My embarrassment makes me want to disagree, but before I can, he stands and glances toward his bedroom.
“I’ll leave you alone now,” he signs. But he doesn’t move, and just stands there, skimming a hand through his tousled hair.
Alone. That’s the absolute last thing I want. My expression must drop at the thought of it, because Jace takes a hesitant step toward me.
“Unless . . .” His hands freeze mid-air, and he swallows hard. “Unless you want me to stay?”
I nod before I can stop myself. A small smile flickers across his lips, and he sits next to me and pulls me close, until my head is resting on his chest again. For the first time, I’m acutely aware that he’s only wearing boxers, and I try not to blush. I must fail pretty miserably, because he chuckles a little, sending vibrations through his chest.
Jace just pulls a couple of blankets over us, which I apparently kicked to the floor during my nightmare. Then he snuggles close to me, until I’m completely wrapped in his arms, and rests his cheek on top of my head. We both relax into each other.
His heartbeat thuds against my chest, his breathing is warm against my cheek, and I can’t help but to feel safer than ever before. I close my eyes, giving into sleep.
19
JACE
I FEEL CONTENT. I blearily open my eyes, wondering what the hell is wrong. Am I high? Drunk? Dead? I always wake up to pain ricocheting through my body as my old injuries scream their complaints. But now . . . well, the pain is still there, that’s for sure. But there’s also this bizarre feeling of contentment.
I blink a couple times, clearing my eyes of sleep, and find that I’m looking at Ali. She’s snuggled into me, her head resting on my chest, her arms tangled around my neck. This is weird. Really, really freaking weird. When I sleep with girls, I don’t sleep with them. We don’t cuddle or snuggle.
But now I’m wondering why I’ve never done this before. Ali’s arms feel good wrapped around me, and her weight on my chest makes me feel secure and even a little protective. The steady rhythm of her breathing threatens to lull me back to sleep.
I’m about to drift off when I hear the hum of a vibrating cell phone. Shit. I must have left mine in my room. I groan, knowing I’m going to have to get up and answer it, or else someone is likely to come barging in here and find us together.
I carefully extract myself from the couch, moving slowly so I don’t wake Ali up, and head to my bedroom. Cuddles scratches at the bathroom door as I pass, and I open it, letting her out. She shoots me an offended glance and stalks off toward the kitchen, probably so she can curl up on her doggy bed and mope. I shake my head and make a mental reminder to take her on a long run later. If I don’t, she’ll get upset and chew on stuff. Stupid dog. Or maybe it’s me who’s stupid for liking her so damn much.
I shove open my bedroom door just as my cell phone goes off again. I snatch it from my nightstand, and a new message blinks on the screen:
Jace??? Answer!!
It’s from Killer, and there’s another notification at the bottom of the screen: Fifteen Unread Messages. Wonderful. Only the band and Tony have this number, which means someone I actually give a crap about is having some sort of panic attack. And there’s nothing to panic about, unless . . . unless someone saw Ali on the news last night.
Shit.
I open the message inbox and read over the newest texts near the top, mumbling curses under my breath as I scan over them. There are more messages from Killer, and Jon and Arrow, too.
You see the news?
ur chick is nutso
We have a maaaajor problem.
cops r after her
Nevermind. YOU have a maaaajor problem.
U brought a crazy chick on tour? What the hell is ur issue????
When I reach the last one, I hesitantly start typing a reply to all. What am I even supposed to say? Everything’s fine, Ali didn’t actually lie about anything, she’s not crazy, and I slept with her last night. But not that kind of sleeping, so don’t worry. Yeah, that wouldn’t go over very well . . .
I rub my face, trying to think of a reasonable response, when someone knocks on the front door. Actually, it’s more of a frantic bang, and I know it’s Arrow. The dude sounds like a cannon when he knocks, especially if he’s pissed.
“Just a sec!”