My heart kicked hard against my ribs.
I was definitely thinking things I shouldn’t be.Things I’d spent years shoving into a mental box labeledoff-limits.Things that had gotten louder and more insistent since the day he’d found me on the road and wrapped me up like I was something precious.
“Scoot over,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to help you fall asleep.”
I hesitated, then did as he asked, shifting to give him space.He climbed onto the bed but stayed on top of the blanket, lying beside me instead of under it.
We stared up at the ceiling together in the dark.
“This was your plan?”I asked.
He laughed quietly.“I’m just winging it, baby.”
I snorted.“Comforting.Now what?”I asked after a beat.
He hesitated.“Uh…”
“I know,” I said suddenly.“I saw this thing where if you can’t sleep, you just start randomly listing things.”
He turned his head toward me.“Randomly list things?”
I nodded, settling into the mattress.“I’m gonna need you to get under the covers first because I can’t handle this.”
He huffed out a laugh and slid under the blanket beside me.“I’m only staying until you fall asleep.”
“Yeah.Totally.”I could feel the heat of his body under the blanket, and I silently hoped it wouldn’t go away.
“Okay,” he said, voice quieter now.“Let’s try this random thing.”
I smiled into the darkness.“I’ll start.”
“Fire away, baby.”
I closed my eyes.“Flamingo.”
“Flamingo?”he repeated.“What in the hell has you thinking about flamingos?”
“It’s random,” I defended.“And this isn’t going to work if you question every word I say.Flamingo is random, so now it’s your turn.”
He sighed.“Tylenol.”
I laughed.“That’s what popped into your head after flamingo?”
“You said random.”
“Dear Lord,” I murmured.“Flamingo and Tylenol.”
“What you got to go with that, baby?”
The wordbabysent a shiver down my spine.
“Goosebumps,” I blurted.
“Geese.”