I averted my gaze to the ceiling with my hands behind my head. The plush floor wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d thought it would be, but the chill after the sunset made it feel like we were a few degrees from seeing our own breath.
She swam in the Bartram Manor pajamas they’d provided us, whereas I’d only been able to fit into the pants, and wearing my sweaty button-down wasn’t at the top of my list of comfortable ways to sleep. I was past goosebumps at this point, but no one had told that to my nipples. Thank god it was dark in there. The dim light from the bathroom area was the only light we had.
She dragged the plush blanket down the bed. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor.”
“We had a deal.” My teeth chattered through my words. Once the sun disappeared below the horizon the temperature plummeted.
“That was before we knew we’d be sleeping in a meat locker.” She shivered and jumped into the bed, pulling the thick, probably insanely warm blanket up to her chin.
“I’m good down here.” I pulled the robe half covering my body up higher, which left my feet completely uncovered.
“Your chattering teeth are going to keep me up all night, plus the guilt would give me nightmares.”
A night on the soft and fucking freezing floor, or getting into a big warm bed, even if it’s beside Zara, who wouldn’t think twice about a punch to the sternum over an accidental brush. I’d take my chances on the one that didn’t involve a frostbitten penis.
I slipped into the bed, holding back my moan at the warmth radiating from under the blankets. “Does this mean I’m forgiven or do I need to watch my back?”
“You mean for when you splatted an entire paint-filled balloon over my head?”
“It was part of the game. If you didn’t want to get covered, then you shouldn’t have come in there.”
Her head dropped to the side and even though I couldn’t see her eyes, I knew the daggers were being sharpened.
“Sorry.”
“At least everyone loved the event. Kathleen came up to me on my way to the tent and told me she loved how playful we are.” Her snort-huff mixed with the cricket sounds from the other side of our yurt.
“I’ll have to keep a paint balloon in my back pocket from now on.” A pillow whack came from her side of the bed with no warning. “Good thing those are soft.” I pulled a feather out of my mouth.
She dragged the pillow back to her side of the bed and shoved it under her head. “Off the bed.”
“Too late now, you invited me. I’m a mattress vampire.”
“If I’d known the pillows were so soft, I wouldn’t have.”
“You only invited me up here to beat me up.”
“Beat you up? What are you, thirteen?”
“I imagine you sprung from the ground as a fully formed twenty-something, complete with tablet and heels. What would you know about thirteen-year-olds?”
“If only growing up were that easy. And my little brother is thirteen—well—fourteen now.” The smile in her voice shone through the dim light inside our tent.
“Does he live nearby?”
“No, he’s at boarding school in Illinois.”
Boarding school. Wow, she came from one of those families.
“Is it the same school you went to?”
“No. Not even close. He’s there on a scholarship—well, he was. They changed his financial aid package.” Frustration leaked from her words.
So, not one of those families at all.
“It’s hitting your parents hard?”
She let out a humorless laugh. “If they crawled out of their bottles they might realize he’s gone before he graduates.”
Silence reigned between us. Sadness and anger brewed in each second.
“That sucks. Do they live around here?”
Even more silence. Maybe I’d pushed her into territory she didn’t feel like going over with the guy who’d clobbered her with a paint bath earlier today.
My eyes adjusted to the darkness. With her lips parted, a finger-traceable outline of her face was backlit against the low light on the other side of the tent. Beside her in bed, there was a tug deep down, tapping into something I’d never felt before. She was already out cold. Dark spots speckled her hairline against her skin.
Flipping on my side, I shoved my arms under my pillow to keep from dragging her close against my chest.
“Night, Zara.”
18
Zara
Had it warmed up outside? I could feel my toes again. The warm cocoon of the bed was the most comfortable I’d been in a long time. The pillow top mattress conformed to my body. Opening my eyes meant another day of work, and I wanted to stay here all nice and snuggly. Only, my pillow wasn’t exactly a pillow. It was too hard to be a pillow. Firm, but warm.
And also breathing.
My eyes shot wide open as my senses returned and the steady heartbeat under my ear clued me into exactly where I’d been resting my head.
Leo’s eyes opened at the same time. We both yelped and shot to opposite sides of the bed. I caught myself with the blanket, nearly dragging it off the bed, completely uncovering Leo.
He shouted and sat straight up, hunching over, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t seen his little morning surprise. Only, there was nothing little about it. The flames fanned my cheeks, down my neck, and my back probably looked like I’d been out sunbathing all day in the middle of July.
I averted my eyes and wiped the lovely morning drool from the side of my face.
With a half turn, he grabbed the blanket and rubbed at his chest, sending the heat even higher. Was it coming out of my eyes yet?
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
The beats of silence ratcheted up the awkwardness by a factor of ten.
Clearing his throat, Leo swung his legs over the side of the bed and mumbled a good morning and something about an unexpected shower.
“Morning.” Mine came out way too chipper and fake.
“What time is it?” He rubbed his eyes and tried to push down his bedhead.
The glow of my phone broke through any sleeplessness I might’ve been fighting.
We whipped around at the same time, screaming, “We’re late!”
Leo jumped up and rushed to the flap masquerading as a door.
“Get dressed,” I hissed. Not that his body wouldn’t be a distraction for Kathleen—hell for any woman, with those smooth planes and hard lines.
Focus, Zara. I searched for the clothes that I’d shoved in a laundry bag last night. They’d be crusty and paint-covered, but I didn’t have a choice.
“Here.” Leo shoved a hanger with a plastic laundry bag over it at me.
Holding it up, I looked back to him. “What the hell’s in here?”
“Your clothes from yesterday. I had them laundered. They were hanging outside our tent.”
“You sent them out.” He’d gone out of his way to do me a favor. Was that a flutter in my stomach?
“It was either that or have you show up with in the yurt pajamas. We have to make a good impression on Kathleen, and reminding her that I sucker slapped you in the face with a giant balloon isn’t a good look.”
A good look. Right, he didn’t want to look like the bad guy.