Page 55 of Love Expert

I whip my eyes open and look straight into a smiling pair of bright greens. Gasping, I squeeze my eyes shut once more, open them, and try again to no avail. “What the—” I yank my blankets up, terrified to show the poor boy more than he’s signed up for, then I cast my horrified gaze around the room that isabsolutely not mine. “Oh my gosh! What am I—What happened—What…?”

“You fell asleep watching your movie.” He grins his toothless grin, which isalmostcharming enough to make me forget my current predicament. “You were asleep on the couch, but then my dad came home from his meeting.”

Whimpering, I hold my breath and slowly, excruciatinglycarefully, twist my head and peek over my shoulder to find… not another person in the bed with me.

Oh, thank God!

“My dad was gonna wake you up and send you home,” Jeremy whispers. “But I said you should sleep here instead. Cos you were already asleep and I didn’t think it was nice to make you get up.” He bats his lashes like Dopey does for Snow White. “That was the right choice, huh? Cos you were already asleep?—”

“I-I slept in your house?”

He bobs his messy-haired head. “Uh-huh. Like a sleepover for friends!”

“W-where did your dad sleep?”

“On the couch.” He digs his elbows into the mattress, less than a foot from my face, and sets his chin in his upturned hands. “He said you would freak out if we left you downstairs alone, and he also said you would freak out if I slept in the bed with you.” Pulling back, he thrusts a gesturing hand toward the floor. “He said Ihadto sleep in my bed, but,” he leans conspiratorially closer, “as soon as he tucked me in and went downstairs, I dragged my stuff in here so you wouldn’t be alone.”

Hugging the blankets to my chest, despite the tight grip of my jeans and the bra I still feel wrapped around my torso, I push up to one elbow and peek toward the floor, only to discover a nest of blankets and pillows. Teddies. A single sock. And a basketball.

“You…” Frowning, I bring my eyes to his feet, one with a sock, one without. “You slept on the floor?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Even though you had a bed just along the hall?”

He nods.

“Because you didn’t want to freak me out if I woke?”

More nodding.

“What if I woke up in the middle of the night and needed to pee?” My heart thrums recklessly out of control, and my stomach swishes until a sickly sheen coats my insides. But I poke Jeremy’s belly anyway and elicit a squeal of delight from the seizing boy. “I might’ve stomped on you and not even known until I’d already made a pancake of you.”

“No tickling!” He thrashes and throws his head back. “Magnolia! Tickling is cheating.”

“I might’ve crushed your tiny head with my giant foot.” I sit up and poke his ribs, but I’m not immune to the fear that Billy could plod upstairs and complain of too much noise, so I look past Jeremy and study the doorway. “I would’ve felt terrible for squishing you. We would’ve gotten brains all over the floor.”

“Nuh-uh!” He giggles. “Brains don’t leak out like that.”

“How do you know? You’ve never cooked a child in a cauldron before.”

He comes to an abrupt stop, his chest heaving for fresh air and his beautiful green eyes locked onto mine, but then he grins again. “Nuh-uh! My dad said you don’t even cook children!”

“And you believed him?” Scoffing, I drag my blankets off and exhale a breath of relief when I find my clothes exactly as they were last night. But wrinklier. “You foolish little boy. Of course he would tell you that. He doesn’t want you to be afraid of the witch next door.” I muss his hair and push to my feet, then I glance around the room in search of… I don’t even know. My stuff, I guess. Though I don’t seem to have anything.

“Your phone’s still downstairs.” Jeremy curls himself around my arm and, as I start across the room, stumbles across his nest bed instead of walking around it. “Do you wanna eat breakfast with me, Maggie? I have to go to school in a little bit, but that’s not for another whole hour. That’s loads of time to eat cereal with me.”

“Actually.” I slow at the doorway and peek into the hall. God forbid the big, bad boogeyman with a detective’s badge jumps out and scares us. “I have to go home, since I haven’t been back since last night.”

“But you would only go home to have breakfast, right? You could do that here.”

I peek toward the stair landing, then over the railing and down into the entryway.No Billys in sight. “I really need to go home.” I drag my arm from his and hurt the sweet boy’s feelings as his smile drops, but then I take his hand and earn his happiness once more. “You could walk medown. Help me collect my things.”Hide from your father, so I don’t die of humiliation!“And then I’ll probably see you tomorrow sometime.”

“Tomorrow?” Too friggin’ loud, Jeremy’s shouted word carries all the way down the stairs. “It’s only the start oftoday. Why do I have to wait all the way until tomorrow?”

“Because you’ll go to school soon, and by the time you’re done, I won’t be home anymore, because I’ll be working. Then I won’t get back again until really late tonight, and by then, you’ll be asleep.” I chuck his chin. “Hopefully in your bed and not on the floor of your dad’s bedroom.”

“I didn’t mind. It was comfortable, and I liked being near you, in case you woke up and got scared cos you didn’t know where you were.”