Page 41 of The Kissing Part
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After a dinner of takeout from Happy Endings, a shared bottle of wine, and a lot of talking and laughing, we all settle in for the night.
I stretch out in bed and close my eyes. Olivia is next door to me, Harper and Mackenzie across the hall, and Owen downstairs keeping watch. He gave us space tonight, staying to himself in the kitchen with his laptop. Just knowing he’s here makes me feel better.
I review all the ways I’m safe. The police are close by. I’m living with other people and a man who’s trained and fearless.
It’s not enough.
Anxiety creeps in. How hard would it be to get to me? What if Matt climbed to my window? What if he somehow snuck past a sleeping Owen?
What if Matt has a gun? My heart races. Owen doesn’t carry one. He’d need a permit and a mandatory training class, and since he was just standing in temporarily, he didn’t follow through with that.
I turn on the light on my nightstand, grab my phone, and text Owen.
Me:Can you come upstairs?
Owen:What’s wrong?
Me:I had a nightmare.
A living nightmare, my real life. I scramble out of bed and open the door slowly so it doesn’t creak and alert the others that I have a visitor.
A moment later, he slips inside. He’s in a T-shirt and jogging pants. How bad is it that I was hoping he’d be shirtless? Even in these scary circumstances, I still lust after Owen. There must be something wrong with me.
“You’re safe,” he says, shutting the door behind him and locking it. “I’m sure I scared him enough to stay away for at least a day.”
“Stay with me tonight. At least until I’m asleep. Please.”
He blows out a breath. “This is why I said to stay at the hotel.” He checks the window lock.
“I know, I’m sorry. Please stay.”
He turns and takes in my pajamas. “Are those the same pajamas from nine years ago? That shirt’s been washed so many times it’s as thin as tissue.”
“So? I like it that way.” I run my hands down the thin cotton of my Tweety bird pajama top. “It’s comfortable.”
He gestures toward my chest in a jerky motion. “I can see right through your shirt. You weren’t wearing that downstairs earlier.” He sounds accusatory like I’m wearing it to seduce him.
“Owen, if I wanted to seduce you, I’d have answered the door naked. I’m scared and just want you close.”
I turn and get into bed, holding the covers out to him.
He stares at the bed for a long moment, grumbles something to himself, and joins me.
I turn off the light on my nightstand and cuddle up to him, pressing my face into his chest and throwing an arm around his big heated body. “Mmm, this was exactly what I needed.”
He cups my head with his hand, and I sigh, relaxing into him.
His voice rumbles in his chest. “I remember these pajamas the first night you stayed with us.”
I look up at him. “I remember what you were wearing too. Jogging pants with no shirt. Harper yelled at you to stop showing off your muscles.”
He chuckles. “That was the year I started working out with weights. I was shirtless in front of girls as much as possible.”
His fingers run through my hair, soothing me.
“Owen, I missed this. I missed you.”
