Page 88 of Frat House Fling

The bed shook slightly—I could feel it as I leaned against it. Shit. Id’ never known what to do when a woman cried. I turned around, ready to try to stop the flow of tears, but her cheeks were dry, her expression still numb, but she was shivering all over.

“Stay right there,” I said softly. “I’m going to get you so many blankets you’ll need five minutes to dig yourself out.”

Hailey reached out and clutched my hand. “Don’t leave me.”

“You’re going to shiver to death.” I frowned, looking around the room. Should I start piling the clothes from her closet on top of her? If only there were a hot water bottle.

Then I realized that there was a hot water bottle. A 6’5”one. My body always radiated heat from the sun. But would she let me? Would she want me?

I kicked my shoes off and assessed the scene. I didn’t want to make her move, so I walked to the foot of the bed. The other side was flush against the wall, so I climbed on and crawled rather awkwardly toward the headboard. It wasn’t graceful, the way I had to lift and manipulate the covers to get under them, but she never complained.

And then finally, I was in the right spot to be her own personal hot water bottle.

Or a big spoon.

I gathered her in my arms and pulled her to my chest, her back pressed against me. I draped my arms over hers, careful not to squish her, but leaving no way for any cold air to get through to her.

She sank against me, her trembling eventually stopping. Her hair tickled my neck, but I didn’t care. Besides, it smelled great.

I didn’t know how long we stayed like that, but at some point, I realized she’d fallen asleep. “Hailey?”

No answer.

Extracting myself from the bed without disturbing her was as hard as climbing in had been, but I managed. I rearranged the covers, tucking them around her shoulders. I took one long look at her, and then I couldn’t resist. I leaned over and planted a quick kiss on her head. It was completely sappy, but I did it anyway. Then I stepped out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind me.

I had Ian on the phone two seconds later. “Call that hotel on the far side of campus and book a room for Hailey. Then meet us out front in an hour with your car.”

“What? What’s going on?”

“And find Theo. Send him over here. He’s going to be on guard duty.”

“To your suite?” Ian said, clearly trying to keep up.

“to Hailey’s room.”

“All right. Where will you be?”

“I’m going to go have a word with my cousin.”

27

HAILEY

I didn’t feel trulywarm until several hours afterwards, even though the guys checked me into a nice hotel where I could crank up the heat in my room as high as I wanted. Ian had even grabbed the weighted blanket before I left.

It had made me feel safe last night.

So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours. I’d learned so much about Ian. And a little about Grant, too. Not so much Theo at least not yesterday, but he’d been so gentle when he found out what happened to me.

The room was lovely with a queen bed and a little living room. It was much nicer than the one I’d stayed in at the beginning of the summer. I’d stayed there the day I took the job, and now I was in this one the day I left it.

Theo, Ian, and Grant have been worried about leaving me here alone last night. But they were the ones that got me out of that house when I’d been so upset. I was grateful for that. They told me that one of them could stay with me. To make sure I stayed safe. Ian even offered to sleep on the floor.

But I’d wanted to be alone, because I was just so tired. Except that wasn’t the only reason. The other was that I didn’t want to pick one to stay. I didn’t want to choose between them.

I slept straight through the night, through the breakfast buffet at the hotel, and it wasn’t until noon that I was finally alert and dressed in the jeans and t-shirt Theo had packed for me.

There was a knock on the door shortly after that. I opened it, and when I immediately had to step back and look up, I knew who it was. I stood back to let Grant in. He was carrying all my stuff—what looked like all of my stuff. There were clothes on hangers, my duffel bag, the rest of my bedding, my bookbag, and more. It looked like someone had mistaken him for a coat rack and started hanging stuff from him.