Page 77 of Raff
As my eyelids grew heavy, I climbed out, dried off, put on the robe, then brushed my teeth with the brush and paste supplied, being careful not to touch the spot where I now had no tooth.
On the bed, I found a butter-soft sleep set with a T-shirt and long pants in a pale yellow.
But when I climbed into the bed that felt like a cloud, I couldn’t seem to settle, regardless of how slow and heavy the meds were making me.
On a grumble, I threw off the bedding and did exactly what my heart was begging me to do.
I walked out into the main area, finding Raff lounged on the couch—changed into a fresh tee and some black sleep pants. He looked exhausted but stared blankly up at the ceiling.
I didn’t say anything.
I just walked over to him, reached for his hand, and pulled until he got to his feet and followed me through the living room and into the main bedroom.
“Lu, you okay?” he asked as we got closer to the bed.
“I don’t want to be alone,” I admitted, unable to meet his eyes when I said it.
True to form, Raff made light of what he knew was something difficult for me to admit. This man leapt sideways onto the bed, landing with a bounce, and declaring, “In that case, I’m open for a snuggle.” He threw his arms open wide.
He was so good at that.
Making it easy.
Like he knew it was hard for me to seek solace from someone else. And wanted to ease that discomfort about it.
I turned off the light and slid under the covers before slowly curling into him.
His arms went around me, slowly and gently at first, but then much more tightly as I settled in.
“You know what I think?”
“Mmm?”
I was too distracted to manage more than that. His body was firm and warm. His heartbeat was a metronome against my ear. His arms were an anchor, keeping my negative thoughts from sweeping me away.
“Tomorrow should be full of nothing but food, bed, and movie marathons.”
“That sounds good.” It did, too. A day with nothing to do but eat and relax with Raff sounded like heaven after a night of hell.
“Including romance movies.” At my grumble, a laugh moved through him. “You loved the last one and you know it. Besides, they are the ultimate comfort watches.”
They were also dangerous.
I was already struggling with my feelings for Raff. Watching a bunch of movies where couples had to overcome some sort of internal or external issue to wind up together? It felt like that might break down what was left of my defenses and make me admit that the feelings I was having toward Raff felt less like simple attraction and more like something I’d insisted to him just days before that I didn’t think existed.
“You get two movies to try to convert me with.”
“I love a challenge.”
“Raff?”
“Yeah?”
“What did Arty say?”
“We don’t have to talk about that tonight. You’re supposed to be sleeping.”
“I want to know.”
