Penn glances over, his voice low. “You okay?”
I nod, curling on my side. “Yeah. Just tired.”
He turns off the TV and lights. The room goes quiet except for the low hum of the heating vent and the gentle hush of wind outside. He slides in beside me, the mattress dipping under his weight, and even though we don’t touch, I can feel him there.
Warm. Steady. Real.
And for one tiny, ridiculous second, I wonder what it would be like to fall asleep every night next to someone like Penn Radford.
From the darkness, Penn says softly, “We did good today.”
“Yeah. Real good.”
“I hope you’re okay that I tricked Dylan into letting me play Santa.”
“More than okay.”
There’s a shift in the mattress, and then he’s closer. Not touching me, but I can feel the heat of him curling toward me. “Night, Jay.”
“Night, Penn.”
A pause. And then?—
“Jay?”
“Yeah?”
“I really hate Dylan. And I don’t hate a lot of people.”
I turn toward him, the edge of my pillow muffling my smile. “You don’t have to hate him for me.”
“One,” he says, holding up a finger I can barely see, “He’s an attention-seeking douche. And two, yes I do.”
There’s a rustle of sheets, then his hand finds my face, brushing a piece of hair gently away. His fingers linger for a second too long, and when he pulls back, it’s like the air cools. “Sorry,” he murmurs. “I should’ve asked.”
“Right,” I whisper. “Because consent is sexy.” I say it like a joke, but it lands somewhere serious.
His eyes flick to my mouth, and I see it—need, want, hunger.
“You’re sexy,” he says, quiet and almost to himself.
“What?” My voice cracks like a twelve-year-old boy.
“I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” he breathes. “We should—uh, we should build a pillow wall.”
I blink at him. “What?”
“Last night, you starfished across the whole bed. I thought you were going to break my nose.”
“Fine.” I shove a bunch of pillows between us. “Great idea.”
“This is excellent,” he says, fluffing one. “But what are we going to do about your snoring?”
I grab a pillow and smack him in the face.
He laughs. “Easy, Jay. Santa’s helper is watching, and violence is definitely naughty-list behavior.”
He shifts again, lying back, and his voice turns thoughtful. “I really liked watching you work today. You’re… you’re good at what you do.”