Roommates Box Set #4-6

16. Sierra

16

SIERRA

When I woke in the middle of the night, I knew it must’ve been two o’clock, but I didn’t understand why I was staring at the embers of a dying fire and why I was extremely warm. But then I yawned, shifting my body slightly, and something behind me shifted, too.

Holy crap. Drew. I’d fallen asleep in Drew’s arms, and before that, we’d?—

My sleepy brain came to a complete standstill, because I couldn’t fathom what had gotten into me. Everything we’d done—I’d initiated it. Me .

Unless I was dreaming?

But I felt Drew’s muscular body behind me, and his forearm was clamped around my waist. It was actually really comfortable being in his arms, although normally I hated sleeping on my side.

Which wasn’t the point. The point was… we’d actually done that. Even though I pretty much lived like a nun.

It didn’t make any sense.

Yet, I didn’t regret it. That realization came to me as I enjoyed the warmth of his body pressed against mine for a minute longer. We’d touched each other and came together, and I didn’t regret it at all.

Hopefully he wouldn’t, either.

As comfortable as it was, being snuggled up against him like this, I knew I’d never be able to fall back to sleep if I didn’t get up. Decades of experience had taught me that.

Somewhat reluctantly, I lifted his arm off my stomach. It was heavier than I expected. I squirmed off the couch and onto the floor without waking him.

The moment I let go of his arm, he shifted positions, turning onto his back with one leg hanging off the sofa, just like last night. Had that really only been one night ago that I’d peeked at him lying there and wondered what his cock looked like? I didn’t have to wonder anymore.

Quietly, I covered him with a blanket, and then I gathered up our clothes, putting his in a neat pile on the coffee table and setting mine in my room. Then I performed my normal middle of the night ritual of using the bathroom and getting a glass of water, but everything felt different.

I felt different.

My bed felt too large and empty when I climbed into it, and for a moment, I contemplated waking Drew and seeing if he wanted to stay in my bed. But that’d be too much too soon.

That wasn’t the only reason the bed felt empty. Where was Zeus? I was certain he’d been lying by the fire earlier in the evening, but I didn’t recall seeing him after Drew and I got… handsy, I guess you could say.

Very handsy.

I curled up on my side, trying to recall the way his body had felt behind mine, but it was no use. Plus, I’d never fall asleep this way, so I rolled onto my back.

Sleep was still a long time coming.

The next morning, I lay in bed and checked my email. Then read some news, texted some friends. But I knew eventually, I had to leave my room and face the men out there—if for no other reason than that was where the bathroom was.

And the food.

Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer. Dressed in a long-sleeved t-shirt and yet another pair of sweatpants, I made a beeline for the bathroom, ignoring the sounds of people in the kitchen. When I emerged, Tristan called my name, inviting me to come eat with them.

“I’m not hungry,” I said as I made my way to the laundry room where, hopefully, there was a winter coat I could borrow. Drew’s was there, so I pulled it on, trying to ignore the fact that it smelled good. Like him.

I turned, intending to make a run for the back door, but something caught my eye over in the closet where I’d first found the ski boots. I grabbed the bright yellow object and then hurried past the kitchen, carefully not looking at anyone. “I’m going for a walk.”

With lightning speed, I pulled on my boots, hat, and gloves. I’d almost made it out the door when Zeus bounded up. “Not this time, okay, buddy?”

He looked hurt as I pushed his snout back inside the door, but then I was in the clear. There was no one out here who knew what Drew and I had done last night. No one to judge me. No one to make me question what had gotten into me.

I truly didn’t know the answer to that last one. And almost as surprising as the events of last night, was the fact that I didn’t regret it.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t as embarrassing as hell.

Tromping over a fresh layer of snow, I made my way to the little sheltered alcove I’d visited a few times. But when I was a few feet away, I crouched down, packing snow into the item I’d brought with me—the beach bucket Drew and I had spotted that time when we’d searched the bins in the closet.

The snow was wet and easy to pack. Once the bucket was full, I carried it over and set it on the log where I liked to sit. Using my feet, I did my best to clear a square in front of the log. I packed the snow down hard rather than brushing it to the side. As I well knew, there was still a layer of ice down there.

Once that was done, I turned the bucket upside down at the perimeter of the square and patted the bottom. When I lifted the yellow plastic, the snow retained the shape of the bucket perfectly. Then I packed more snow into the bucket and did it again, just the way my grandfather had taught me when I was a kid.

After every four or five times with the bucket, I stopped to pack some snow in between. Tomorrow, I’d put the next layer on, slowly building the walls higher.

As I sat on my log chair, surveying the beginnings of my fort, I took some time to reflect. I didn’t know exactly why I made the fort, except it gave me something to do out here. And, well, maybe because it was the only place that seemed to be just mine.

But mostly because it gave me somewhere quiet to think. Places like that were pretty hard to come by in the cabin—and if ever there was a time to think things over, it was after last night.

Two things bothered me. The first was Drew. Would he misinterpret what we’d done together? To me, it was about enjoying the company of a friend and letting my guard down. But I had no clue what it meant to him.

Would he expect us to do more? Did he think it meant something it didn’t? He was an amazing guy, and I would never want to do anything to hurt him. He was my friend. My very hot, handsome, and mischievous friend.

And then there were the other guys. At some point while I was working on the wall of the fort, it dawned on me why I'd been bothered by Zeus’s absence last night. It wasn’t just because he was a great dog, though he was. But when I’d thought about it, it seemed that the only place he could’ve been was upstairs, which was a spot he usually didn’t go.

Had he climbed up on his own and slept on the landing? Or had he whined outside Carter’s door to be let in? And if so, had Carter heard us? Or even more troubling—had one of the guys guessed where things were heading with Drew and me, and deliberately taken the dog upstairs?

That last possibility seemed the least likely, since I hadn’t had any clue at that point where the night would lead, but it was the one that worried me the most.

I mulled it over for a while longer, before ruefully realizing that hiding away and worrying was far more normal behavior for me than what Drew and I had done last night.

Last night had been more fun, though.

Eventually, I got too cold to stay out there any longer. After all, the walls of my secret hideout were only about a foot high at this point. Since it didn’t seem likely I’d get sprung from this place any time soon, I was confident that they’d grow.

The guys were at the worktable when I got back, all doing their own thing. I was grateful no one seemed in a chatty mood. I wasn't ready to talk, plus, I really needed to get some work done, too.

First, however, I went to the kitchen to get some coffee. I wasn’t a professional, but I’d already learned that writing went better when you had some caffeine in you.

I’d just pulled a mug down from the cabinet when I heard someone enter the kitchen behind me. My body stiffened—it was an ingrained habit. Then I turned, and Drew was there.

I waited, wondering what he’d do. Hug me? Ignore me? Say something the others might overhear?

But all he did was smile. Then he came over and grasped my free hand with his own.

Did it mean last night was just our secret?

Did it mean we were still friends?

Did it mean he’d enjoyed what we did?

Knowing Drew, it was probably all of the above.

I squeezed his hand back, a smile on my face, too. It was okay. We didn’t need to say anything. He didn’t expect anything from me. But maybe… maybe he’d want to do something like that again.

After that, I took my coffee and some toast out to the table. As I opened the document for my screenplay, it occurred to me that there was something else I needed to do first. Though I’d checked my email earlier, this time there was a response from my agent. I nearly danced a jig when I saw that she’d found an email address for Miranda Morales Sanchez.

Yesterday at this time, I hadn’t been sure I had the courage to write to her out of the blue.

Today, I knew I did.