Page 44 of Gin and Bear It

He’s shirtless, soft-looking pajamas pants slung low on his hips. God, his body is so perfectly put together. All of his muscles look like they sprung up there effortlessly. I’m so distracted that my character immediately dies, getting attacked by one of the slow, annoying monsters in the mines that I can usually avoid easily.

“I guess I’m sleeping here,” he finally says.

My bed. My cozy little sanctuary. Being invaded. My room isn’t that big, but it’s like he’s sucked all the space away in an instant.

“Right. Bed rules,” I say once I’ve gotten over reality hitting me in the face. “First thing is absolutely no food. Not even if it’s solid, especially not if it’s crumbly. The exception is smoothies or milkshakes.”

“I’d never eat in bed,” he says, rightfully horrified. Even the thought of crumbs being in my bed makes my skin crawl.

Troy always said I was the princess from The Princess and the Pea, but seriously, who wants to lay on a single crumb? Why attract bugs? Eat your late-night snacks standing over the sink, almost hungover, the way it’s supposed to be. Lie in your bed and wither into dust before dragging a granola bar between the sheets.

“Good.” I point to Pip’s pillow. “You’ll have to share a pillow with Pip.”

His eyebrow creeps up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, Pip sleeps there after he snuggles with me. That’s his final spot on his nightly commute,” I say.

Ash gives me a long look. “But my head goes there.”

“So does his.”

“Along with the rest of his body.” He looks at Pip, who’s sprawled out on the bed in front of us. He rolls onto his back to show us more of his tummy.

“I mean, he’s a cat. He’s going to do what he wants to do,” I say, squeezing his back toe beans.

Ash sighs. “I guess.”

“As for sleep, I like to do it, but I like to laze around in bed for a while before I pass out. Are you okay with the TV being on?”

“Jada, I sleep like shit no matter what.” He sighs, exasperated. “You could do basically anything short of punching me in the face and it’ll be fine.”

“So the cat sharing your pillow won’t be a problem?”

“I mean, as long as he doesn’t try to smother me, it’s fine.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Is that everything?”

“And no touching,” I add, even though to me, it’s the most important rule. “That’s everything.”

“It’s a king-sized bed. I think we’ll be fine,” he says.

Ash pulls the blanket down on his side of the bed until he runs into Pip, who stretches. He tries to jiggle the blanket out from under him, but Pip just lies there. I nudge Pip over and he walks toward me, letting Ash slip into the bed.

Am I hallucinating or do I feel his body heat from across the bed? What size bed would I need to not sense him?

“What are you doing?” Ash asks once he’s settled in. “In the game.”

“It’s a farming and baking simulator,” I say. “I have to grow certain crops for the seasonal menu and also fight off these little monsters who want to sabotage you.”

“Oh.”

The word stretches out between us. I expect him to try to go to bed, but he watches me play. No one’s ever watched me play before, and being watched makes me way too self-conscious. My crops are failing miserably and my character is taking loads of damage.

“You don’t want to scroll on your phone or anything?” I ask him as I make my farmer character go to sleep.

“I don’t really fuck with social media and I’m in a reading slump. Hope you don’t mind that I watch.” He shrugs and lifts his hands so Pip can climb up his chest. “Oh, he’s committed to this pillow.”

Pip climbs onto his shoulder and lies down so he’s half on the pillow, half on Ash’s shoulder. It must be good enough for him because he closes his eyes.

“Told you.” I go back to my game. “What kind of books do you like?”