She was scared shitless.

I glanced over at her as she gripped the blanket in her hands so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

Her eyes were glued to the TV and if she didn’t look so damn cute in her fear, I might have laughed. Instead, I touched my hand against her thigh. My plan was to comfort her. To let her know that nothing would touch her while I was here, but all I managed to do was scare her more.

She screamed, a sound that hurt my ears and probably woke her neighbors, and she swung out her arm and hit me dead in the chest.

“What the hell was that for?” I rubbed my chest where it was now aching.

“Are you insane? You don’t touch someone in the middle of a scary ass movie. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you.” She slyly looked behind her into the dark apartment, but I saw it.

“I was just trying to comfort you.” I chuckled. “Plus, I don’t think you could actually kill me.”

“Don’t underestimate me. My fight or flight skills are insane.”

Screaming on the movie jerked her attention back to the screen, and she pulled the blanket higher over her body.

I watched her as she watched the rest of the movie. I didn’t give a damn what was happening on the TV screen.

She flashed her eyes to mine as the credits began rolling, and I needed air. Being around her, becoming wrapped in her, I needed to clear my head.

“I’m going to head out.” I stretched my arms above my head.

“What?” Her green eyes flicked around the apartment, and I had to hide my smile.

“I’m going to head home. I have to be on the job site first thing in the morning to meet the inspector.”

I stood from her couch and grabbed our dinner trash from the table before carrying it to the kitchen.

“I could get that you know.”

I gave her a look that told her not to mess with me, and she rolled her eyes before cuddling deeper into the couch.

“What time do you have to be at work?” She picked at the polish of her fingernail.

“I need to be there around seven. Why?” I threw our containers in her trash before shutting the lid.

“I just thought since it’s so late maybe you would want to stay the night.”

She avoided looking at me, and I couldn’t hide my smile.

“I’ll be damned.” I chuckled.

“What?” Her eyes jerked up to mine.

“Never in my life would I think badass, Staci Johnson, would be so scared from a movie that she would need me to stay.”

“I’m not scared.” She threw her blanket down on the couch before making her way into the kitchen where I stood. “I was just being nice since it’s so late.”

I grinned. “So, you’ll be fine if I leave?”

“Of course, I will be fine, Mason. I do live on my own you know.”

“Then I’ll head home.”

I saw the momentary panic in her face before she quickly hid it. “Fine.”

She was leaning against the counter with her arms crossed, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss the stubborn look off her face. Instead, I put my hands on the counter at her sides and leaned into her space.

“Just say that you want me to stay, and I’ll stay.”

Her lips were just a whisper away from mine, and I could feel the heat of her breath.

“I was just being nice.” Her eyes sparked with defiance, challenge.

“Okay. Then goodnight.”

I leaned into her and brushed my lips against her cheek. Her eyes closed and her breath hitched so slightly that I barely even noticed.

But God, I noticed.

I pushed off the counter, leaving her standing there, but as I turned away, her small hand grabbed mine.

She took a deep breath and it was easy to see she was struggling with her decision, with her stubbornness.

“I want you to stay.”

I could barely hear her words.

“What was that?” I cupped my hand around my ear and leaned toward her.

She rolled her eyes, which seemed like a constant when I was around, and said it again. “I want you to stay. Okay, ass?”

“All you had to do was say so.”

She rolled her eyes again before she huffed, and I laughed as she walked away from me and headed into her room.

And I followed her.

She started throwing pillows off the bed before she started pulling down the blanket, and I took the time to look around her room.

There was floor to ceiling bookshelves covering one wall and every inch of space filled with books.

“I knew you liked to read, but I didn’t realize you liked to read this much.” I ran my finger across the spines as I took in the titles of the books. She had every type of romance novel imaginable.

“Yeah. It’s my thing.” She climbed into the bed and pulled the comforter up to her chin.

“You have a lot of things.” I unzipped my jeans before pulling them down my legs.

“I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“Well then I’m not going to tell you,” I smirked before pulling my shirt off.

“Why are you taking your shirt off?”

“To sleep?” I held my shirt in my hand.

“You’re at a sleepover. You don’t sleep naked at a sleepover.”

“You don’t?”

“Have you ever been to a sleepover?”

“Yes. Me and my buddies have sleepovers all the time where we braid each other’s hair and gossip about girls.” I dropped my shirt on top of my jeans and climbed into her bed. She was lying on her side facing me, and my hand ached to reach out and push her black hair out of her face.

“I bet you and Parker did that shit all the time.” She grinned.

“He tried, but he’s really in touch with his feminine side.”

She laughed as she turned away from me and turned off the lamp.

We were silent for several minutes with only the sound of our breathing filling the room.

“Are we going to cuddle?” My whisper broke the silence.

“No.” She laughed. “You don’t cuddle at sleepovers.”

“Well shit. Me and Parker were completely doing this sleepover thing wrong.”

She laughed as she buried her face in her pillow, but she didn’t reach out for me.

But when I woke up the next morning, her body was wrapped around mine and I reveled in the feeling before she could wake up and pull away.