The Romantic Pact (Kings of Football)(68)

“Oh, come on,” I scoff and then lightly drag my fingers over her arm. “That’s feather fingers.”

Her brow creases. “I wasn’t purposefully doing that. I guess it was just subconsciously. Sorry.”

“Sorry? You’re sorry?”

She chuckles and so do I.

“Unbelievable, Twigs.” I fold the cover over the iPad and say, “Movie time is over. It’s time for bed. We’ll have the movie playing on repeat tomorrow to make up for tonight. But for now, we’re to return to our respective sides and go to sleep.”

“You’re just going to boss me around like that?”

I set my iPad on my nightstand and answer, “Yup. Goodnight, Twigs.” I turn my back toward her and take a deep breath, willing my body to settle down.

“Hey.” She pokes my back. “Crew.” Poke. “Crew.” Poke.

“Stop it.”

She laughs and pulls on my shoulder.

I don’t know what comes over me, but I flip around and pin her to the mattress, her arms by her side, my torso covering half of hers.

Her eyes widen as I lower my head toward hers. “What do you want, Haze?”

Her tongue peeks out and wets her lips as her eyes search mine. But she says nothing.

“You clearly want something if you’re going to annoy me and poke me.”

“No. Nothing in particular,” she says, swallowing hard.

“Okay, so if I turn around, you’re not going to poke me again?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t ever sleep turned away from me.”

I softly smile. “You want to look at my handsome face to put you to sleep? That’s fair.”

She rolls her eyes and I lift off her, missing the feel of her soft body under mine immediately. I settle myself on my pillow and then turn toward her. She does the same, and instead of the usual foot or so of distance between us, she’s closer.

Because of her proximity and my large body, to make it more comfortable for me, I rest my hand on her hip under the covers. I give her a playful squeeze and she smiles at me.

“That better, Twigs?”

“Much better.”

“Then Merry Christmas, Haze.”

“Merry Christmas,” she says quietly. Her hand creeps up to my chest once again and she places her palm against my skin. But she doesn’t move. She just leans into her touch, almost as if she needs to feel me in order to fall asleep.

And I do the same, holding her at the hip, gripping her just tight enough to remind me that she’s still here with me, and she’s not going anywhere.

Lying there, eyes closed, I steady my breathing and try to calm my mind so I can drift off to sleep, but my hand itches to move along her hip, making it impossible to shut off my brain.

Just one little stroke.

One small touch.

Just for a second.

Slowly, I rub my thumb over her hipbone, holding my breath, waiting for any kind of noise to fall past her soft lips.

But nothing.

No inclination of noticing, so I move my hand over her ass—not clutching, just resting.

Nothing.

So I move my thumb.

After a few strokes, she shifts closer to me but continues to stay silent. During her shift, her nightgown crinkles under my palm, indicating it shifted up. Wanting to know just how far up, I move my hand farther down. She sucks in a sharp breath when I connect with the hem.

I hold still, my breath growing heavier, my eyes still shut, my mind whirling with how far I should go. She hasn’t told me to stop and she hasn’t pulled away, so she must be okay with this. Does she want me to touch her? To go higher? Following her cues, I drag the nightgown up a little farther until I can feel it gather around her waist. That’s when I lower my hand back down to her backside and my hand connects with something lacy.

Fuck.

She’s wearing sexy underwear.

I was not expecting that.

And from how high they rise, I’m guessing they’re cheeky panties, and those fucking haunt me in my dreams. Just enough ass exposed to be tempting, but not enough to give everything away.

I expand my fingers over her backside, and I can’t help myself when I pull her in a little closer. I slip my hand under the lacy fabric of her underwear and then I pause there, my thumb grazing over her skin very lightly.

This is perfect. I can be happy with this.

I can settle down and sleep, knowing I at least have this moment.

I start to relax and attempt to drift to sleep again when I feel Hazel’s fingers press under my chin, pulling my head forward gently. I open my eyes and find her staring at me. Her eyes look unsure as she continues to guide me closer and closer.

I slide my hand farther over her ass.

She licks her lips.

The tension between us grows as she slowly brings her head closer as well.

She wants to kiss me and, fuck, do I want to kiss her.

So goddamn bad.

I want to tear this nightgown off her and spend hours worshipping her body, memorizing it, loving it.

“Hazel.”

“Yeah?” she asks softly, her bottom half scooting closer so her leg drapes over mine and my hand moves over the middle of her ass. My fingers splay, slowly caressing beneath her panties. Right. Near. Her. Pussy. Fuck.

“I want to kiss you. Really fucking bad.”