And what was much, much worse, nothing I wouldn’t love.
* * *
We had been about to start the third consecutive episode of our show—as Lucas had called it—when Netflix decided to shut down our improvised binge party.
ARE YOU STILL WATCHING? My temporary roommate scoffed, reading the message on the screen in front of us. “Of course we’re still watching. They just killed one of the main characters and without that goddamn magical cure they just lost because of some stupid mind game, she’s not coming back to life anytime soon!”
I chuckled, amused by his frustration. “I warned you,” I said from my side of the couch, still finding it hard to believe that he was this invested in the paranormal teen drama. “I told you not to get attached to any of the characters…” I trailed off, needing to muffle a yawn. “Especially not her.”
I glanced over at him and found his eyes on me. “You tired?”
I wanted to say no, but unable to stop it this time, my mouth opened widely of its own accord.
Lucas laughed. “Okay, Bella Durmiente.”
Bella Durmiente.
The words sounded like a spell conjured just for my ears, alluring and distracting, and I knew I probably felt that way about them only because they had come from Lucas. “What does that mean?”
“Sleeping Beauty,” he translated, and before I could even process that, Lucas was stretching in my direction.
One second, he’d been right there, in his corner, sitting at a safe, conservative distance of three feet, and the next, he had closed the distance and his chest was pressed against my side.
The first thing I noticed was how warm he felt. The next thing that hit me was his scent. Salty, soapy, fresh. Undeniably Lucas in a way I couldn’t explain or understand how I’d missed earlier, when he’d squeezed me against him like he hadn’t been able to help himself. But now, it was all I could think of. All I could smell.
“Ehm, Lucas?” I stuttered, trying to hold my breath so I wouldn’t dig my grave a little deeper, because dammit, how could he smell so, so freaking good. “What are you doing?”
He stretched over me, as if he was looking for something somewhere on the other side.
“Lucas?” I repeated, my voice barely there.
He shifted so he could look me in the face, bringing our noses inches apart. “Did you hide it?”
“Hide what?” I thought I asked, but in all honesty, I couldn’t think straight with Lucas’s face so close to mine. Oh God, were those little, tiny freckles on his nose?
I sensed his hand moving around the pillow I was sitting on. “The remote. You’re about to pass out, so I’m putting you to bed, Bella Durmiente.”
His tone was teasing, friendly. And I could see how unintentional and harmless his actions were. Heck, apparently he was just looking for the remote and I happened to be in the way. But all I could think about was him, right there, smelling amazing and so close that if I moved an inch to my left his chin would graze mine and I’d feel the stubble covering his jaw. All I could focus on was him, calling me things in Spanish. Or him being so sweet, that he wanted to put me to bed.
Ugh. I probably was better off finding the remote for him, smacking myself with it, and putting an end to this.
“Ah, here!” I watched him extract the black device from the pillow tucked against my side, holding it in the air as if he had just found the Holy Grail. “Got it.”
“Thank God,” I croaked.
Lucas laughed, and before moving away, he tapped the tip of my nose with his finger. “Next time, hide it better.”
“Trust me, I won’t hide anything around you ever again.” Regaining a decent amount of space between us, I took a deep breath and ordered myself to get a grip. I couldn’t act like this every time Lucas got within a foot radius if we were going to share this apartment.
“Sounds good to me, roomie,” Lucas said, standing up and stretching his arms upward. “You know, I don’t think they’ll find the cure in time. I think they’ll…” His shirt rode up, revealing a strip of tan skin and distracting me from whatever he was saying. And just like that, the two-or three-inch section of flat and hard-looking stomach I’d seen in all its glory that morning sent all my plans to get a grip down the drain.
Cursing myself silently, I closed my eyes.
“Rosie?”
“Yeah?” I answered, eyes still shut.
He waited a few seconds. “Did you… fall asleep while I was talking?”