The Roommate (Roommates, #1)

A whispered voice at the edge of my bed woke me. “Paige?”

“Yeah?” I slurred, blinking in the darkness. The only light came from the hallway, casting the room in shadows.

Cannon’s shadowy form stood a few feet from where I slept. He said nothing, just crossed the room and sat beside me on the bed.

Groggy and confused, I lifted my head. “What time is it?”

“About one in the morning. We were overstaffed and slow, so they sent me home early.”

That didn’t explain what he was doing in my bedroom. I blinked at him slowly.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he continued.

It took me a second to remember what had happened earlier. I’d gone on a date with Daniel the Douche and ended up with a bloody nose. It hadn’t hurt much, so the blood had surprised me.

“I’m fine,” I said.

Cannon’s warm palm found my cheek, and he brushed the hair back from my face. “Couldn’t sleep till I made sure you were all right.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

I swallowed, leaning into his touch, enjoying the way his strong fingers felt moving through my hair, stroking my scalp. Letting my eyes slip closed, I murmured something unintelligible, and Cannon chuckled.

“Just rest, princess. Sorry I woke you.”

I felt his lips on my forehead, and then the mattress shifted as he rose from the bed. Missing his warm, masculine touch almost immediately, I reached out toward him.

“Don’t go. Not yet,” I whispered.

Normally, I would have been too ashamed to say that. I would have forced myself to be an adult and let him leave. But deep in the night, in the pitch-black darkness, I could ask for what I wanted. I didn’t have to look at his face or worry about what he saw on mine. Nothing that happened between midnight and sunrise counted; I could hide behind the strange darkness that blanketed the world when everyone we knew was asleep. And in the daylight, I could write off this slipup as a dream.

He hesitated for the briefest of moments, and I moved over, making room in the bed.

Then he climbed in beside me, lying down on top of the covers, and in his calming presence, I fell back to sleep almost instantly.