Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
REESE
I swallow my humility and stare at Malaki from across the room. As soon as the word wait blurted from my mouth, he stilled, and now there’s nothing but silence separating us.
My stomach flutters as he slowly spins around. His hands grip the top of his doorjamb, and the only thing I can do to stop staring at his tight stomach is scramble to the opposite side of the bed.
“I won’t be able to sleep knowing you gave up your bed for me,” I ramble on, lurching to the very edge. My feet tangle in the blankets from my rushing, and next thing I know, my back is on the floor.
Malaki appears just in time for my embarrassment to settle.
He towers over me with a furrowed brow. “I know I’m a lot bigger than you, but I don’t need that much room on the bed, Reese.”
I snort out a laugh, and he chuckles. He pulls me to my feet and gently grabs my hips, guiding me to sit on the bed. I sink onto the mattress, and my body automatically lets out a sigh of relief.
It’s cozy. The mattress, the blankets, the scent. All of it.
“Lie back,” Malaki orders.
He takes the blanket out from underneath my legs and drapes it over me when my head hits the pillow. Then, he makes his way to the other side of the bed, hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his sweats, and pauses.
Warmth pools in between my legs, and I pinch my thigh to stop myself from going there.
Crossing the line with Malaki is the very last thing I need. It’d bring nothing but more drama into my—our—life, and this is something I can’t afford to screw up.
Out of the corner of my eye, Malaki stands with his thumbs hidden beneath his pants. He shakes his head briefly before seemingly deciding not to shed them.
The bed dips, right along with my heart.
When was the last time I was in bed with a man?
Benedict’s face flashes inside my head, and I hate the fear that follows it. I hate that I’m afraid of him. I hate that I don’t see a future without him in it, one way or another.
Malaki’s smooth voice drifts into the quiet room. “I’ll still buy you a bed if you want your own.”
I’m quick to refuse. “I don’t.”
“You don’t?”
Is he flirting with me?
“Not because I want to sleep with you!”
He shifts beside me. “Who said you need a bed to sleep with me? We could do that anywhere. The shower, the kitchen, a car…”
I turn my head against the pillow and brush my hair away from my face to see him better. His hands are propped behind his head, the blanket pooled around his waist. He stares at the ceiling with a grin on his face.
“I did not mean it like that,” I huff and turn away.
He chuckles. “I know, but it’s fun to tease you.”
I kick him under the covers. “I changed my mind. You can go sleep on the couch.”
As soon as I move to drag my leg back, his hand lands on my thigh. “No take-backs, Dimples.”
My heart races.
Heat sweeps against my skin like a flame.
When he eventually lets go, I quickly turn onto my side with my back to him.
Get it together, Reese.
I try my best to think of anything besides him.
Even when I attempt to think of Benedict and his threats, I end up circling back to the moment at the arena, when Malaki swooped in and kissed me.
We lie in the quiet of his room for so long I lose track of time.
My heart slows, the comfort of his bed reminding me of how exhausted I am.
When I think he’s asleep, I allow myself to be humble. “Thank you for what you did at the arena.” I wait for him to respond, but he doesn’t, so I keep going. “Thanks for keeping the bedroom door open too.”
I’m not sure if he left it open to make me more comfortable, or if he did it because Charleigh is two rooms down. Either way, I noticed.
Right before I drift off to sleep, I swear I hear him say, “Anything for my fiancée,” in that cocky tone of his.
What time is it?
My groggy state tells me I didn’t sleep enough, but when my eyelashes flutter open, I’m greeted with a stream of sunlight right across my face. I immediately shut my eyes again and groan.
Since having Charleigh, I’ve learned how precious sleep is. I take full advantage that she isn’t crying and curl back into myself, desperate for more rest. I snuggle onto the pillow.
I’m warm, and my back doesn’t ache from the hard floor.
I open my eyes fully, and my chest tightens.
I’m in Malaki’s bed.
Last night replays inside my head like a jumbotron for all to see—and by all, I mean me, myself, and I.
As slowly as I can, fearful I’ll wake him, I turn toward the other side of the bed, only to find it empty.
I quickly sit up and fling the blankets off my legs. I’m in the middle of trying to sort out my mixed feelings when the slightly ajar door opens farther.
