Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Are you going to be able to sleep?” I asked, resigned to leaving the cozy bed in favor of the floor so the guy could sleep. “You sound kind of…tense?”
“I’m fine.” Zeb exhaled as if forcing himself to breathe. I didn’t buy the I’m fine act for a second, but I also didn’t particularly want to abandon the bed. If he wanted to be a martyr, so be it.
“Okay. Hopefully, fine lets you sleep soon.”
“Go back to sleep, Atlas,” Zeb ordered in a voice that would have made many a senior chief proud but only irritated me further. I gave orders, and I didn’t much like taking them from a dude who seemed hell-bent on making himself miserable.
Worse, I was now wide awake, sleep eluding me. Instead of sheep, I counted off mission supplies, then made my way through standard procedures for common tasks, mentally reviewing rules I knew by heart. Nope. No sleep.
I was acutely aware of Zeb’s nearness, his warmth, the way he managed to still smell like cinnamon, his little huffs of breath, and the moment when he finally surrendered to sleep. Good. At least one of us had finally relaxed. I had slept next to tons of buddies through the years: camping, missions, and more. Heck, I’d slept next to Gabe more than once, but Zeb was proving to be nothing like his brother, a fact that was starting to worry me.
Five
ZEB
BLACK FRIDAY: 29 SHOPPING DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS
I dreamed I was buried under a mountain of warm mashed potatoes, the sort of post-holiday stress dream I hated, disaster after disaster that felt increasingly like I really was sweltering under a heavy, immovable load.
And then light teased the edges of my consciousness. I blinked, testing my alertness. Weirdly, I was still hot and sweaty and pinned to the mattress by…
Atlas. The previous night came back to me in a rush. I’d been so scared that I’d be the one to accidentally sleep-cuddle that I’d legit fallen asleep clutching the rolled edge of the mattress. I hadn’t remotely contemplated a world where Atlas ended up migrating from his spot by the wall, sprawling across the entire bed, me very much included.
Apparently, his sleeping self had decided to make me his personal body pillow, head smashed up next to mine, one big hand pinning my shoulder to the bed, the other wrapped around me, holding me close.
Painfully close.
Atlas radiated heat despite both sets of covers having ended up on the floor. Yet it wasn’t the heat that was the issue. Rather, it was him. His every muscle pressed against me, including a very insistent erection riding my hip. It was morning, after all. I couldn’t take it personally. Happened to the best of us. I needed to roll him to the side and wiggle loose before he realized and became embarrassed.
Yes. That was it. I needed to escape.
But Atlas felt so damn good. He smelled spicier than my usual soap, and I wasted precious seconds trying to decide what brand he used. Finally, I tried moving him. I might as well have saved my strength because he budged not at all. Wiggling was also a no-go as he clutched me that much tighter.
And now I had an erection situation of my own to contend with. One that was becoming more pressing with each passing moment.
“Uh, Atlas?” I whispered, soft but urgent.
“Moof?” Atlas sighed into my hair, which sent a shiver down my back and made my heels dig into the soft mattress. I drank in his last sleepy inhale, already cursing myself for trying to wake him. What if this chance never came again?
“Ooof.” Atlas’s next exhale was a cross between a groan and alarm. And just like that, he was gone, the luxury of his warm weight removed as he rolled back against the wall. “Sorry.”
Cheeks flushed a bright magenta, he very carefully rearranged the covers. Yup. He was embarrassed.
“It’s okay.” It wasn’t, but that was the polite thing to say rather than beg him to treat me as his personal cuddle pet every night.
“Thanks.” Hefting onto his side, he squinted at me before brushing a hand across my forehead. I shuddered again, another electric sensation racing down my spine.
“What was that for?”
“Your hair was in your face.”
“It does that.” I matched his matter-of-fact tone.
“I see.” He nodded like we were discussing state secrets and not the condition of my unruly hair. “We better get up. Gabe will have our hides if we’re late.”
Ugh. I didn’t want to think about my brother right then or how Atlas was only here as a favor to him. Nothing personal.
“You hungry?” I asked as we exited the bed. We’d eaten late last night, sneaking bites between cleaning up, but we’d need our strength for the next two days of Black Friday and Small Business Saturday shoppers.