Page 115 of Mud, Love, and Chemistry

“You’re welcome. There’s coffee, too.”

I groan as my stomach turns. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet. Maybe the rest of the water first.” I set down the half-eaten toast. “Sam, what happened last night?”

His mouth ticks up on one side. “You don’t remember?”

“The details are kind of fuzzy after we got here.”

“Ah, then allow me to fill in the missing pieces.” He clears his throat. “You insisted that I bring you here, and who am I to turn down a beautiful woman’s request?”

“Did we actually make out the whole ride home?”

He nods. “And the Uber driver wasn’t too pleased.”

“Ugh.” I drop my face in my hands. “Then what happened?”

“Well...” He rubs the back of his neck. “We sort of threw ourselves at each other, but you got real woozy, so I put you in bed.”

I lift my head, arching an eyebrow. “Is that how I got these?” I pinch the t-shirt fabric between my fingers. “Did you dress me?”

“Mhm. And let me tell you, getting you out of that dress and into those clothes was no easy feat.”

“So, we didn’t have sex?”

He shakes his head. “By the time I got you into those sweats, I was so tired, all I wanted to do was sleep. I mean, I laid here for a while to make sure you weren’t going to stop breathing, or puke, or anything, but eventually, I fell asleep.”

Appreciation blooms in my chest, radiating warmth through me.

“I didn’t let go of you until I woke up this morning, and the only reason I got up was because I had to piss.”

The warmth intensifies, no longer comforting but stifling instead. “Wait, we cuddled all night?”

“Well, yeah, basically.”

“Dammit, Sam.” I flop my head back to hit the wall, groaning in agony from the collision.

“What?”

“We should have had sex,” I say authoritatively as I rub the back of my head.

His brow furrows to the point of his eyebrows touching. “Are you mad that I didn’t fuck you while you were unconscious?”

“No, of course not. But I…” Squeezing my eyes shut, I cringe at what I’m about to say. “I wanted to get out of the friend-zone.”

“The what?”

With a heavy sigh, I open my eyes to see even more confusion on his face. “After my cinnamon incident, you labeled us as friends, and it made me question my recent decisions.”

“You mean calling off our arrangement?” He waits for me to nod before his lips quirk up. “Brynn, if you wanted to have sex, all you had to do was ask. I don’t care what we label each other, I will always be up for naked time with you.”

I perk up, my shoulders relaxing and my chest loosening. “Really?”

“Really. Just because we’re not enemies anymore doesn’t mean we can’t still hook up. It’s just sex.”

The lightness in my chest disappears, a weight settling in. Clearing the hurdle of being friends with benefits was one thing. Now, we have the issue of keeping feelings out of the picture. “We’re not supposed to cuddle,” I say quietly.

“Brynn, I didn’t really have a choice. You weren’t exactly awake.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to hold me all night, or dress me, or make me fucking toast.”

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