When he shifted to get out of bed, my insides ached.
“You don’t have to. I mean, you can stay if you want,” I said, hoping he would.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. I need to pee, though,” he admitted.
Relieved, I released a quick breath.
“You know where the bathroom is. And I think I have an extra toothbrush in the drawer, if you need one.”
“You have extra toothbrushes?” The bed dipped as he rolled out of it.
I glanced up at his muscular frame silhouetted in the dark. “They’re for me, but I’m willing to share with my knight in shining armor.”
He huffed out a laugh as he walked away. “I could live with that title.”
“Figures,” I teased as he flipped on the light.
Nick walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later looking ridiculously hot. He had run water through his hair, leaving it standing in messy spikes. I’d rarely seen him without his baseball hat on, so the wet spikes were utterly adorable.
“Can I take my shirt off, or will that make you uncomfortable?” he asked before flipping off the bathroom light.
Is he serious? “Nothing about you makes me uncomfortable, Nick. You can take it off.”
Without another word, he peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the floor before crawling over me to get on his side. Once he was under the covers, chills raced through me, even though his body heat warmed every inch of my exposed skin.
“Jess.” From behind me, he breathed my name against my neck, his lips near my shoulder.
I realized that if I turned to face him, we’d be practically mouth to mouth, but the way he said my name sounded so earnest, so sincere, I couldn’t resist. When I rolled over to face him, we were so close we shared the same air, and I tried to steady my racing heart. Even in the dark, I could see where he focused his gaze.
“I like you,” he said, his gaze drinking in my lips.
“I like you too.”
That little affirmation was all Nick needed, and he reached for my hip at the same time his mouth brushed against mine.
“Is this okay?” he whispered against my lips.
When I nodded, trying not to tremble, his fingers deepened their grip on my hip as I moaned against him. His body was like fire, it was so hot, and hard in places I never realized that bodies could be hard before. Nick had muscles everywhere, and I liked the way they molded against all the softer parts of me.
I wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling at his hair and deepening our kiss. It was emotional, filled with desire, want, and need. But I wasn’t ready for anything more than kissing, and I knew instinctively that Nick wouldn’t push it.
In that moment, I realized that I trusted him. After everything that had happened tonight, Nick had earned my trust faster and more completely than anyone ever had before.
We held hands as we kissed, linking our fingers as we held on to each other as if we were afraid to let go. When we finally did break apart, I blinked hard, trying to steady my heart. There were no words for kisses like those; they were intimate, conveying a depth of emotion that forged bonds between us.
I was afraid to say anything, not wanting to break the spell, hoping that if anyone broke the silence, it would be Nick. His breathing echoed my own, rapid and shallow.
“Jess?” He said my name softly, giving it an unspoken question that floated between us in the darkness.
“Yeah?” I inhaled deeply, trying to slow the breaths that still came out in quick bursts.
“That was really nice.”
I smiled, so glad he couldn’t see the blush I knew was creeping into my cheeks. “It was something, all right, but I’m not sure I’d call it nice.”