Page 51 of Acting Merry
“Reese,” I shoot back. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sleeping on that mattress, Cole, whether you are or not, so you may as well surrender and take the bed.” Her chin is lifted stubbornly. She’s not about to let this go.
“You can’t sleep on it.”
“Why not?”
I grimace, hesitating for a few seconds. “It has a leak.”
Her eyes widen. “You mean…”
I don’t say anything.
“When you said you’d taken the air out this morning…”
“Technically, I wasn’t lying. I just took the air out by sleeping on it.”
She clenches her eyes shut. “You must have beenmiserable. And after falling on the ice!”
“I’ll survive.”
Our eyes catch. It’s exactly what Reese said just before we kissed.
“You’re not sleeping on the floor, Cole. I forbid it.”
“So bossy,” I tease. “I can sleep on the couch with Brady. There’s probably enough room.”
“Brady snores. Plus, everyone’s still out there watching a movie. The couch won’t be free for a while. Just get in the bed. It’s plenty big, and I promise not to take advantage of you.”
I can’t stop a laugh. “Is that the Reese’s promise?”
She smiles and pushes me over to the bed. “It is. I won’t even touch you.”
I stop and look over my shoulder with a teasing smile. “I thought the Reese’s promise was the seamless combination of peanut butter and chocolate, not the separation of them.”
She shoves me onto the bed. “Tonight’s more like your precious Reese’s Pieces.” She tosses the blanket over me. “You’re protected by a disgusting, impenetrable candy shell.”
I pull the covers over my legs as she goes over to the light switch. “I’d always wondered what it would be like to have someone whisper sweet nothings to me. It’s really nice.”
She smiles, then flips off the light switch. “Don’t get used to it.”
Her footsteps sound on the carpet on her way back tothe bed, and my teasing starts to give way to something different. Nerves, maybe.
She’s so careless about this sleeping-in-the-same-bed thing. I, on the other hand, might need to build a pillow wall to rival the Tower of Babel to keep my hands to myself.
“Who gets Biscuit?” I ask to redirect my thoughts.
“You do,” she says as she climbs into bed.
My eyes are still adjusting, but I don’t need eyes to feel her body settle in next to mine. “It’s your turn.”
“It’s all yours, Cole.”
“She. And I had her last night. It’s only fair that you take her this time.”
She takes the reindeer from my hands. “Instead of subjecting her to this reverse custody battle”—she sticks the stuffed animal between us—“she can keep your virtue intact.”
“What virtue?”
