Page 38 of Crushed

Instead of telling him that, I nodded and urged, “Take me on a tour, so I can shower and get in bed. This day has been something else.”

With that, Jesse showed me around the rest of the space until we finally made it here, the place he’d just indicated I’d be sleeping.

I was particularly alarmed by where he’d brought me, especially once I noted one important detail after scanning the space.

Returning my attention to Jesse, I asked, “Where will you sleep?”

He didn’t even hesitate when he replied, “In here as well.”

This wasn’t just a spare bedroom, as I had originally presumed Jesse would be leading me to only minutes ago when he offered to give me a tour.

I should have realized something wasn’t right when he’d quickly walked me in and out of a spare bedroom that hadn’t had a bed in it. I just assumed his house had more than one spare room.

I was wrong.

Because the tour had ended, and I was here.

This room was Jesse’s bedroom.

Convinced I must have missed something, I looked back around the room. I searched it, my eyes moving beyond the inviting king-sized bed, hoping to find another spot beyond it that would be conducive to sleeping. I could locate no such spot.

When I looked at Jesse again, he didn’t even attempt to hide his amusement. He wore a proud smile on his face, like a kid holding a trophy because his baseball team had just won the league championship.

“Can you explain how that is going to happen?” I asked, even though I already knew how he was going to answer.

“You want to know how we’re both going to sleep in here?” he countered.

I nodded. “More specifically, I’m concerned withwherewe’re both going to be sleeping in here.”

His brows pulled together. “You mean, it’s not obvious?”

“Not exactly, considering there’s only one bed.”

“But it’s a big bed,” he argued, not a trace of humor in his tone.

Oh my God. He was serious about this. He actually intended to have the both of us sleeping in his bed tonight.

I shook my head. “No. No way. I’ll just… if it’s alright with you, I’d like to take a shower, and then I’ll sleep on the couch tonight. Tomorrow, I can go to my mom’s, and you’re going to have to deal with not being in the same place as me.”

Jesse moved in my direction. “That’s not going to happen, Sawyer.”

“I can’t stay in the same bed as you,” I insisted as I started to pace, feeling myself begin to panic.

If this had happened years ago, I’d have loved nothing more than to know Jesse wanted me to sleep beside him. But this was now, after years of me believing he’d hated me, and only a matter of several hours of us being on speaking terms.

“Do you sleep naked?” he asked.

I stopped my pacing and looked up at him, horrified. “What?”

Acting as though he hadn’t just asked something so absurd, he repeated, “Do you sleep naked?”

“What does that have to—”

“Just answer the question,” he urged, cutting me off.

“Do you?”

He shrugged. “Depends on the day.”