Maybe Not (Maybe #1.5)(17)

I can’t speak, though. My eyes fall shut from pure exhaustion.

Pure, blissful exhaustion.

? ? ?

“Warren.”

I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. Or I just don’t want to. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced as deep of a sleep as the one I’m being torn from right now.

Her hand is on my shoulder and she’s shaking me. I lift my head and turn to face her, curious if she’s ready for another round. I smile at her through sleepy eyes.

“Go to your room,” she says, kicking me with her feet. “You’re snoring.”

My eyes fall shut again but they fly open when her cold feet meet my stomach. She uses the strength of her legs to try and push me out of her bed. “Go,” she groans. “I can’t sleep.”

I somehow push myself into a standing position. I look down at her and she rolls onto her stomach, flips her pillow over, and sprawls out across her mattress.

I shuffle my way across her bedroom, through our bathroom and to my own bed. I fall onto it and close my eyes, taking all of three seconds to fall right back to sleep.





Chapter Six

I’m convinced that I’ve never slept as well as I did last night. And even though she kicked me out of her bed, I still feel victorious. Like royalty.

After I’m showered and dressed, I join Ridge in the kitchen. He’s cleaning up what looks like breakfast, which is odd, because neither of us ever cooks breakfast. But then I understand when Maggie emerges from his room.

“Morning, Maggie,” I say to her with a smile.

She eyes me cautiously. “What’s with you?”

Right at that moment, Bridgette’s bedroom door opens. We all watch her walk into the living room. She pauses when she looks up and sees us all staring at her.

“Morning, Bridgette,” I say with a triumphant smile. “Sleep well?”

She sees the look on my face and immediately rolls her eyes. “Screw you, Warren.” She walks into the kitchen and begins rummaging through the refrigerator, searching for something to eat. I watch her the entire time, until Ridge taps me on the shoulder.

“You had sex with her?” he signs.

I immediately shake my head in defense. “No,” I sign back. “Maybe. I don’t know. It was an accident.”

Maggie and Ridge both laugh. He grabs Maggie’s hand and pulls her toward his bedroom. “Come on,” he signs. “I don’t want to be in here when Bridgette realizes her mistake.”

I watch them retreat back to Ridge’s room, and then I turn and face Bridgette. She’s glaring at me.

“Did you just tell him we had sex?”

I find myself once again shaking my head. “He already knew. I told him the other day.”

Bridgette tilts her head to the side. “We had sex last night. How did you tell him before it happened?”

I grin. “I had a good feeling.”

She lets her head drop back in defeat, until she’s staring up at the ceiling. “I knew it was a bad idea.”

“It was a great idea,” I interject.

She looks at me with as much seriousness as she can muster. “It was a onetime thing, Warren.”

I hold up two fingers. “It was twice, actually.”

She makes a face that lets me know just how much I’m irritating her. “I’m serious, Warren. We’re not doing it again.”

“Thank God,” I say, slowly stepping toward her. “Because it was awful, wasn’t it? I could tell you weren’t enjoying it.” I continue across the kitchen until I’m less than a foot from touching her. “You especially weren’t enjoying the part when you were on your back, and my tongue was . . .”

She slaps her hand over my mouth to shut me up. She’s looking at me, narrow-eyed. “I’m serious, Warren. This changes nothing. We aren’t a couple. In fact, I’ll probably bring other guys home and you need to be prepared for that.”

She removes her hand from my mouth and I disagree. “You will not.”

She looks at me with a competitive gleam in her eyes. “I will. This is why I warned you not to get clingy.”

Ha. She thinks this is clingy? If she smiles and laughs like she did last night, she’ll find out just how clingy I can be.

“If you don’t want me to want you anymore, it’s not that hard,” I tell her. “Just don’t smile at me.” I lean forward until my lips are at her ear. “If you don’t smile at me, I won’t have the urge to do all those bad things to you. Because your smile is incredible, Bridgette.”

I pull away slowly and look down at her. She’s attempting to control the rise and fall of her chest, but she’s not fooling me. I grin, and the faintest of smiles appears on her lips. I reach my hand up and touch the corner of her mouth with my finger. “You’re such a tease.”

She pulls away from me and calmly pushes against my chest. She grabs her drink and returns to her bedroom without another word.

I press my head against the cabinet door and sigh heavily. What have I done? What in God’s name have I done to myself?

? ? ?

Bridgette and I both had the day off today, and I was positive that after our interaction this morning, and especially after last night, that she’d be all over me by nightfall. However, she completely ignored me. She stayed in her room most of the day, and she wouldn’t even acknowledge me. Now it’s after eleven at night. I have to be at work tomorrow morning, and I know she has an early class, so my hope for a round three is swiftly dwindling.