Eight | Brody
Eight
Brody
“ H ey... you...” I struggled to remember her name, even though she had just told me during dinner. “Girl with the ridiculous boots—get in here.”
I stood beside my bed with a handful of blankets in my arms as she walked in, eyes narrowed in disapproval.
“ Girl with the ridiculous boots? Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry. I forgot your name. Anyway, the bed is ready, and I have some extra blankets if you need them.”
“My name is Jasmin. And I’m not sleeping in your bed. I already told you I’ll take the couch.”
She extended her hand to take a blanket but frowned when I refused to pass one to her.
“And I told you the couch sucks and you’re not sleeping on it.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sharing a bed with you. Give me the blanket, and I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Like hell you will.”
She tilted her head and stared at me.
“We might not have gotten off to the best start, but there is no way in hell I’m allowing you to sleep on the floor. Nor are you sleeping on the couch. So you can either tell me which side of the bed you want, or I’ll decide for you. Either way, you’re sleeping in here tonight.”
“You think you can just boss me around, don’t you?”
“I’m not trying to boss you around. I’m tired and want to go to bed, but someone keeps making everything more difficult than it needs to be. It’s a bed—it’s not like we have to touch or make anything more out of it.”
“Yes, but it’s your bed. I’m not just going to climb into your bed because you tell me to. I may not have a choice about being stuck here, but I have one about where I sleep.”
“What’s wrong with it being my bed?”
“I don’t like sleeping in other people’s beds. End of story.”
“Then consider it like a hotel,” I offered, my patience growing thinner by the second.
“I don’t like hotels either.”
“You’re impossible. You do know that, right?”
“Just because I don’t bend over and do exactly what you say doesn’t make me impossible.”
“Okay, then explain to me while we’re still arguing over where you’re going to sleep instead of actually getting some sleep.”
“I told you I would sleep in the living room, but you keep fighting with me about it.”
“Because that isn’t a decent place to sleep!” I bellowed, hating that I was raising my voice to her.
It wasn’t that my furniture was subpar or anything, but it was my grandfather’s and had seen better days. Getting new furniture was on my list of things to do, but it sat at the bottom of eight hundred million other things that needed my attention first.
“Fine,” she said through gritted teeth. “Just tell me what side of the bed you want me on.”
I rolled my eyes, trying to rein in my frustration.
“How about the left side? It’s closest to the bathroom.”
“Oh, and because I’m a girl, I automatically need to be close to the bathroom? How incredibly sexist of you.”
I dropped the blankets to the bed and scrubbed a hand down my face. She was going to be the death of me. Hell, this was probably her plan all along—drive me crazy to the point she killed me and could steal the reindeer for her stupid Frozen Palooza.
“I’m just trying to be a nice guy and make things more comfortable for you,” I replied sternly, my eyes finally opening to see her walking across the room to look inside the bathroom.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for being difficult . This wasn’t how I expected to spend my night—just like you didn’t either. I appreciate you offering me a place to stay until the storm passes.”
“You’re welcome.”
I set a stack of blankets on her side of the bed and then went to the kitchen for a drink of water while giving her time to get settled. I had also set out a T-shirt and a pair of sweats for her since I figured she wasn’t going to want to sleep in the outfit she had on. It went fine with the pointy boots she had on earlier, but the tight, shimmery pants and low-cut shirt didn’t look comfortable to try to sleep in.
By the time I got back to the room, she was under the covers and facing the bathroom so I couldn’t see her face. I grabbed a pair of joggers from the closet and changed before climbing onto my side of the bed. It felt weird to be sharing the space with someone else, but I tried to ignore that as I forced myself to get some rest. Tomorrow would be an early day with a mountain of a list of things to do.