Page 34 of The Exception

He shoved his hands in his jean pockets and leaned back on his heels. “Aren’t you here shopping for yourself? I don’t want to take up your time.”

“I am, but I have time.”

“Well, I can help you after.”

She chuckled. “Um, no thanks.”

He clutched his chest dramatically. “Wow. Missile landed.”

Her cheeks burned. She didn’t mean for that to come off as rude as it sounded, but seriously, no. She was content with baby steps, and letting Trav pick out her furniture was more like a giant leap off of a cliff. Besides, she’d told Emma no because she really did want to channel whatever it was inside her that was clawing at her own routines. She didn’t want anyone else’s fingerprints on this project. This was Sonya.

“It’s just that I’m not sure I have everything I need,” she half-lied. “I was just going to look.”

“Everything you need like money?”

“No. Of course not. I wouldn’t be here at all if my finances didn’t allow for—” He was chuckling now. This time she let the eye-roll free. “What, Trav?”

“You’re cute when you’re defending adulting.” His eyes went wide, and she felt her cheeks burn. “Sorry. That was inappropriate, right?”

Maybe so, but she sure did like it. “It’s fine. So would you like some help, or not?”

“Single guy who’s been living in barracks for over a decade? Yeah, I think I’ll accept.”

* * *

Trav crossed his legs and laced his fingers behind his head. “This one feels good,” he said. They’d all felt good in his opinion, but just like the three before this, Sonya had a litany of tests to perform.

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at him stretched out on the mattress. “Roll over on your side,” she said.

He took the order and tucked an elbow under his head, bringing his knees closer to his chest.

She still looked unconvinced. “Is that how you sleep? All… compact?”

He chuckled. “Couldn’t fit a California King in my tent, so yeah. It became a habit.”

“Today’s about breaking habits.” She tapped the back of his knee, and he stretched out his legs. Then she walked around to the other side of the bed, still inspecting. “Are you a side sleeper? Even when you’ve got the room?”

He thought about that and honestly couldn’t remember. It had been a long time since he had the room, and if it happened to be a night that involved someone else’s bed, he didn’t spend enough of it sleeping to have a preference. Not that he had any recent memories there either. Okay, this was getting sad.

Testing it out, he completed the revolution, landing on his belly. His chin instinctively tucked into his shoulder and he breathed out a sigh. Probably testing mattresses would have been a better idea early in the morning when he wasn’t bone tired from class.

“I think I really like this one,” he slurred, sounding half drunk. His eyes slipped closed and despite the fluorescent lighting and ambient sound, his body demanded rest.

Until a soft dip in the mattress beside him had him popping one lid back open. Sonya climbed toward him on her hands and knees, and his brain was far too weary to fight all of the images that came with that.

He swallowed hard, his body stick straight as she settled beside him.

“I’m a back sleeper,” she said. She settled her head onto the pillow, casually draping her braids over her shoulder in a move that looked well-practiced. “It’s important to figure out what you like because mattresses are made to accommodate different positions.”

What did she just say?If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that was intentionally sexual. But he did know better, and the realization that she was dead serious about mattress facts, to the point of missing blatant innuendo, made him grin from ear to ear.

Goddamn she was cute. And sexy as hell in her jeans and t-shirt, lying peacefully with her palms up on the mattress beside her. Beside him.

She rolled to her side until they were face to face, and she smiled at him for a good thirty seconds before speaking. “This is a place I’d like to spend some time.”

His breath caught in his throat and he had to talk himself down.

She doesn’t mean with you, asshole.

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