One Simple Step (Journey #3)

I wasn’t some jackass just looking for a fuck buddy. Never had been, and probably never would be. I would leave that to Danny.

But at the same time, I didn’t want to jump into something, and think it was my forever without knowing first. I thought that with Kara, and look where that had gotten me. A knee to the balls, and one big giant “F-U.”

Ally was still just staring at me with her eyebrows lifted, a small smile playing on that mouth of hers. I really just wanted to have those lips on mine again, but I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea of why I asked her to spend the night.

“Besides, you look way better in my shirts than I do. But if you want, I’m sure I can find something for you to wear back to Remy’s. If you want,” I added again. “But I’m tired as hell, and I figured we would just get to sleep. We wouldn’t want that asshole boss of yours to be pissed if you show up for work late.”

“I guess I can stay,” she finally answered nonchalantly, with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “But only if I get the bed.” She laughed as she ran past me, and took one giant leap, her long legs flying through the air before she landed with a bounce on my bed.

“Well, I’m not that nice of a guy.” I jumped on to the bed next to her, and she squealed when my fingers sunk into her sides, hitting the exact two spots I knew were her most ticklish. I mean, couldn’t even breathe, almost pissing her pants kind of ticklish.

It was the sexiest thing ever having her squirm underneath me. Someday she would be squirming underneath me for something else too.

But it wasn’t going to be tonight.

“I plan on sleeping right next to you all night, if you don’t mind sharing.” Luckily, she gave me a quick shake of her head in answer, and an almost…shy look? I didn’t know that was even possible with Ally. She was probably one of the most confident women I had ever met, even when she was at her lowest.

At first, it seemed a little awkward between the two of us when I hit the lights, and Ally crawled under the blankets. I could hear her breathing quietly, but I knew she wasn’t asleep.

It was like she had been working up enough courage with all of her tossing and turning, until she finally rolled onto her side and pushed her body back into mine. As soon as our bodies made contact, a groan escaped.

There was no way in hell she didn’t know what kind of effect she was having on me. In fact, it would be pretty impossible for her to miss.

I wrapped one arm around her waist, and buried my nose in her hair, still able to smell the scent of the ocean mixed with the sweet scent of Ally that was all her own.

She let out a little sigh, and I could feel the tension ease out of her body as she snuggled closer into me. It took everything in my willpower not to just flip her over and play out every single fantasy I had in my head since meeting her. But for now, I would settle on spending the night with her in my bed, and sleep was the only thing that would be happening.

“Night, my little mermaid,” I murmured into her hair, and I heard her laugh lightly before her breathing turned heavy and eventually into a loud snore. Somehow, I was able to contain my laughter, but my whole body was shaking the bed. I hadn’t been expecting that.

This girl just kept surprising me over and over again, even with the simplest things, and I knew that was one of the reasons that I think I was slowly falling in love with her. What in the hell had I gotten myself into?

Whatever it was, I hoped I would figure it out soon, but one thing was for sure: I got what was probably the best sleep of my life with her wrapped in my arms.




Ally



How in the hell did I end up spending the night at Nick’s place?

Oh yeah, it was pretty simple. He just had to give me one of those panty-melting smiles and a flash of his dimples, those blue eyes staring back at me, and I was done for.

I woke up missing the warmth of his body, but that feeling was quickly replaced when I smelled breakfast cooking. Could this guy get any better?

After he stuffed me full of every breakfast staple under the sun, he dropped me off at Remy’s when he headed into work. Luckily, I had an afternoon shift, so I had time to go home for a while, and float around on the cloud Nick had sent me on.

I could still feel his warm hands on my body. I almost thought that he was too good to be true. How in the hell could a guy have that kind of control? And I started to question myself, until I felt something poking into my ass as I drifted off to sleep. I wasn’t going to lie, I felt completely smug in that moment knowing the effect I was having on him.

The door whipped open before I could stick my key in, and I did a double take before I realized who was really standing there. “Leah?” I squealed, my mouth dropping open as I rushed forward and threw my arms around her neck, squeezing her tiny body as hard as I could. I think I just had to do it to make sure she was really there.

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