Page 40 of Falling Madly
I cracked the door, and he handed me a toothbrush that was still in its packaging, along with a tube of toothpaste. As I brushed my teeth, I wondered at how normal it felt, being wrapped up in soft, stretchy clothing while cleaning your teeth. My body responded with an overwhelming wave of tiredness.
When I stepped out of the kitchen, I nearly gasped out loud. Trevor had set up a bed with a surprisingly thick-looking camping mattress, a sleeping bag, and a pillow. In my bone-tired state, it looked like a four-poster bed in a Vermont B&B. But there was only one.
“It’s for you,” He quickly announced, stepping away from the makeshift bed.
“Where are you going to sleep?”
“In my own bed, tomorrow.”
“What about tonight?”
“I’ll keep watch.”
“Of what? The heater?”
He shrugged. “Santa coming to haul you to his workshop?” His eyes roamed my body.
I spun around, making the bells jingle. “I should buy more clothes with an auditory aspect. This is fun!”
He sat on the floor, leaning on the wall next to the mattress. “Whenever you feel tired…” He gestured at the bed.
I took a breath, glancing at the pole. I was tired, but he’d freed my legs from their denim prison, and they longed to move.
It was a two-second decision. Three or four seconds of hard thinking would have killed the idea. A little more time to metabolize the wine I’d consumed at dinner might have also done the trick. But Trevor had topped up my glass twice… no, wait. Three times? That’s probably why the lightheaded, impulsive feeling lingered, allowing me to grab the cable pole and pull myself up to the first pose.
“Holy shit!”
He whistled as I swung around the pole and transitioned into the next move, hanging upside down with one leg bent around the pole, then secured my arms around it to do the splits. I’d never done this in elf leggings. I wondered ifanyonehad.
Moments later, I heard music. Trevor was playing ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ byOne Directionon his phone. I smiled but kept dancing, following the routine I’d been practicing for the last couple of weeks.
I felt his eyes on me at every turn, even when I couldn’t see him. The way he looked at me was both unnerving and reassuring. I had good reason to hate him, but Trevor had never looked at me with anything other than devotion. The thought hit me hard as I did my final spin, my striped legs whirling in the air.
I’d been blocking him out, refusing to see it. But it had been there the whole time.
When I slid off the pole and onto the floor, he turned off the music and gave me a standing ovation. “That was incredible! Also hot, but I’m not supposed to find an elf sexy, right? That’d be weird. Like fancying hobbits.”
“Totally,” I agreed.
“But when you do that… Bloody hell! It’s just…”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I mean… You know…”
“Seriously,” I said. “People who don’t finish their sentences drive me mad.”
He grinned his winning grin. “Fine. I’m so hard for an elf right now it’s an absolute disgrace. Despicable!” He slammed a hand over his face, as if mortified.
I laughed, taking a step closer, almost within a touching distance. All this time trapped together in this alternate universe, and he hadn’t tried to kiss me once. Not even at dinner, when we’d both been drinking, sitting in the secluded little corner, discussing sex dreams.
He must have refilled my glass at least three times, because I still felt drunk. And I felt like testing him. “That night at the pool… how well do you remember it?”
He shifted a little closer, sticking his hands into his pockets. “Pretty well. But only because I wrote it down shortly after.”
“You wrote it down?” It was my turn to take a step.
I was close enough to touch now, but kept one hand on the pole, like an anchor.