I do my very best to focus on Charleigh instead of Malaki, but he stands there with his hair in a perfect, wavy mess, shirtless, holding my sleepy-faced daughter in his arms.
She smiles widely when she sees me, and to my complete and utter surprise, she buries her face in the crook of Malaki’s neck to hide her excitement.
What the–
My lips part.
Has Malaki Young somehow wormed his way into Charleigh’s heart?
“Sorry…” He shrugs while walking closer to the bed. “I heard her, and you just looked so peaceful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you up.”
I blink past my confusion. “It’s okay… but you know you don’t have–”
Malaki’s cocked eyebrow cuts me off mid-sentence. I close my mouth and manage a small smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Charleigh puts her hand on Malaki’s scruffy chin and rubs it with curiosity. “Want to see Mama?” he asks her.
“No, she wants to see me,” Zoe says from behind.
Malaki turns around with Charleigh in her arms, and Zoe stands at the bedroom door, fully dressed for class. She leans around Malaki and grins at me. “Well, well, well… What do we have here? You in your fake fiancé’s bed? Interesting.”
I sit up even taller. “It’s not like that!”
Malaki peers at me over his shoulder, and Zoe takes full advantage of his attention being elsewhere. She winks dramatically, and I scowl at her.
“Sure it’s not,” she teases.
“He found out that I don’t have a bed,” I say. “He said he was just going to buy me one if I didn’t use his, so…”
She laughs. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.”
I take the pillow behind my head and chuck it at her. She swats it away with another laugh.
Malaki steps in between us. “I heard you don’t have a bed either.”
“Are you inviting me into your bed too? Because that’s where I draw the line.”
Malaki coughs or chokes. I can’t decide which.
“What? No! God.”
“Why not?” Zoe retorts. “It’s not like you two are doing anything other than sleeping… right?”
“Zoe!” I snap.
She takes Charleigh from Malaki and glances at me on his bed. “I’m kidding! Relax.”
Charleigh pulls on Zoe’s hair, and she winces.
Malaki walks over to his dresser and pulls out a shirt. His back muscles move languidly as he tugs it on. He turns toward Zoe. “Your bed will be here today.”
He already bought one?
Zoe catches my attention with surprise, and I give her my best say thank you look.
Her shock lasts half a second. She looks at Malaki, says thank you, and begins to back out of his bedroom with Charleigh in tow.
“I’ll feed her breakfast before I leave for class,” she says.
“Thank you.” And thank you for showing gratitude.
A shit-eating grin curves on my sister’s face, and I prepare myself for whatever is about to come out of her mouth.
“I’m leaving in fifteen”—she gestures to Malaki and me—“so make it a quickie.”
My face warms. “Zoe!”
Malaki’s shoulders shake with laughter, so I climb to my knees, reach for his pillow, and chuck it across the room at him just like I did to her.
Of course he catches it. Natural-born athlete and all.
I blow a piece of my hair out of my face. “You two are going to be the bane of my existence, aren’t you?”
He grins slyly. “Oh, come on, that’s what siblings are for.”
“And fake fiancés?” I retort, crossing my arms.
Malaki’s eyes slip from my face, move to my chest, and then down even farther. I follow his line of sight. My old college t-shirt has ridden up with my arms crossed, showing off my very bare thighs.
I swallow.
Malaki shifts, but his eyes never leave the gap between my thighs.
Do I move? Do I try to cover up? Do I pretend like my nipples aren’t poking through my shirt?
He clears his throat and repeats my question. “What are fake fiancés for?”
“Yeah,” I choke out.
Finally, Malaki drags his gaze past my hips and lands at my face again. His high cheek bones are a little flushed, and I can’t stop staring at his mouth.
“You tell me, Reese.”
Our eyes snag, the eye contact feverish.
My pulse flutters in places I didn’t know it could.
Why do I want him to close the gap between us, sweep me beneath him on this very bed, and do dirty things to me?
The longer we keep a hold of each other’s gazes, the more twisted my thoughts get. I lick my bottom lip, and he mirrors me.
Finally, he breaks the moment.
“I need a shower,” he blurts.
I jump up from the bed and tug on my shirt to cover my legs.
“A cold one,” he mumbles, heading right to the bathroom.
I barely make it out of his room before one last dirty thought about him in the shower enters my head.