“I’m not worried about that,” she said. “I’ll, um…” She gestured to her body, in his clothes. The jeans were baggy, and she was sure with both of them in there, it would be too warm in them anyway.
She slipped them off and he busied himself with climbing into the bag first, shoving his body as far to the side as he could and holding it open for her.
Was there a word that meant both perfect and terrible? It was this moment. Leo in nothing but black boxers. Lily in a T-shirt and his boxers with little slices of pizza all over them. She wiggled down into the bag beside him and the reality of just how close they’d be all night hit them both, as it essentially meant she was sliding across his naked torso. She couldn’t help the laugh that tore from her, and Leo’s eyes were squeezed shut, his lips trapped between his teeth. “Great,” he said, and laughed. “This is fine.”
She tried to work out which would be worse: facing him, or pressing her ass up against him? They both seemed to agree without discussion that facing each other was better; that way, at least they could keep a few inches of space between their hips. While she tucked her arms between them, Leo worked to maneuver his around her. His left arm became her pillow, the other looped around her torso, and then the terrible dissolved and it was… only perfect.
She wondered if he was remembering, too, how this was the way they used to sleep—by choice. How his tendency to roll away to the cool section of sheets was slowly eroded by her sleep-clinging tendencies and he eventually relented and held her in the tight cage of his arms.
Lily let out a jagged breath against his neck. “This is cozy.”
His throat was so close to her lips that she felt the vibration of his voice. “It sure is.”
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, tucking his chin over the top of her head. “I’m good.”
They fell quiet, and in one ear she had the crash and flow of the river, and the other the steady drum of his pulse. Lily expected sleep to take forever, but some bone-deep instinct was tripped, and she felt drugged by his warmth and proximity and safety. She was asleep almost immediately, falling sweetly into blackness, and the tendrils of a dream stroked the edge of her thoughts just as she felt Leo’s lips move against her scalp.
“I love you,” he said in her dream. “I don’t think I ever stopped.”
Chapter Twenty-One
LILY WOKE UP with her face pressed to Leo’s neck. His arms were banded around her, his breath slow and even. Everything inside her felt tense and hungry. His chest was broad and hot, skin so close to her lips it made her mouth water. The smell of him hit her like a lusty hammer, and she pulled her head back slightly, needing air, dizzy with the sudden wave of desire.
But she could pull back only so far; the sleeping bag was tight, and it meant that she could really only move her head. The second she did, she sensed that he wasn’t asleep, either. His chin tilted down, reacting to her movement, his breath warm across her lips. Even in the pitch black, she knew that their mouths were barely an inch apart.
“Are you awake?” she whispered.
His voice, when it rose out of the darkness, was deep and gravelly. “Yeah.”
“What time is it?”
“I’m guessing around midnight.”
“Have you slept at all?”
Lily heard him swallow. “I’m having a hard time.”
“Because of me?” she asked quietly, but he didn’t say anything. “Leo? Because of this?”
“Yeah,” he admitted.
She lifted her head. “Is your arm okay?”
“It’s fine.” He swallowed and attempted a laugh. “The arm isn’t the problem.”
Right. There was no way to miss the way he’d gone hard the second she woke up, so fast, almost like he’d been focusing solely on not doing so. “I’m sorry,” he added.
Was he kidding?
“Don’t be sorry,” she said. “It’s hard to ignore that we’re, like”—she laughed out a breath—“pressed together.” She swallowed back a quiet moan when his hand spread over her lower back.
The way his thumb moved in a steady, sensual circle felt practiced, experienced. It set a jealous warning light glowing in her thoughts.
Darkness gave her bravery. “Do you have a girlfriend?” The thought blackened. “Or wife?”
He went still. “Seriously? Lily. No.”
Instantly, she felt like a jerk. She knew he wasn’t the kind of guy to cheat. “Sorry. That was a stupid question.”