Page 238 of What We Brave
"Have you?" Reid's voice is light, but the question is real.
"No." No hesitation. "Not once."
Blake squeezes my hand tighter.
"Okay," Reid says, sitting up. "Logistics."
"Logistics?"
"Sleeping positions. We should figure this out before tonight."
Blake sighs, but pulls himself up too. I stay sprawled in the middle.
"I'm in the middle," I announce. "Obviously."
"Obviously," Reid agrees. "But which side for each of us?"
"Does it matter?"
"It might. What if you always turn left in your sleep? Then you'd always wake up facing the same person. That's a lot of pressure."
Blake sighs and rubs his eyes. "I don't think I turn left."
"You don't know. You're asleep."
"Fair point. I'll take the side closest to the door," Blake says.
He's not looking at me, but I understand. The door. The entry point. If anything happens, he wants to be between us and whatever's coming.
I don't call him on it. Neither does Reid.
"Door side for Blake," I say. "Window side for Reid."
"I run hot anyway." Reid shrugs. "Window works."
"Which means I'm between you, and you two don't have to touch each other's gross man-bodies all night."
Blake snorts. "Generous."
"I'm a giver."
"More like self-preservation," Reid says. "I've shared a tent with him. He radiates heat like a nuclear reactor."
"Better than your sandpaper feet scraping my legs all night."
"My feet are not?—"
"Reid. I've seen your calluses catch on the sheets. It would be like sleeping next to a cheese grater. I'm shocked as shit Laine's not all cut up."
"That's disgusting."
"You'redisgusting."
I look between them, delighted. "So I'm in the middle because you two can't play nice."
"You're in the middle because you're the only civilized one here," Blake says.
"Also because we both want to be next to you," Reid adds. "But mostly the civilization thing."
