relationship had ascended to made things feel far more intimate and intense than they had been before.
“Are you alright?” Zander called from the other side of the door. Worry rimmed the edges of his voice.
First seconds, then minutes, one after another, ticked by while I hid closeted away in the bathroom. Every time I worked up the nerve to leave my breath hitched in my chest as my hand closed around the door handle to open it. Then I ended up back in the mirror staring at my reflection trying to calm myself all over again.
“I’m alright,” I assured him.
You’re only sleeping Skyler, I said to myself.
“What?” he called back confused. “I didn’t hear you well.”
“Nothing,” I shouted back.
I looked at myself again in the mirror. I tugged at the ribbon holding my hair. My full curls fell around my face in a wild mess. I ran a quick hand through them and decided I liked my hair better down. It gave me a sexy, tousled, just getting out of bed look. Not that my hair would get tousled tonight or the word sexy had any business being in my vocabulary at the given moment. I took a final deep breath to steady my nerves then forced myself out of the bathroom that had evolved into my sanctuary.
An emotion I wasn’t used to seeing much of moved in Zander’s eyes when he saw me. He was usually far too noble to look at me in the manner in which he did. As his heavy gaze traveled the length of my frame chills ran down my spine as heat flooded every nerve ending in my body. I felt the need to fan myself even as I shivered. I made a beeline for the bed. He remained standing by the door.
“Maybe I should sleep on the floor after all.” His voice came out more rugged than usual.
I quickly slid beneath the covers then turned to look at him again.
His gaze remained fixed on me and just as intense as when I first exited the bathroom.
I swallowed a small gulp of air then chided myself for acting so silly.
“It’s no big deal,” I lied. “And I thought we already decided that it is ridiculous for you to sleep on the floor when there is a perfectly good bed in the room. It’s humongous. There is no reason we cannot both sleep in it. It can be like in the tent. I’ll take one side and you can take the other.”
I scooted as far over to the left side of the bed as I could get without rolling out of it.
What I did not say but what we both knew was that when we tried this in the tent we went to sleep on opposite sides with our backs turned away from each other but we awoke in a much different position. While we slept, he made his way to me and I made my way to him until I was tucked against his body in a spooning position with his arms wrapped around me.
Zander still stood rooted to the floor. It was then that I thought maybe this moment was as awkwardly intense for him as it was for me. I’d had my mini anxiety attack in the privacy of the bathroom. He seemed to be having his right then as he fought for control over his emotions.
“Truth or dare?” I shot across the room at him.
The abruptness of my words helped him collect himself. He blinked in confusion then grinned back at me.
“Dare,” he answered in mirth hinting that he already knew where I was headed.
I patted the empty space beside me. “Sleep with me.”
The heat that never really left his gaze flared back up.
“That dare is much more dangerous this time than it was the last. Do you know how hard it was to just sleep next to you?”
“Actually I do not,” I said using laughter to mask the depth of the insecurity his comment caused. I had felt more than a little rejected by the fact that he hadn’t tried anything.
Zander saw through the façade. It was what finally made the tension drain from his muscles and caused him to relent. He crossed the space that stood between us and sat on the bed beside me. He curled an arm around my shoulders.
“I am as physically attracted to you as I am mentally.”
When I eyed him skeptically he
“Are you alright?” Zander called from the other side of the door. Worry rimmed the edges of his voice.
First seconds, then minutes, one after another, ticked by while I hid closeted away in the bathroom. Every time I worked up the nerve to leave my breath hitched in my chest as my hand closed around the door handle to open it. Then I ended up back in the mirror staring at my reflection trying to calm myself all over again.
“I’m alright,” I assured him.
You’re only sleeping Skyler, I said to myself.
“What?” he called back confused. “I didn’t hear you well.”
“Nothing,” I shouted back.
I looked at myself again in the mirror. I tugged at the ribbon holding my hair. My full curls fell around my face in a wild mess. I ran a quick hand through them and decided I liked my hair better down. It gave me a sexy, tousled, just getting out of bed look. Not that my hair would get tousled tonight or the word sexy had any business being in my vocabulary at the given moment. I took a final deep breath to steady my nerves then forced myself out of the bathroom that had evolved into my sanctuary.
An emotion I wasn’t used to seeing much of moved in Zander’s eyes when he saw me. He was usually far too noble to look at me in the manner in which he did. As his heavy gaze traveled the length of my frame chills ran down my spine as heat flooded every nerve ending in my body. I felt the need to fan myself even as I shivered. I made a beeline for the bed. He remained standing by the door.
“Maybe I should sleep on the floor after all.” His voice came out more rugged than usual.
I quickly slid beneath the covers then turned to look at him again.
His gaze remained fixed on me and just as intense as when I first exited the bathroom.
I swallowed a small gulp of air then chided myself for acting so silly.
“It’s no big deal,” I lied. “And I thought we already decided that it is ridiculous for you to sleep on the floor when there is a perfectly good bed in the room. It’s humongous. There is no reason we cannot both sleep in it. It can be like in the tent. I’ll take one side and you can take the other.”
I scooted as far over to the left side of the bed as I could get without rolling out of it.
What I did not say but what we both knew was that when we tried this in the tent we went to sleep on opposite sides with our backs turned away from each other but we awoke in a much different position. While we slept, he made his way to me and I made my way to him until I was tucked against his body in a spooning position with his arms wrapped around me.
Zander still stood rooted to the floor. It was then that I thought maybe this moment was as awkwardly intense for him as it was for me. I’d had my mini anxiety attack in the privacy of the bathroom. He seemed to be having his right then as he fought for control over his emotions.
“Truth or dare?” I shot across the room at him.
The abruptness of my words helped him collect himself. He blinked in confusion then grinned back at me.
“Dare,” he answered in mirth hinting that he already knew where I was headed.
I patted the empty space beside me. “Sleep with me.”
The heat that never really left his gaze flared back up.
“That dare is much more dangerous this time than it was the last. Do you know how hard it was to just sleep next to you?”
“Actually I do not,” I said using laughter to mask the depth of the insecurity his comment caused. I had felt more than a little rejected by the fact that he hadn’t tried anything.
Zander saw through the façade. It was what finally made the tension drain from his muscles and caused him to relent. He crossed the space that stood between us and sat on the bed beside me. He curled an arm around my shoulders.
“I am as physically attracted to you as I am mentally.”
When I eyed him skeptically he
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