Page 64 of Wayward

His sharp exhale let me know he’d been waiting to hear that.

The dryer went off then, and he followed me so I could pass him sheets and pillowcases for Ada’s bed before I took the ones for mine. There was a cedar hope chest in each room, and inside were quilts that had been kept safe for years. Once he was done making her bed, he let her know it was ready, and she drifted from the couch into the room. I wasn’t surprised that she left the door open—she wanted Misha to be able to find her if he wanted. Plus, she had been missing company, and closing the door would cut her off from me and Gale.

When he walked into my room, I told him to get into the bed, and he immediately stripped down to a T-shirt and briefs and slipped under the covers. I did the same, turned off the light, then rolled over with my back to him.

“How’d you know?” He moved up behind me, spooning me, his face pressed to my nape, arm around my waist.

“How’d I know what? That you wanted to hold me?”

“Yeah,” he husked.

“It felt right,” I told him, just as I heard a sad little whine.

Gale chuckled softly in the darkness. “If you let him in the bed once, that’s it. Crate training goes right out the window.”

“The fuck is crate training?” I asked, leaning over the side of my bed to scoop up Misha and deposit him next to me. “Some kinda torture?”

“What if he pees in your bed?”

“He’s trained to ring a bell, for fuck’s sake,” I said dismissively. “If he’s gotta go, he’ll tell me.”

“Tomorrow night you have to close the barn door. I’m not doing it,” he said as Misha turned in circles until he found a comfy spot next to my chest. His long sigh was really cute.

“The sheep are weird,” I pronounced. “You close the barn door. I’ll give you a dollar.”

He scoffed but clutched me tight. “My bed is even better than this one.”

“Says you.”

“I’ll even let you bring your dog when you sleep over.”

I was glad he couldn’t see my stupid grin.

Gale said, “I had no idea when I first met you today that I’d be sleeping with you at the end of it.”

“But you wanted to fuck me.”

“Yes. Instantly. Desperately.”

“I dunno, I never got the desperate from you.”

“Oh no?”

I grunted.

“Well,” he said, “let’s be honest. My bet is that everyone who looks at you wants to do bad things to you.”

“That’s true.”

“No, idiot,” he said, playfully biting my shoulder. “Not things that would hurt you, unless you’re into that, but things like holding you down in bed.”

“I don’t normally get those kinds of offers.”

“That’s shocking to me. I mean, Jesus, Maks, you gotta know you’re beautiful.”

I snickered. “Scary, yes. Been told that a lot.”

“Promise you’ll get in my bed tomorrow.”