He rubbed a hand along his scruff-lined jaw. “You’re right,” he said and huffed out a laugh.
I didn’t know what else to do, so I laughed along with him, praying it would release some of the tension. All the emotions, the drama, it was exhausting.
“Should we play more Twenty Questions?”
I shook my head. “Not tonight.”
My response surprised even myself, but I was too tired for games, even if they would help me get to know Nick better. His reaction to my situation tonight had told me plenty. Plus, with the adrenaline starting to wear off, I felt like I was crashing. Hard.
“Do you want me to take off?” he asked, his tone hesitant.
“No,” I said quickly, not wanting him to go any more than he seemed to want to. “Maybe we can just watch TV?”
“Netflix and chill?” he said with a smirk.
The implied suggestion that we have sex was ridiculous, which was exactly why he said it. Obviously, Nick was trying to lighten the mood too.
I swatted his shoulder. “You wish, Fisher.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I might, but not tonight. Why don’t you go do whatever it is that girls do when they get ready for bed, and I’ll find us something to watch while we don’t chill.”
“Smartass.”
I pushed off the bed and headed for my bathroom, a little uncertain what to do. Part of me was dying to wash off all my makeup and be clean after feeling so dirty, but the rest of me wanted to leave it all on so that Nick thought I looked this put together all the time.
It became a moot point when I saw my tear-streaked face in the bathroom mirror. The notion of me looking put together at this point was a total joke. I couldn’t stay like this, not with my foundation streaky and my mascara runny.
After scrubbing my face clean, I shrugged at my reflection before giving myself a little pep talk. If Nick Fisher didn’t find me attractive without makeup, then he could fuck off, right? I tried to make myself believe it was that simple.
After brushing my teeth, I changed into a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. Nick was stretched out on my bed when I came back, one arm slung behind his head as he watched the flat-screen television on top of my dresser.
“All done?” He rolled over to his side to look at me, his gaze roving from my bare legs to my chest and back again.
“Yep.”
I crawled onto the bed and reached for a blanket, pulling it over me as I tried to get into a comfortable position that didn’t seem awkward. Nick was practically lying down, his head propped up by a bunch of pillows, so I did the same.
Glancing at my face, he said, “I like your no-makeup look.”
Then he looked me in the eye before dropping a sweet kiss on top of my head. A part of me might have melted a little in that moment, but I couldn’t say for sure.
“Come here.” Nick wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me gently toward him. His body heat hit me like an oven.
I propped myself up with my own set of pillows and pretended to be interested in the TV, but all I could think about was Nick lying next to me, his fingers moving lazily across my waist.
“This is nice,” I admitted, and his hand moved from my waist to my hair.
As we watched TV, he ran his fingers through it, over and over again without saying a word until my eyes got heavy. I wasn’t sure how long it took me to actually fall asleep, but I woke to the blare of an infomercial so loud, I practically jumped out of the bed. I glanced at the clock to find it was 2:34 a.m., and clicked the remote to turn off the television, leaving the room in darkness.
“Jess?”
Nick’s voice startled me as I turned my head to face him. I’d completely forgotten that he was here.
“Shit,” he said. “I fell asleep. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I did too,” I said with a sleepy smile.
“I should go.”
When he shifted to get out of bed, my insides ached.
“You don’t have to. I mean, you can stay if you want,” I said, hoping he would.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay. I need to pee, though,” he admitted.
Relieved, I released a quick breath.
“You know where the bathroom is. And I think I have an extra toothbrush in the drawer, if you need one.”
“You have extra toothbrushes?” The bed dipped as he rolled out of it.
I glanced up at his muscular frame silhouetted in the dark. “They’re for me, but I’m willing to share with my knight in shining armor.”
He huffed out a laugh as he walked away. “I could live with that title.”
“Figures,” I teased as he flipped on the light.
Nick walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later looking ridiculously hot. He had run water through his hair, leaving it standing in messy spikes. I’d rarely seen him without his baseball hat on, so the wet spikes were utterly adorable.
“Can I take my shirt off, or will that make you uncomfortable?” he asked before flipping off the bathroom light.
Is he serious? “Nothing about you makes me uncomfortable, Nick. You can take it off.”
Without another word, he peeled off his shirt and tossed it on the floor before crawling over me to get on his side. Once he was under the covers, chills raced through me, even though his body heat warmed every inch of my exposed skin.
“Jess.” From behind me, he breathed my name against my neck, his lips near my shoulder.