“What movie? Gone With the Wind?” he asked with a smirk.
She tugged the shirt down a little further. What the hell, she thought, not like this moment could get any more embarrassing. “No. Dumb and Dumber.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Now that’s more like it. What channel?”
“It’s not on television. I brought it with me,” she said, gesturing with her head to the laptop that was on her bed.
His face fell slightly. “Oh. Damn.”
The words were out of her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying.
“You can come watch for a little while,” she said. “I mean, if you want,” she added softly, looking away from him and tugging her shirt down a little further, surprised that the seams on the shoulders weren’t ripping.
His expression straightened until it was unreadable, and Andie watched his throat bob as he swallowed. “Um…yeah, okay,” he said, “maybe for a few minutes.”
She turned, her fingertips still gripping the hem of Colin’s shirt as she scurried over to the bed, hopping in and quickly pulling the covers up around her waist. She slid the laptop down to the foot of the bed and scooted all the way over to the right, giving him ample space.
He walked over to the bed, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, and Andie kept her eyes on the computer screen as Chase climbed on, staying above the covers. He propped a pillow up against the headboard and leaned back against it, crossing his arms over his chest.
There was enough room between them to fit another person, which eased some of the tension Andie felt in her body since the moment the invitation had slipped from her mouth without permission. She settled back into the pillows just as Harry said to Lloyd, “What’s in the briefcase?”
“Man,” Lloyd said, “I would have to be a lowlife to go rooting around in somebody else’s private property.”
“What, is it locked?” Harry asked.
“Yeah, really well.”
A giggle escaped Andie’s lips just as a throaty chuckle fell from Chase’s, and they both looked over at each other, smiling.
She turned onto her side, snuggling into the comforter and attempting to keep her eyes on the screen, but her blinking became more and more lethargic until finally, she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore.
The last thing she remembered was hearing Chase’s quiet laughter before she finally succumbed to sleep.
CHAPTER SIX
Chase lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had come back to his own room at around two in the morning, and at that point he was so exhausted he was pretty sure he fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. But now that he was awake, now that he was coherent, all he could think about was the night before.
He couldn’t reconcile the girl from yesterday morning with the one who had been lying in bed next to him last night. She had fallen asleep almost immediately after they started watching the movie, and when he no longer heard her laughter mingling with his, he turned to look at her.
And he was instantly and completely disarmed by what he saw.
She was all innocence and vulnerability in that moment; her blonde hair fanned out on the pillow, her lips slightly parted, her fingers curled loosely around the comforter she had pulled into her chest.
Throughout the day before, she had given him little glimpses of the girl behind the tough exterior, but to see her so totally unshielded did something to him that he hadn’t been prepared for.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
That should have been the signal for him to pull back again, but for some inexplicable reason, he felt like he needed to stay with her, to protect her while she was in such a defenseless state. It was completely unnecessary and ridiculous, he knew that, but he managed to convince himself it was the right thing to do. So he stayed there in her room until the movie was over, until he no longer had any viable excuse to be there. And then he pulled her laptop onto his thighs, closing out the programs on her computer one by one. After he had powered down her laptop, he gently eased out of her bed, careful not to jostle her, and turned out the lights before making his way back to his own room.
He had left the adjoining doors ajar, and now he could hear her getting out of bed