Page 106 of Even Ground
“Well—” Pania pushes down on the cushion she’s sitting on. “—the couch isn’t comfortable, and it creaks. So, I guess my bed.”
“Are you ready for that?”
She leans her head against mine. “I need to get some sleep tonight, but I want to be with you.”
“If I’m in bed with you, we’re not getting much sleeping done.”
Standing, she bends over and pecks me on the lips. “I’m going to get my pyjamas on. The alarm’s set for six.”
“Six? Are you crazy?”
She walks toward the bed and picks up some clothing from on top. “I’ll never beat the traffic if I sleep in. Today was easy.”
I grab the remote and turn off the television while she heads into the bathroom. If I’m honest, I’d hoped we’d be rolling around in bed already, but this pace is comforting in some ways. She wants me as I want her, and I guess if I was impatient, I wouldn’t have waited so long to tell her how I felt.
But now I’m so much more confident I can be who she needs me to be.
Stripping off my shirt, I make my way to the bed.
The bathroom door opens, and Pania stands there in her pyjamas. She’s wearing shorts and a tank top, and her long hair is down.
“Bathroom’s all yours.”
Her hazel eyes drink me in. I’ve been shirtless—even naked in movies before—but never been self-conscious the way I am right now. My heart thuds as I cross the room. Maybe because it knows it’s all hers.
It’s never belonged to anyone else before, but now it does.
“Thanks.” I grab my toothbrush from my bag and head inside the bathroom. As we pass each other, my arm brushes hers. Electricity flares through me, and she comes to a stop, her eyes scanning mine. My stomach flips.
This is stupid. I’ve never struggled with confidence, but Pania undoes me.
After I’ve brushed my teeth, I take a moment before joining her, dropping my pants to the floor, pulling back the duvet and climbing into bed.
A pillow practically smacks me in the face. “Wh-what are you doing?” I ask, pushing it out of my way.
Pania places it between her pillow and mine, then pops her head over the top. “If I don’t put this between us, you know what will happen.” She bites her lip, her eyes skating over my shoulders.
Warmth rushes through me, and I grip the sheets. Staring her down for a second or two, I then flop onto my back and groan. “Yes. Fine. You’re right. I could always go and stay at a motel.”
Her eyes fill with amusement. “To be honest, I wondered why you didn’t.”
“A motel doesn’t have you in it.”
I’m distracted by her tongue which slips out and slides across her bottom lip.
“You’re being sweet again,” she says. “What’s going on?”
I look up at the ceiling. “I could say I’m trying to get you into bed, but that achievement’s been unlocked.”
Pania picks up the pillow between us. “I should just suffocate you with this right now and put us both out of our misery.”
I catch her wrist, wrapping my fingers around it. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Her eyes light up. “Watch me.”
She laughs as I grab hold of the pillow and throw it across the room. It hits the wall behind the couch with a dull thud and falls to the floor. “Now try it.”
Pania shakes her wrist free of my grip, lies back on the bed and stretches out. Her tank top rides up a little, and I can’t stop looking at her smooth skin.