Page 64 of Forced Proximity
I was going to deny it until I was forced not to, which was going to come up very quickly later this afternoon.
Until then, I was going to sleep and ignore the world—if they’d let me.
The next time I woke up it was to a very asleep woman passed out on my chest, her legs on either side of one of my own.
Her hair was literally everywhere. I could feel it on my arms, some of it tickling my abs. Other strands along my own head.
Hell, there was even some in my mouth.
I pulled the strands in my mouth out, and when I did, it caused her to stir.
She lifted her face up from my chest and she stared in my eyes blankly for a few long seconds before she said, “You’re awake?”
I nodded. “Are you?”
“No,” she grumbled and laid her head back down.
I barely had it in me to grin, but I did gather some of her hair and try to contain it.
It didn’t work, but I did enjoy threading my fingers through her hair.
“Are you hungover?” she asked.
My lips twitched, even that movement cost me. “Nope. Don’t get drunk very often. It takes a lot.” My voice cracked. “Knight was the lightweight.”
“Knight,” she breathed as she once again looked up at me.
“He was my best friend,” I croaked.
Her face fell. “I’m so sorry.”
I swallowed back tears and said, “Yeah, me, too.”
She slowly started to stroke my side, and her fingers were distracting enough that my brain went into survivor mode and switched directions really fast.
That direction went to the way that she felt lying on top of me. The way her hair felt silky smooth in my fist. The way that her pussy felt against my thigh.
The delicious weight of her body settled on top of mine—now that felt even better.
I’d had plenty of women in my life. I’d even been married to a woman that liked to cuddle.
The difference was, I didn’t like to cuddle. I always felt suffocated. And though I was affectionate, I didn’t like when we slept close to each other. Let alone her on top of me.
The only person that’d been able to break me of my habit had been Tavi, and it’d driven Aurora absolutely nuts.
Honestly, I felt like that’d been the downfall of our relationship.
Her love language was physical touch, and mine had been anything but that.
She couldn’t stand that I could hold Tavi for literal hours, but didn’t and wouldn’t do the same with her.
But with Dru, it felt…right. Like it had with Tavi. Like I could do this for hours and never get tired of it.
Even that was a startling realization.
“I lost my best friend, too,” she admitted a few moments later, her head once again facing toward the window. “She was in the wrong house at the wrong time. She started dating this guy that had a lot of issues and police did a raid on his house. She understandably freaked out, and she was accidentally shot when the man she was dating started shooting back at the officers. A bullet ricocheted off the fridge and lodged in her throat. It didn’t even go that far in, but it went in far enough that it ripped a hole in her carotid artery. She bled out in seconds.”
“Fuck,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”
