I sat down next to her on the bed and pulled her hand into mine. “You wanted to talk to her about me?”

A blush swept across Aubrey’s cheeks. “Yeah. That’s what best friends do when they’re confused about a guy. We gossip about you.”

“Were you at least going to say good things about me?” I teased.

Aubrey leaned her head against my shoulder, fitting perfectly, like she was made to be there. “Very good things.”

“Can I help with the confused part?” I asked.

She sighed deeply before answering. “This thing between us? It matters to me. A lot.”

I pulled her up into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. “It matters to me too.”

“I’ve had boyfriends before,” she tried to explain, but I didn’t like that reminder very much, and she must have felt me stiffen beneath her. “We both have pasts, Luka. They are what they are, and they’ve made us the people we are today.”

“True,” I gritted out.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve never felt before for anyone else what I’m feeling now with you. And it scares me because you matter to me so much and we haven’t even been seeing each other for very long,” she admitted.

“Is that why you’re hesitant about having sex with me?” I asked and then felt like an ass for bringing it up right now, but it had been bothering me for a while. I couldn’t understand how she had been able to say no to this crazy chemistry between us.

“It’s part of it,” she whispered.

“And the other part?” I asked, turning her head so I could see her eyes. Aubrey looked up at me with scared eyes before she shook her head. “Not ready to talk about it yet?” I asked softly, swiping my thumb across her lips.

“Not yet,” she whispered back.

“Promise to tell me later?” I pushed.

She smiled at me, a look of relief crossing her beautiful face. “Yes, I promise.”

“Well then it sounds like we only have one more problem to tackle tonight,” I said teasingly.

“And what would that problem be?” she asked.

“What you’re going to wear to bed because I’m not letting you leave,” I murmured.

“Not letting me, huh?”

“Yup. Now that I have you here, you’re staying the night.” She laughed softly. “Am I?”

I stood up and tossed her onto the bed before I went over to my dresser and pulled out a T-shirt. “You sure are, and this will solve the problem of what to wear, so I guess the only thing left to do now is get ready for bed.”

****

I slept better than I’d ever had before having Aubrey in bed with me. We hadn’t even had sex yet and I was quickly becoming addicted to her. I had never been a huge cuddler, but I didn’t like her moving away from me at all, so I kept her close to me. We slept wrapped up in each other all night. Her head resting on my shoulder. My fingers playing in her hair. Our legs twined together.

I woke up first and tried to will my morning wood down, but it was impossible with Aubrey curled up in my arms. I wanted nothing more than to roll over and sink into her softness, but I knew she wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t like that she was keeping something from me, but I needed to be patient. It wasn’t just that she was keeping her body from me either. There had been something in her eyes last night that worried me. A problem there that I wanted to fix, but I couldn’t do that if she wasn’t talking to me about it. I guessed that my entire relationship with Aubrey was going to be a lesson in patience. I just hoped I was up to the challenge.

Aubrey started to stretch slightly next to me as she began to wake up. The feel of her body next to mine just made me harder, so I dropped a kiss onto the top of her head and rolled out of bed.

“Mmmm, good morning,” I heard her say huskily behind me before she yawned.

I turned back to look at her cuddled into my bed. “Good morning. You still tired?”

“Yeah. Sleepy,” she sighed.

I flashed her a huge grin as I realized that she wasn’t a morning person. She was too damn adorable with her guard down like this. “Go back to sleep. I’m just going to hop into the shower.”

Aubrey rolled over onto my pillow and curled up against it before closing her eyes again. And just like that, she was back asleep. I look forward to many more mornings like this in my future.

I turned the shower on much cooler than I normally did in the mornings, but I still left the door cracked open so the mirrors wouldn’t fog up so much. It always drove me crazy. I took my shower faster than usual since I didn’t shave on game nights. Hockey players are more superstitious than most, and it was a habit I couldn’t break after winning a tournament in high school where none of us had shaved.