Listen to Me (Fusion 1)

“Yes.” I smile as he pulls back. “I’m okay.”

“Good. Now, I need you to stop snuggling me and let me go. I have to work today.”

I raise a brow and let go of him, but he pulls my arms around him again and sighs, as though he’s frustrated.

“Seriously, Addie, I have to go. God, you’re clingy.”

“You’re not all that, you know.” I chuckle and sit up, then gasp when I see the time. “Holy shit, we slept until almost eleven!”

“You did. I’ve been awake for a while. Did you know that you snore?”

“Damn.” I bury my face in my hands again. “I was hoping I wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s kind of cute, actually. And it means that you slept well. I didn’t mind.”

I drop my hands and stare over at him. “You’re very nice to me.”

“I have moments.” He kisses my cheek and then climbs out of bed, scratches his head, making his hair even messier, then grins down at me. “I’m outta here. Call me if you need me.”

If I need him for what?

“Have a good day.”

“What? No call me if you need me too?”

“What could you possibly need me for?”

His eyes sober and he sighs as he watches me, as though he wants to climb back into this bed and take us for a tumble.

And I’m not so sure I’d turn him down if he did.

“That’s a list we’ll talk about later. Have a good day.”

And with that, he’s gone.

Did that just happen? I drag my hand over the bed, and sure enough, it’s still warm where he was lying.

Deciding to get my ass out of bed, I pad into the bathroom and start the shower and sigh in happiness when the hot water hits my shoulders and back.

Jake is funny. This morning could have been very, very bad.

But instead he made me feel at ease. He made me feel cared for.

He’s good at the morning-after thing.

And then it hits me: he’s good at the morning-after thing.

Which means he’s done it a lot. It’s old hat to him.

Crap.

I hurry through the rest of my shower and reach for my phone. I need some girl time. Mia and Kat are probably still sleeping, so they’re out. Riley would be way too logical.

Cami. She’s sweet, but also logical, and she has to be up by now. So I call her.

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“Hey, I need you to go to the gym with me.” I pull on yoga shorts, jumping in place to get them over my ass, then reach for a sports bra. I kind of did the whole shower-and-gym thing backward, but that’s what happens when you need an emergency heart-to-heart with a best friend and have too much energy to sit still.

“What did I do? Are you mad at me?”

I smile softly. God, I love Cami. “No, silly. I need to talk, and I need to get on the treadmill, so we might as well do both at the same time.”

“I don’t want to.” Her voice is just a little whiny.

“Come on. It’ll be fun. And you’re my person, and I need to talk.”

“You have three other persons, Addie. Riley likes the gym.”

“I want you. I need to talk about Jake.”

“Jake?” That perked her up. “I’ll meet you there in fifteen.”

“YOU KNOW, YOU have a membership to this gym,” I remind Cami as we begin walking side by side on the treadmills. She’s glaring at hers, as though it’s an evil entity.

“I know. And I came here, once.”

“Once?” I chuckle and increase my speed.

“I had these horrible side effects. I got sweaty. I was out of breath. My legs were shaky. I’m pretty sure that all means that this is not good for me. I mean, I couldn’t breathe, Addie.”

“You are a hot mess.” I laugh loudly as I increase the speed to a slow jog.

“Okay, I’m on this machine of destruction. Talk.”

“I spent the night with Jake last night.”

Cami stumbles, almost falling off the back end of the treadmill, then coughs hysterically. The hot guy at the customer service counter watches with concern, his finger hovering over the speed-dial button for 911, I’m sure.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“You had sex with Jake Knox?”

“No.”

She frowns. “Wait. What?”

“He stayed with me last night, but we didn’t have sex.”

“What did you do? Play Parcheesi?”

I relay the story of Jeremy cornering me at my car last night, but leave out the part about Jake saving me from having my first black eye.

That’ll only freak her out, and it didn’t happen. He’s gone. Probably already moved on to the next poor girl.

She can have him.

“I knew I hated that guy.”

“Yeah, I should have listened.”

“So how did you end up with Jake?”

“He followed me home to make sure I was safe.”

“Hello, swoon,” she says with a sigh. “And then?”

“And then he held me most of the night.”

She stares at me for a long minute. “And that’s it?”

“Yep.”

“And you let him hold you? You’re not a snuggler.”

“I know. It felt good.” I shrug and wipe the sweat from my forehead. “I don’t remember the last time I snuggled with someone.”

“That’s because you’re not a snuggler,” she says again. “I’m quite sure you’ve always been anti-snuggle.”