Chapter 24
Roman
“Any chance Elenie can use your spare room?”
Roman asked. They’d been talking for more than an hour and it was late.
“Sure, bro.”
With a yawn, Milo began to gather the empty mugs.
“I’ll grab you one of Milo’s tees, Elenie.”
Caitlyn levered herself up from the armchair.
Five minutes later, Roman stood in the bedroom doorway feeling like a vampire who hadn’t been asked inside. He hooked his hands into his pockets for want of something better to do with them and kept his eyes deliberately away from the queen-size bed. Mental snapshots of thei.
“fake date”
taunted him; a sliver of heat licked at the base of his spine.
“Didn’t think to bring my own sleepwear,”
Elenie said weakly, holding up the cotton shirt she’d been given.
“You need to get some rest. It’ll be morning before you know it.”
He smiled to ease the tension.
“If you need anything, I’ll be on the sofa right downstairs.”
“OK.”
She fiddled with the curtain ties on the other side of the room.
Roman forced himself to turn.
“Goodnight, Elenie.”
“Night.”
Her reply was so quiet he barely heard her.
His tread was silent on the stairs. Behind Caitlyn and Milo’s door, he heard the rumble of low conversation, and unexpected splinters of envy jabbed at his ribs. In the kitchen, Roman closed his eyes and braced his arms on the counter. The clock on the wall ticked loudly and steadily; he waited until his breath matched its pace before raising his head. Pouring a tumbler of water, he drained it in five long gulps and refilled it.
A movement in the doorway caught the corner of his eye. When Roman turned he found Elenie watching him.
She’d changed into Milo’s t-shirt and her feet were bare. As still as the center of a hurricane, only her fingers fidgeted. Face scrubbed clean and ready for bed, she was the perfect picture of casual familiarity, and an aching sense of the forbidden danced with the swirl of heat that smoldered in his gut.
“You OK?”
He was grateful his voice emerged measured and steady.
Elenie cleared her throat.
“I think the world record is fifty-four people on a single bed.”
Roman tipped his chin. “I see.”
He didn’t see.
“The one upstairs is a queen.”
His brain couldn’t form any kind of answer to that.
She pushed her hair back from her face with an agitated hand. Her eyes clung to his and stole the breath from his lungs.
“Would you sleep upstairs with me tonight? I don’t want to be alone.”
The strangled request came out in a rush, as if asking anyone for a favor was an alien experience for her. Roman’s heart turned over yet again and he wondered when Elenie would stop sneaking beneath his defenses. How could he say no?
The silence seemed to expand and she huffed an embarrassed laugh.
“Unless you don’t want to. It’s fine if you don’t.”
Roman couldn’t bear to listen to her backtrack. He nodded.
“Sure. Of course. No problem.”
He could do this. It was his job to protect and that’s what Elenie was asking for—protection, support. He could give that to her.
She smiled the ghost of a smile and turned. Roman gave her a few minutes to pad silently back up the stairs. He filled a second tumbler of water and then followed in the footsteps of the woman who threatened his equilibrium more than anyone he’d ever met.
Elenie was already under the covers when he entered the bedroom. She’d left a small lamp glowing by the bedside. In the dim light, he couldn’t see her eyes. Roman tugged his Henley over his head and tossed it onto a chair in the corner, leaving his undershirt and jeans on. Crossing to the other side of the bed, he lay down on top of the covers. He would rather be uncomfortable himself than make Elenie feel awkward.
She reached over and turned out the light. The bedroom was silent but the hush that fell between them held a dozen unspoken thoughts.
“It’s been a weird night.”
Elenie murmured into the dark.
He smiled at the understatement, staring up at the ceiling above him, muscles tense.
“You did so well. Everything went exactly how we planned.”
She gave a hum of agreement.
“I bet either Craig or Vince called Ty before they left the bar.”
Roman frowned and shifted position, raising an arm to cradle his head. The urge to look at her whispered through his sinews but he resisted. Long moments ticked by and the air grew thicker. His mind refused to settle, leapfrogging restlessly from one subject to another.
“I told Thea I’ve been struggling. I told her everything. We talked for ages. I should have done it before.”
He heard Elenie turn her head and her eyes warmed the side of his face. The fruity scent of her shampoo did strange things to his chest.
“Did it help?”
“It felt good. I’ve never kept secrets from Thea.”
“Will you tell your parents?”
“Already have. I went round to theirs the next day. Told them about the transfer, too. They were disappointed I’m not planning to stay, but they were more upset I hadn’t told them how bad things had gotten.”
“They love you.”
Her voice was soft.
“Yeah.”
The hand lying on top of the covers bunched into a fist. Tension snaked through the darkness.
“Just Florence to go now.”
There was a rustle of cotton and Elenie reached out. He opened his grip at her touch; she threaded her fingers through his own. Offering comfort to him, even now when she needed it more. She was so slight in build, so resilient in person. He admired every feisty inch of her.
The night threw a blanket around the bed, insulating them from reality, and Roman turned to look at her then; he couldn’t help himself. Her slate-gray eyes held whole worlds he was desperate to visit, and he swallowed. Elenie’s gaze shifted to his throat. His groin tightened, his breath caught. Neither of them moved. Then, her eyelids flickered shut, eyelashes forming perfect half-circles against her pale skin, and Roman sagged into the mattress.
Torn in two with wanting what he couldn’t have, Roman let himself imagine what life could be like if things were different. He wished he’d met her in simpler times—when he had his life together and she had found her freedom.
As the quiet minutes passed, their breathing slowed, steadied, and blended. He held her hand gently like a wild thing; Elenie’s chilled skin warmed beneath his touch. Ever so slowly, her fingers slackened in his and, although he could no longer see her, he guessed that she was sleeping.
It was a long time before Roman followed suit but, when he did, he crashed deeply. And Elenie kept the nightmares and shadows away with just the rise and fall of her breath.