Stay with Me (Wait for You, #3)(62)

I really was. The tequila from last night and the events of today had caught up with me. I wanted to close my eyes and forget for a little while. I nodded as I pushed myself onto my feet, figuring it was time for Jax to take me back to the house.

“So am I,” he replied.

Instead of grabbing the keys he’d dropped off on the counter, he toed off his boots. I didn’t understand what he was doing since I didn’t think he’d drive barefoot. “Aren’t you going to take me to the house?”

The socks came off next, and he dropped them near the boots. “I’ve been staying with you. So has Clyde. That’s definitely not changing now.”

I was sort of glad that one of them was staying with me now.

“It’s late. There’s no reason for us to drive back out,” he continued. “You can stay here.”

My heart did a backflip. I’d never stayed over at a guy’s house before. “I don’t think I should stay here.”

“You can have another juice box.”

I glanced at the front door as my insides knotted up and my hands started to get a wee bit clammy. “I don’t want any more apple juice.”

“I have fruit punch, too. Not the generic shit. Capri Sun.”

He had a variety of juice boxes? I shook my head. That wasn’t important. It was most definitely cute, but not important. “I don’t have a change of clothing.”

Jax grinned as he rounded the couch and neared me. Every muscle in my body tensed. “I’m sure I have something you can wear. And I also have unopened toothbrushes. You’re covered.”

Damnit.

“Calla, it’s no different than me staying at your place.”

But it was. My pulse kicked up as I searched for a logical reason that didn’t involve me being dumb, but there really wasn’t a valid one I could come up with. “Okay,” I breathed.

That damn grin was back and now my stomach was doing cartwheels. “I’ll . . . I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Not happening.”

“Then you’re sleeping on the couch?” I asked, hopeful.

He laughed. “Hell no, that thing isn’t comfortable. No one I even remotely like sleeps on that couch.”

Oh dear. “Do you have another bed?”

“Only one, but it’s big.” He reached between us, taking my hand, and I cringed, because I seriously hoped my hand wasn’t sweaty. “King-sized. There’s room for both of us and a Saint Bernard.”

“You have a Saint Bernard?”

He chuckled. “No.”

That was a stupid question. “I don’t think it’s good that we sleep together. I mean, that’s like really . . . I don’t know, just not a good idea.”

One eyebrow rose. “The best things in life are rarely good ideas.”

My lips twitched, but I pressed them together. How did I respond to that? Jax then tugged on my hand as he turned, heading for the stairs, and I trailed after him silently, my heart racing in my chest. I didn’t put up much of a protest as he led me up the stairs, because I was too busy freaking out.

There was a hallway bathroom and two bedrooms. Both doors were open. One room had been converted into an office/workout room. Dumbbells lined the wall, stacked neatly near a bench. But we didn’t go in there. He led me straight into the other bedroom and flipped on a light.

I was having trouble breathing.

Jax didn’t seem to notice as he walked around the huge bed and started to root around in a dark oak dresser. I stood perfectly still.

I was in Jax’s bedroom.

In the middle of the night.

Muscles flexed and rolled under the shirt he wore as he straightened, and I wished I was normal. Not like that wish was the first time, and I’d wished for that for a ton of reasons, but if I was normal, I would be standing here excited instead of scared and full of hopelessness. I’d be eager and not tasting the bitter tang of dread. I’d be worrying about what kind of undies I’d put on that morning instead of thinking about the scars.

I’d just be a girl standing in the bedroom of a guy she liked. And dear God, I did like Jax. Yeah, I hadn’t known him long, but what I did know about him, I liked.

“This shirt will probably double as a nightgown on you.” He walked it over, handing it to me as I stared up at him. “That door over there leads to a bathroom. There’s fresh toothbrushes in the drawer under the sink.”

I still stared up at him.

“I’m going to make sure everything is locked up. Okay?”

Holding the borrowed clothing to my chest, I didn’t say anything or move as Jax stepped around me. He stopped, placing a hand on the small of my back and leaned in, speaking into my ear. His warm breath there felt good. “Remember what I told you?”

He’d told me a lot of things.

“I figured you haven’t spent the night at many guys’ houses before.”

My nose wrinkled. Was it that obvious? Ack.

“I like that about you,” he continued, and I thought that was a weird thing to like. “It’s cute.”

He was weird.

But there was a mushiness in my chest.

“I told you that you were safe with me.” His hand glided to my hip and squeezed tentatively. “That hasn’t changed, Calla.”