Page 55 of Cabin Mate

Preston sits forward in his chair. “Really? If you loved Molly, you would’ve treated her better.”

“Human beings weren’t meant to be monogamous,” Todd says with a shrug. “The divorce rate wouldn’t be so high if people realized that.”

“You’re despicable. How are we related?” Preston’s nose scrunches up in disgust. “You never deserved Molly.”

My fists clench at the smirk on Todd’s smug face. He’s not even remotely apologetic for hurting her, which makes me want to hurt him. I remind myself he’s not even worth the effort. But my hand grows tighter around the glass in my hand.

“Pretty sure it’s the other way around. I was doing her a favor,” Todd retorts, staring at me with a look of defiance.

The sound of glass breaking and clattering to the ground along with a small splash of liquid jars us and we all look around the room. I’m as surprised as them to notice it was my glass of bourbon. That I apparently smashed in my own fist. Oops.

Looking down at my hand, I see a spot of blood where a shard of glass nicked my palm.

Preston stands. “Come on, Brooks. Let’s get that cleaned up. This room is feeling a little stuffy anyway.” He glares at Todd.

I’m liking Preston more and more all the time.

After sleeping like the dead, my body has a hard time waking up the next morning. I can feel cool air on one of my legs, indicating I have one leg outside the covers. Despite only being half covered with blankets, I feel surprisingly hot. Which seems weird since the temperature probably dropped below freezing last night. When I feel something tickling my chest, my eyes fly open and I’m ready to smack the spider or whatever it is on me.

But instead I find Molly's head on my chest, and one of her arms thrown over my bare torso. When I went to bed after the bachelor party last night, she wasn’t back yet. She must’ve slipped into bed like a ninja.

Her body heat explains why I’m so warm. But seeing her snuggled up against me sends warmth through my insides as well. My throat thickens with a rush of emotion I wasn’t expecting … probably because I’ve pictured this exact scenario so many times. But when I pictured it, we were a real couple. Not a fake one.

I swallow the thickness in my throat and try to hold still so she can sleep. I relax and decide to just enjoy the feeling of having her cuddled up in bed with me. Is it wrong to not wake her and put some distance between us? I’m not sure. All I know is it feels really nice.

And she must think so too, since she’s sound asleep. Or maybe she’s dreaming about Todd and she thinks I’m him. My eyebrows draw together at the thought, and my body stirs restlessly.

The movement wakes Molly, who doesn’t seem to know what’s happening at first. I feel her eyelashes flutter open against my chest and she releases a sleepy sigh. I wait for her realization and it doesn’t even take a full second before her head pops up and her wide, horrified eyes meet mine.

I smile at her. “Well, good morning.”

She gasps and jumps up to her knees before flying off the bed. “Why didn’t you wake me? Or shove me off of you?” she asks breathlessly.

It’s hard to repress my smile at the sight of her … hair askew, bangs flipping up on each side, a red splotch on her face where her cheek was against my chest. And her pajama top that came unbuttoned on the bottom, showing off her very nice belly button.

“You looked so peaceful. I felt bad waking you,” I tell her with a shrug and an apologetic smile. “Next time, I’ll shove you off the bed. I promise.”

I definitely won’t do that … not when I enjoyed it so much, but I’m not telling Molly that.

She finally looks down at her pajamas, possibly feeling cold air on her stomach, and gasps again. “Brooks! Tell me next time I’m indecent! Oh my gosh.”

Molly runs into that bathroom, closing the door and locking it behind her. I finally release the laugh I’ve been holding in.

“I heard that!” she yells on the other side of the bathroom door.

Chapter 25

Molly

Brooks was already asleep when I got back from the bachelorette party last night. I was exhausted from keeping my sister out of trouble while winery hopping, and crawled right into bed without even showering.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, my face flushes all over again. My hair is a mess, and my belly button is showing! Ugh.

Waking up nestled against Brooks was warm and oh so sweet, until my brain caught up with my body and reminded me we’re not a couple, and we don’t snuggle. Through the bathroom window, I can see a fresh blanket of snow coating the back patio outside. Ah, the air was probably extra cold last night, so, naturally, I cozied with my handsome heater.

Well, not my handsome heater. But a handsome heater. I was asleep. It was a survival instinct!

I briefly think back to the sight I woke up to. Brooks with sleepy eyes, warm skin, and that disheveled blonde hair. Also, I think his arms were inside his unicorn onesie, but his legs weren’t. I laugh at the thought of him half in and half out of the onesie, with one bare leg on top of the covers. He must’ve been burning up last night with me crowding him like that.