matter if I did? Would you really care?” I ask, putting on a more serious tone.
Instead of giving me an answer, she pulls the covers back from her bed and sneaks in, leaving me a small opening to crawl behind her. My eager and prideless cock is already telling me to get my ass in there, but my heart is saying otherwise.
“Hmm.”
“Are you afraid of sharing a bed with me, pretty boy?” she taunts.
“No.”
“Then come on. Get in,” she insists, a little more playfully.
“I don’t think I should, Stone,” I reply, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Why not?”
My stare falls to the floor while my foot shyly kicks the air, unwilling to explain how my heart is bruised and mangled from her rejection. Sensing my discomfort, Stone gets up to her knees and grabs my hands, commanding my full attention to her gorgeous face instead of listening to the forlorn thoughts playing around in my head.
“I won’t take advantage of you. We’ll just sleep, Finn. I promise,” she explains patiently, with a sweetness I doubt many have ever witnessed.
“Okay,” I concede softly, still unable to look directly into her eyes, but also powerless in denying whatever she asks of me.
I take off my Jordans and then my T-shirt. Thank fuck I changed into these comfortable sweat pants before I came over. If I was still in the same jeans I had worn today, I’d have to take them off. Trying to sleep in those would be pretty unbearable. Not to mention that I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the same bed as Stone in only boxer briefs. But then again, lying next to her will be excruciating either way. Once she’s made sure I’m settled in, she asks me to turn off the lamp on her desk, and even though the bed is tiny, I manage to keep enough space between us to avoid touching each other.
The only light that comes into her room is from a small window on the opposite wall. The beams of moonlight cast enough of a shadow to make me very aware of everything around me, especially the immobile figure lying at my side.
When we were both so focused on studying, the silence in the room calmed my racing mind, but now it’s running at a fast pace. I hear my heart beat erratically with every little shuffle she makes under the pale-blue bedsheet, but when she finally turns toward me and places her hand over my bare chest, I swear the fucker actually skips a beat.
“I’m glad you called. To study, I mean,” she says softly.
“Hmm.”
Another pregnant pause ensues, but the awkward silence doesn’t even affect me now since all my focus is on her dainty fingers running up and down my feverish skin.
“I remembered something the other night,” she begins, coaxing out my curiosity.
“Remembered what?”
“When we were up at the gazebo last time, playing our little game. You told me two secrets, but I only gave you one.”
“That’s okay,” I mumble, not really thrilled she’s bringing up that soul-crushing night.
“I would still like you to know, though,” she continues, inching her warm body closer to mine, her emerald eyes intent on the left side of my face.
I turn my body on its side to face her because I’m a lovesick fool who can’t help wanting to be close to her. My body instantly burns hotter when she bridges the small gap between us, leaving us a hair’s breadth away from each other. Stone’s usually fierce features are soft, yet hesitant. There is a speck of fear swimming in her green rivulets, making me wish I could dive in deep and extinguish whatever she’s so afraid of.
“You met my mom, Finn. You can imagine what type of childhood I had, but you should know it wasn’t all bad. Not all of it, anyway,” she explains, swallowing dryly.
Stone’s eyes lower from my face, latching onto my chest, where her fingers continue to play around in circles. Whatever she wants to tell me is draining all her bravery, turning me utterly speechless. She is the most fearless person I have ever met, so seeing this smidge of vulnerability is gripping my heart in an almighty fist, squeezing the life out of it.
My protective instincts speak louder than my sense of self-preservation, and before I’m able to stop myself, my hand is already cradling her cheek comfortingly. Stone instantly covers my hand with her palm, holding me there and causing my breath to hitch with