“Em, we already talked about this,” I mutter. “I’m not letting you sleep out here. End of story.”
“It’s messing up your neck. I saw you wince a dozen times tonight.”
“I’m not letting you sleep out here.”
“Fine! We’llbothsleep in your bed. God knows it’s big enough.”
Her suggestion feels all kinds of wrong in ways my brain is too tired to fully articulate. She’s right about it being plenty big, though. I have a California King-sized mattress because at six foot four, I need all the length in a mattress that I can get. But the width is more than enough. Wecouldboth easily fit in one bed. It’s the obvious solution, and yet I still feel this huge wave of resistance toward it. Spending the night with those curves of hers next to me…I don’t know, man. Seems like a bad idea.
“I snore,” I warn her.
“I know. I heard you last night through the walls.” Emily bites back a smile before her face goes serious again. “Look, just please come sleep in your own bed. I feel bad enough crashing at your place. Don’t make me feel guilty for messing up your neck, too.”
I’m too tired to argue further. I grab my pillow off the couch and carry it into my bedroom. I turn on the lamp on the nearest side of the bed for Emily and then go around and get in the other side.
My eyes are already heavy with exhaustion as my head hits the pillow, my aching muscles grateful for the return to the familiarity of my mattress. I close my eyes, only faintly aware ofthe sound of Emily going into the bathroom and getting ready for the night.
A few minutes later, I feel the mattress shift as she slides in beside me. I get a faint wisp of her perfume.Great, I think hazily.Wonder how many washes it’s going to take to get that out of my sheets.
“Goodnight, Rock,” she says quietly, clicking off the light.
“Night,” I say drowsily, already falling asleep.
5
EMILY
The gentle warmth of the sun kisses my cheek as I drift awake the next morning.God, that feels nice. My lips lift into a sleepy smile and I exhale a relaxed, comfortable sigh. The pillow is soft against my other cheek, and I can hear a few birds twittering outside the window.
My sleep shirt has ridden up a little during the night, but I’m in too comfortable of a position to fix it yet. My whole body feels so relaxed. I don’t want to move an inch. I nuzzle closer against the warm body next to me, sighing happily at how perfect this morning is…
…wait.Wait. With a quick inhale, I open my eyes and realize that I’m curled up against my best friend.In his bed.Immediately I pull away from him, my heart suddenly beating overtime.
In a panic, my eyes fly up to Rock’s face.
Thank god he’s still asleep.
I shift further away from him, putting space between us in the bed, and fix my sleep shirt, pulling it down over my exposed belly. I’m so relieved he wasn’t the first one to wake up. Imaginehow awkward that would have been, him waking to find me pressed up against him like that.
Rock shifts beside me. He remains asleep, but when he moves, his legs pull the sheets tighter across his lower half, and my eyes catch the outline of his…uh, equipment.
Jesus. Is hehard?
I remind myself that guys get hard in the morning. It’s just a thing that happens. I’m sure whatever’s going on in his boxers doesn’t have anything to do with me.
At least it better not.
My phone starts ringing on the nightstand, making me jolt at the sound. I snatch it and quickly slide out from the sheets. Glad to see my landlord’s name pop up on my screen, I press the phone to my ear as I pad out of Rock’s bedroom.
“Hi, Jerry,” I say.
“Hello, Emily.” He clears his throat. “Just wanted to give you an update on your apartment. I was able to get someone in there this morning to take a look. Best case scenario, he said he should be able to have everything fixed in two weeks.”
My heart drops, but I remind myself that it will be over before I know it. “Okay. Thank you for the update.”
“Of course.”
“Again, let me know if there’s anything I can do to speed along the process,” I say, even though I know there isn’t.
