Between the Stacks

Chapter 33

Normally it took me a few moments to fully wake up in the morning. On any other day, I would turn off my phone's alarm, groan about the concept of facing another day, and wonder if I could quit my job and just sell my used socks online instead. Only after my morning shower did I feel moderately alive.

But now, sprawled out on Wesley's hotel bed, I felt like I had chugged three espressos in a row.

For one brief, blinding moment, I was incandescently happy that Wesley had stayed the night. He was curled up on his side facing toward me. I fought off the instinct to wake him up with a kiss to the cheek.

Then I realized - I was in his hotel room. He couldn't have left. He had nowhere else to sleep. I was the interloper who hadn't left. And after last night's activities, there was no way I could have dragged myself back to my own room down the hall.

Should I have left? What was the protocol for this situation? I don't think Google would know. Then again, Google knows all. I was about to pull out my phone to ask before realizing my phone was still in my purse, which was halfway across the room. I didn't have the willpower to get up from underneath the sheets.

"Stop thinking," Wesley muttered. "I can hear you thinking and it's disturbing my beauty sleep."

I hadn't noticed he was awake; he must have heard me rustling around. "I may or may not be panicking," I admitted. "I don't normally sleep with colleagues. Usually."

"Does that not imply you've slept with others at the library?" A smile traced his lips. He still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Of course," I joked. "All of HR. And IT. I know all the library pick-up lines."

"Oh, I've got one too." His voice dropped an octave. "Hey, do you have a book in your pants? Because I'm checking you out."

"Boo," I said. He peeked open one eye and saw me giving a thumbs-down sign. "Zero out of ten."

"I hope that's the only thing that was zero out of ten."

"We already discussed this. Five out of five stars."

He suddenly reached out to grab me by the waist and pull me closer. I squeaked as he hauled me to his side of the bed. "Don't take this the wrong way," he said, kissing me softly on the neck. "In books and movies people are always ready to go for round two in the morning. But I just want to sleep forever, considering we have loads of time for round two later. And round three. And four. And so on."

Later. A frisson of something exciting ran down my arms. He was clearly implying that this wasn't a one-time thing.

"No offense taken," I said, sidestepping his comment. I noticed that on his side of the bed there was a digital alarm clock. It was only eight in the morning. "Isn't our train home at eleven? We have some time."

Lakshmi had booked us on a train home, rather than getting us another rental car. Thankfully we wouldn't be stranded at another cat-themed hotel on the way home.

"Actually," Wesley said. "I had another idea."

---

With his arms wrapped around me in bed, it was easy for me to agree to meet Wesley's aunt and uncle. It was only once we showered, dressed, and checked out that the anxiety hit me like a train.

He'd met my parents yesterday, and I'd be meeting his family today. Wasn't that what real couples did? Couples who hadn't actively wished for the downfall of the other person? Couples who cared for each other?

I was in deep, deep trouble.

We lugged our suitcases behind us, a rhythmic thunk-thunk-thunk against the sidewalk cracks. After a quick phone call earlier this morning, we'd canceled the train tickets and had them refunded to the library's corporate credit card, so I wasn't quite sure how we would be getting home. I decided to worry about that later. For now I would focus on the monumental task ahead of me: making a good first impression.