“Oh!” I jump when an idea occurs to me. “My dad. He’s . . .” I eye Luca when he turns toward me with a hint of annoyance. “He’s sort of your size. You can wear something of his. Hold on. I’ll get it.”
I don’t wait for a response before I run from the room and race down the hallway, where I gather a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a plain white t-shirt from Dad’s dresser. I return to my room to find Luca in my bed, the towel lying in a heap on the floor.
The sheets are pulled up barely to Luca’s waist. He lies on his back, one arm tucked under his head and the other folded across his battered chest. His eyes are closed and his breathing is deep and rhythmic.
I poke him with one finger, but he doesn’t flinch. I quietly place the clothes on the table beside him. Of course, he’s passed out on my side of the bed. I glance at the discarded towel at my feet and gulp.
Before I risk a heat stroke thinking about that, I turn away. I pace the room slowly, careful to avoid the glass on the floor. At some point, I start picking it up—as much as I can find in the dark without cutting myself. Then I arrange the curtains to give me the illusion that the window isn’t busted out. Through it all, I keep a watchful eye on Luca.
Two hours later, he hasn’t moved. The steady sound of his breaths fill the silence in my room, filling me with envy.
I’m exhausted and I want my bed. Even with him in it.
Even if everything I thought impossible is true.
He’s a shifter. He is the silver wolf. My wolf. As difficult as it is for me to accept, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I can’t deny it.
I’m tired enough to not care who, or what, I’m lying beside when I finally slip into my bed. I cling to the edge of the mattress, careful to avoid the middle where there is a chance of some leg-on-leg contact. I scarcely breathe out of fear of waking him.
He doesn’t wake, but for the first time since he took over my bed, Luca moves. His head turns toward me, and he mumbles something I can’t understand. I glance over my shoulder just to make sure his eyes are still closed.
The words are nothing more than incoherent whispers from a sleeping guy. There is no reason for my stomach to flip-flop and my chest to ache. None.
It happens anyway.
Sleep does not come quickly enough.
Chapter 13
“Royal” blares from my phone. I throw my arm out to silence it. Instead of the hardened surface of my nightstand, my hand connects with something a little softer and warmer than I expect. I pry one eye open, then the other. The phone stops making noise as I slowly lift my head to peer over the wall of muscle stretched out beside me.
The phone is where it’s supposed to be. I am not. Luca is in my spot, sleeping on my pillow. Apparently, neither the phone nor my smack is enough to wake a healing wolf shifter.
I slowly reel my hand back and tuck it under my head. My gaze wanders across Luca’s face and shoulders, and I’m surprised to find that he looks . . . okay. Gone are the red marks and deep scratches I saw last night. Nothing but a few light bruises mar his skin now.
I still can’t wrap my head around what happened last night. It had all started off so routine, so normal. Pizza and a book, the promise of a casual coffee date with my best friend in the morning . . .
Vienna!
I bolt up at the same time my phone starts ringing again. I jump out of bed and hurry to the nightstand to snatch it up.
“Hello?” I whisper, darting a glance at Luca when he murmurs. His eyes are still closed.
“Never mind,” Vienna says cheerily. “The door was unlocked. I let myself in. Did you just get up?”
“You’re here?” I squeak.
“Yeah. I’m coming up the stairs now,” she tells me. “It’s just me, so don’t get the bear spray out.”
“Wait!” I grimace when Luca stirs at my outburst. The sheet is dangerously close to slipping below his waist. Lowering my voice, I tell Vienna, “Give me a minute. I’ll be right down.”
I wait for a confirmation from her, but I don’t get it. The line is quiet, and I hear her footsteps on the stairs. She’s still coming.
“Vi?” I glance at the phone screen, only to see that she has already hung up on me.
She is on her way to my room.
Luca snores softly, oblivious to the drama about to go down. Unless I can manage to get rid of him.
I poke his bicep but get no reaction from him. I wrap my hand around his entire shoulder and give him a shake. Then again, harder.
Nothing. There is no waking him, and certainly no moving him. I can’t hide him.
I have to stop Vienna.
I dart into the hallway to intercept her when she reaches the landing.
“You did just get up.” She smirks. “Nice bed head.”
I run a self-conscious hand through my hair, snaring a few knots. “Just give me a few minutes to get ready.”
“No problem.” Vienna shrugs. “I hope Jill isn’t already hogging the bathroom because I have to pee.”
“Wait. I—”
Vienna skirts around my human blockade and waltzes into my room. I spin around with a grimace in anticipation of her reaction.
I get nothing. Not a squeal. Not a scream. Not a damn thing.
My friend must really have to pee because she walks right past a snoring Luca and into the bathroom. She leaves the door cracked so she can update me on everything I missed at the party last night.
“It was pretty boring. You didn’t miss much,” she prattles. “A few people asked where you were . . .”
I shake Luca again, harder. When that doesn’t work, I pull on his arm intending to drag him out of my bed. I tug him maybe an inch before I notice the sheet slipping below his waist. I drop his arm with a gasp and pull the sheet up to his shoulders.
The bathroom door bursts open behind me. “You’ll never guess who asked about you.”
I turn with a resigned shrug, knowing there is nothing left for me to do than to own it. There’s a naked guy in my bed. I know it, and now my best friend knows it.
“Jeremiah—oh.” Vienna’s gaze swings from Luca to me. Her eyes widen. “Oh.”
“Vi, it’s not . . .”
“Is that . . .” She inches closer, squinting at Luca. Then she jabs an accusatory finger at him. “That’s the café hottie!”
I nod. “Yeah, but—”
“You did listen to me.” She hops up and down with a squeal. “Finally!”
“Vi—”
“Are those . . . bruises?” She flashes me a grin. “I didn’t realize you had it in you.”
“That’s not—”
“He’s so hot.” Vienna wraps me up in an enthusiastic hug. “I’m so proud of you.”
I return her embrace with a sigh. “Umm . . . thank you?”
“I totally understand if you have to bail on our coffee date.” She pushes me back to arm’s length and shifts her gaze to Luca. “Trust me. I get it.”
“I should probably wait for him to wake up,” I reason.
“Then have some more fun before breakfast.” Vienna lets go of me and starts toward the door. “Text me later. I expect juicy details.”