Page 55 of Love or Leave

Perfect.

"Ambassador Hotel, right?" the cab driver said, not bothering with a hello.

"Yeah," Antonio said.

The driver pulled away from the curb, and Antonio felt Cara shiver next to him.

"I don't mean to say it, but I'm freezing as in the true sense of the word."

Antonio laughed and rubbed his hand up and down her arm. "Same."

He held her for the whole ten-minute drive, surprised, but also not surprised at all, by how holding her felt like the most natural thing he'd ever done. Having her in his arms was everything. He literally believed they connected somehow, on some cosmic level, and the universe was pushing them closer.

Either way, he allowed himself to enjoy the quiet stolen moment. Some time between the Scrabble game that morningand the drunken stargazing, he'd accepted that fact that she was someone he wanted in his life.

Telling Max about the situation was going to be fucked up. But he had to do it.

Cara snuggled in closer, melting into his side, and he dropped a kiss to her forehead. He held her for the rest of the drive, slightly afraid at the depths his feelings had already gone, until they arrived at the hotel and the cab came to a stop in front of the lobby.

Cara pulled away first and Antonio’s body actually bristled at the loss.

They thanked the driver and took hold of Adam, then made their way into the hotel, down the hall, and up the elevator to their block of rooms on the top floor.

But when they got to the respective rooms, they realized they were in trouble.

Their friends seemed to have drunkenly mixed up all the rooms.

Antonio used Adam's key to put him in his rightful bed, but Chelsea was nowhere to be found. When Cara opened the room she was sharing with Jae, she found all the girls in there. Willow and Natalie had passed out in Cara's bed. Chelsea was in the second bed with Jae. Antonio and Cara hunted around for a minute but couldn't find keys to Ethan’s or Max's room.

Cara tipped her head toward the door and they both stepped out into the hallway.

"I don't have a bed," Cara whispered after the door had swung closed.

Adrenaline shot through Antonio's veins as she looked up at him. He wanted her in his bed more than anything, but he really wanted to do this the right way. Not the “sneaking behind her brother's back” way.

The solution to their problem was so clear. She should stay in his room with him.

He wanted it. She seemed to want it.

But would they actually be able to stay together without anything happening? As much as he agreed with her that the sneaking around was fun, he didn't want to start a relationship with her like that.

God, he wanted her to stay with him but prayed she wouldn't.

"Antonio?" she asked in a whisper.

He took in her eyes. "Mmm?"

Please don't say it. I won't be able to say no.

"Can I stay with you?"

Fuck.

She said it.

He looked back at the door to his room, picturing the one king-sized bed that was in there. "Just to sleep?" he asked.

She held his gaze, then gently shook her head. He was pretty sure he was going to need a fucking defibrillator.

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