped her hand and began undressing. He was sure he’d had better fantasies about getting naked in front of Mae Kellerman, but at the moment, he didn’t really give a shit. He just needed these jeans off his body, and this shirt, and?—
At the last second, he had enough sense of mind to keep his underwear on, even though he didn’t truly want to. He exhaled as he collapsed into bed,finally, back in his fucking bed, where he was never going to leave again.
“Mae?” he said after a second. They’d never actually turned on the lights; it was dark, and felt suddenly too quiet. He didn’t know where she was, what she was doing, and a fraction of panic started to rise in his chest.
“I’m here,” she said. “Just…” A hint of laughter. “Trying to get Crosby out of the way.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled, patting the comforter lower on his thigh in an attempt to encourage the old man to move. “Just push him. ‘snot used to anyone else being in his spot.”
“I get it,” she said. “Sorry, Cros.”
Dell smiled, any bad feelings left in his brain somehow wiped away with his own nickname for the retriever leaving Mae’s mouth.
The bed shifted under her weight as she settled in. Dell was just about to instruct her to move closer when she said, “Dell, can I?—”
And then her voice broke apart into quiet laughter.
“What?” Dell’s mouth curved helplessly into a smile against his pillow at the sound. “What’s so funny?”
“Baby,” she said, and even if she was still laughing, the word caused another lurch of Dell’s stomach, “can I hold you?”
“Yeah,” he answered, a confused frown replacing his smile. “I want you to. But I still don’t get what’s funny.”
Mae’s arm wrapped around his stomach then, the skin of her forearm warm against his own, and he realized he didn’t give a shit about this, either. Understanding the joke. Mae inched closer, her stomach against his back, and even though it wasn’t fully the skin on skin he wanted, as Mae was still wearing a T-shirt, the warmth and pressure of it was enough. It was just fucking right.
“Your song,” she said into his hair.
“Mm,” he said, noncommittal, still confused. His eyes fluttered closed as her knees curled up behind his.
“Tracy Chapman,” she whispered after another second, and memories of the night finally started to peer through the haze. Even if he didn’t want them to.
You’re safe, his mind reminded itself.You’re safe here.
“S’a good song,” he mumbled, as he let the haze take over again.
“You sang it so beautifully, Dell,” Mae said, still whispering, her voice still right there behind his ear, the warmth of her breath tickling the back of his skull, and it was the last thing he remembered before his body finally dropped into sleep.
* * *
A creak of the floorboards woke Dell the next morning.
“Shit,” Mae said, voice low, before she slipped back under the covers. She shivered, yanking the comforter up to her chin. “Didn’t mean to wake you. Had to pee.”
Dell stared at her.
Mae was in his bed.
