Page 59 of Closer than Ever

Hayley quickly massaged some cream onto her hands and face, hopping from one foot to the other.

Anna had forgot about that. “Can you pass me my moisturiser, please?”

“Sure.” Hayley handed it to her.

Anna sat up to use it then put it on a shelf by the bed.

Hayley came to bed. Anna was by the wall. They’d been switching sides randomly so far, depending on who was last to bed. Staking claim on preferred sides felt a bit weird, somehow. It was too much like a couple, and they obviously weren’t that.

Hayley got into her sleeping bag. “It’s freezing.” She zipped it up around her and lay down, pulling the duvet and blanket over her and spreading the other half onto Anna.

“I know. Thanks.”

Hayley switched off the light, putting them in complete darkness.

Anna couldn’t get warm.

“I didn’t realise it would be this cold,” Hayley said. “I’m not warming up and this damned coffin bag is no use.”

“You don’t like your sleeping bag?”

“It’s too small. It boxes me in. I like to stretch out when I’m sleeping.”

Of course she did. “You never mentioned.”

“I was trying to put up with it. I’m in my travel era.”

Anna laughed, gently. “I see.”

“What?” Hayley turned towards her.

Anna could feel her stare. “Nothing.”

Hayley shifted around and fidgeted inside her sleeping bag more dramatically than usual. It made sense now why she kept tutting under her breath when she came to bed every night.

“Are you warming up yet?” Anna asked.

“No.”

“Me neither.” Anna considered getting up and putting more clothes on and perhaps even checking the temperature again.

Hayley cleared her throat. “What if we zipped the sleeping bags together and huddled up? Used each other for heat?”

Anna froze, excited and terrified all at once. Was that a good idea? What if she couldn’t fall asleep because of it? What if she liked it?

“No worries if not,” Hayley spoke softly.

Anna was still unusually tense given that she was in bed, and not just from the cold. Part of her knew it wasn’t a great idea to get so close but another part of her desperately wanted to, and to get warm. “Sure.”

“Oh. I thought you didn’t want to.”

“No, no. I do. It’s cold. We’ll heat each other up.” Anna’s voice sounded out into the darkness. Hopefully her emotion didn’t creep into her voice too much. They used to do this all the time. It had been torture then and it would be torture now.

Hayley was quiet for a few moments. “Okay, great.”

They each unzipped their sleeping bags in the darkness. Hayley switched on the light as Anna found all the zips, lined them up and zipped them together. They bumped into one another three times as they rearranged everything together. Anna’s whole body buzzed with electricity.

Hayley was the first to settle. “Can I big spoon you?”

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