Needing Happily Ever After - Elena Aitken Page 0,41

He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to because just his presence was enough for her to breathe.

Yes, she’d just had sex with Damon. With her best friend. But it would be okay. It was okay.

Katie wasn’t sure how long they laid like that, because soon her breathing matched his, and she fell into a deep, content sleep.

It was the first time since Damon arrived that Katie had slept through the night. When she finally woke, with the sun streaming through the bedroom curtains, she couldn’t help but laugh at herself a little. Was that really all she’d needed? A little sexual release to help her get a good sleep?

Sexual release with Damon.

Shit.

Had she really just slept with Damon?

She squeezed her eyes shut again and pulled a pillow over her head. No. No. No. No.

Katie knew she was acting like a child the way she shook her head back and forth, stopping just short of pounding her heels into the mattress, but she didn’t care. Because she had, in only one night, ruined everything. Friends couldn’t sleep with each other and ever be the same again. It just didn’t happen. Damon was her best friend in the whole world and now…

She screamed into the pillow, thankful for the muffling effect but needing the release regardless. When finally she’d exhausted her minor tantrum, she pulled the pillow from her face and sat up.

“Good morning.”

“Shit!” Katie yelped and immediately slid back down, pulling the sheet up over her head.

She couldn’t see him, but Damon chuckled and, a moment later, gently pulled the sheet away. She stared up into his smiling face. Her own face burned from the blush of embarrassment that was no doubt a bright shade of red.

“Are you done yet?”

She nodded and then shrugged. “Done what?”

“Being embarrassed.” His voice was laced with humor, but it was gentle, too. He sat down on the bed next to her and waited for her to sit up. “You shouldn’t be, you know?”

She didn’t know. She didn’t know anything. How was she supposed to react? This was not like any morning after she’d ever experienced or even ever imagined.

Katie pulled the sheet tight around her bare breasts. “I don’t know about that,” she said after a minute. “I’m not sure what happened last night. I mean…” She shook her head and corrected herself. “I am sure about what happened, but I don’t—”

He silenced her with a kiss that was so unexpected, she dropped her grip on the sheet and it slipped down. When Damon sat back, he raised his eyebrows appreciatively. “It is a good morning.”

“Dammit, Damon.” She grabbed up the sheet. “That’s not helping.” But it was. His reaction to everything was helping her relax. Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal after all. Maybe they could just carry on and just be them?

“I brought you coffee.” He handed her the steaming mug.

“Now, that is helping.”

“I thought it might.”

She took a tentative sip and then a deeper one, letting the hot liquid fortify her. “So about what—”

“What about it?”

She stared at him. “You really don’t want to talk about it?”

He shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about it, but I don’t know if it will make any difference to what I’m feeling.”

“And what are you feeling?”

He took her free hand in hers. “I’m feeling like, as fucked up as this situation is, it feels right. And that feels good. Wouldn’t you agree?”

She couldn’t disagree. Everything they did the night before felt good. Very good. And being with Damon always felt right. After a moment, she nodded. “But we’re getting married today.”

Saying those words out loud made it all the more real and her spine stiffened with the reality of it all.

“We are.”

“That doesn’t freak you out?” She stared at him. “I mean, for all different reasons than it might have a few days ago.”

He laughed a little. “I’m not going to lie because of course it freaks me out. But after last night…” She blushed again and he winked. “It all feels a little bit more…real.”

She nodded. Real. Yes. It felt real.

He must have seen the uncertainty in her eyes, because Damon’s face filled with concern and he shifted closer to her on the bed. “You’re okay with all this still?”

Still? Ever? Now?

So many things ran through her head, but as real as the wedding suddenly seemed, that wasn’t a bad thing. “I am okay with it,” she answered honestly. “What happened last night, it…it was