Page 67 of Brick Wall
He puts his pen on my coffee table and moves closer to me on the couch where there’s barely any space between us.
“Friend?” He rubs his giant hand over my neck and then teases my hair with his right one. “I hope I’m more than a friend,” he says in a deep, gravelly voice that does something to me.
His left hand trails over my body, exploring all over, makingmy concentration crap.
“I’ll be anything you like,” I utter in a strain. I’m jelly now. I’ll do whatever he says. His hand dips lower, and I want to set up camp in his big, spacious body.
“Girlfriend?” he questions, and I sit up straight, looking him directly in the eyes. All I see in them is hope.
“I would love that,” I sincerely state.
He leans forward and captures my lips into a long kiss.
“Okay, girlfriend, we’ve both worked hard today. Now it’s time to play,” he says while placing my laptop and papers aside.
“Sounds perfect, boyfriend.”
Chapter Thirty
Sebastian
Iroll over, rub my eyes, and see that Annie’s eyes are directly on me. She’s sitting up in bed beside me, gaping at me.
“Uh, everything all right?” I groggily say. I just woke up, and my voice is still scratchy.
“Uh, no.” Her voice is too loud for the middle of the night.
I sit up straight and turn on the bedside lamp. I’m awake now.
“What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? Oh, nothing. You just scared the crap out of me!” Her voice is a pitch higher than it usually is.
“Me? I was sleeping.”
“Uh, no. You were sleeping, but then you just stopped breathing, and you were gasping for air. I was about to wake you up, but then you caught your breath and started snoring thirty seconds later.”
“Oh,” I respond.
“Oh? You barely had enough air, and all you say is, ‘Oh?’” She makes question marks in the air with the last word in her sentence and flails her arms afterward.
“Oh, well, maybe I should go to the doctor?” I reframe my words to the words I think she wants me to say. I have no idea what to say here.
“Yes, get that checked out, please.”
“Okay.”
Now that my eyes have fully adjusted to the light and I’m entirely awake, I look at Annie. Her brown hair is cutely tousled, and she is wearing one of my shirts that I previously let her borrow but I know I will never get back.
She has a worry line across her forehead, and her arms are crossed over her chest.
“Are you shaking?”
“A little. You had me very worried,” Annie admits.
“Hey, come here.” I take her and wrap her in a big hug. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll find out what’s going on, okay?” I try to reassure her. Her body relaxes in my arms, and her shaking subsides.
“Did you know you do that?” she questions.
