Page 119 of Off The Ice

But she’ll be gone soon if I don’t figure out a way to keep her.

The thought had been haunting me. How did I get her to stay? To want to be here with me? I knew everything with Dave was fresh, but if I didn’t push her, and if we kept the whole thing in the roommate category… would that help my chances of keeping her here?

I had to figure it out fast before she hit me with more of those apartment listings that felt like I was being served fucking divorce papers.

Wearily, I opened my bedroom door, restraining myself from going upstairs to peek in and make sure she was sleeping okay.

The second the door opened, my heart stopped.

The bed wasn’t empty. A small figure was curled up beneath the comforter, only visible by a bump in the dim light.

For a minute, I wondered if someone had broken into the apartment to sleep in my bed. It was out there but not unheard of. I heard it happened to Taylor Swift once.

But then, the figure shifted, and it was Cassie who blinked back at me in the darkness.

“Liam?” She sat up abruptly, panic evident in the tense set of her shoulders. “I didn’t know you were coming back tonight.”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling.

She was in my bed. Cassie was sleeping inmybed.

“Got an early flight,” I said, moving closer to the bed to get a better look at her.

I didn’t need the lights on to know how deeply she was blushing.

“I’msosorry, Liam,” she said, hiding her face in her hands. “This is so humiliating. I thought you were coming home tomorrow. Not that it’s an excuse for sneaking into your bed like a creep, but—”

“Shhh,” I told her, reaching a hand out to gently push her back down into bed, “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here.”

More than fucking glad.

“No, it’s not. I should leave,” she said but remained exactly where she was.

“Are you comfortable?”

She nodded hesitantly. “But now that you’re back, you’ll be wanting your bed back, of course—”

Had she been in here every night?

“So, I should go.”

“Don’t,” I said, falling onto the bed beside her. “I want you to stay.”

“You want me to stay?” she repeated incomprehensibly.

I nodded. “I really do.”

Cautiously, she settled back under the covers.

“Are you sure?” she asked, peering over at me.

There was a huge gap in the space between us, but I could still feel the warmth radiating off her. Or maybe it was just my body about to light itself on fire from the pure joy of finding her here.

“Hey, Cass?” I said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah?” she breathed.

“I missed you.”

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