Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

"We'll see," she said.

She dropped down next to him and turned over so her back was to him. As he settled the blankets over her

body he let his arm drape around her waist. Despite her early protestations, she luxuriated in the warmth.

"Now what?" Thomas whispered in her ear, sending pleasant shivers all down her side.

"Now we sleep," she told him firmly, even though her entire body was tingling.

"Sure," he said. "You just wake me when you can't take it anymore."

Ariana said nothing, but she lay there, awake, as Thomas slowly fell asleep, worried that if she moved even

slightly he might think she was coming on to him. Worried that at any second Daniel would open the lockless

door and catch them together. But after watching the digital clock tick from minute to minute for over an

hour, after listening for footfalls in the hallway that never came, she finally let the sound of Thomas's steady

breathing lull her to sleep.

97

THE MORNING AFTER

***Ariana jolted upright, her chest heaving. Ragged, uneven gasps filled the air around her. The familiar

nightmare, cut together like a terrifying collage, had woken her. The empty bottle of wine, the trace of her

own screams, the blinding flash of fluorescent light. And her mother's voice.

You never know what people are capable of until they're pushed to their edge.She shivered and looked

around for something familiar. But there was no picture of her on the desk. No Christmas lights around the

windows. No neat stacks of worn novels piled next to her bed. Just a soccer ball wedged under the desk and a

near-empty bottle of Captain Morgan.

Her breathing slowed as she realized where she was. Releasing Thomas's plaid bedspread from her grip, she

glanced down at him. He slept on his stomach, his head turned toward her. She watched his

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body rise and fall calmly next to her. His mouth was slightly parted, his breathing even. She tried to ignore the

twinge of jealousy she felt. She hadn't slept like that in too long. Not since the nightmares had started, just

over a year ago.

She turned to find her sweater and a hand on her back made her jump. She reminded herself that it was just

Thomas. Just Thomas.

"You seem tense, naughty girl," Thomas yawned behind her. "Luckily, I happen to know a few ways to calm

you down," he added suggestively, pulling her back down. He wrapped his warm arms around her from