We headed up to our room after our meal and I immediately changed into my pajamas. Xavier chuckled and shook his head, but he ducked into the bathroom to change into joggers and a tee shirt.
I stuck my tongue out at him.
He smirked as he sat on the bed. His deep voice was husky as he said, "I can think of better things for that tongue to do."
I frowned, not understanding what he meant, I said, "What?"
He smiled and closed his eyes, then opened them to look at me and said, "You are so innocent." After a moment watching me trying to puzzle it out, he said, "Never mind, love. We have phone service, you should consider calling your mom."
I tapped my fingers on my thighs, then sighed and looked at my phone. I had dozens of texts from my mom and Alice and Gabe.
The texts from Alice and Gabe were mostly about school and the work I was missing, and tea about the drama I was missing.
Most of the texts from mom were just to tell me she loved me and was thinking of me, but the last one from earlier today showed concern that I hadn't responded yet.
So I called my mom. She answered on the first ring. Xavier gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before resting his hand near mine.
"Ash, honey is everything okay?"
"Yes, mom, everything is fine. I'm sorry I haven't called or texted for a few days, I was just really busy with a project and got kind of carried away with it."
I chatted with my mom for over an hour. I didn't tell her about the roadtrip. I wasn't sure how, or even what, to say about it. After we said our goodbyes and ended the call I went deep into thought.
"Ash. Is everything okay," Xavier asked.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just... thinking..."
"Yeah you are," he chuckled.
I turned my head to look at him and he was studying me, a small smile playing at his lips.
"What?"
"I asked you how your mom is doing and you ignored me."
"Oh! She's fine," I nodded.
"So, what are you thinking so hard about?"
"I'm wondering when my wolf will return," I said, my voice soft.
Xavier sighed and wrapped his hand around mine. "She will return when she feels safe, and she will feel safe when you feel secure and supported, and you will feel secure and supported by me stepping up and being the friend and mate to you I should have been from the beginning. It's going to take time, and patience." He leaned over and kissed my forehead, "so be patient and try to keep from forcing her."
I nodded, sighing happily for the burst of tingles dancing on my forehead. For us just working on being friends he sure was holding my hand and kissing my forehead and cheeks a lot. I didn't mind, though. It was actually nice, and I really appreciated he wasn't trying all the weird advances he called flirting he'd been doing before. This felt simple and easy.
And the few times I'd hugged him out of the blue, just because I felt like it, he seemed really pleased and held me until I let go.
"Want to watch something," he asked.
I nodded, "Yeah." Hard to believe I'd survived six whole days without tech based entertainment beyond games on my phone.
He handed me the remote, saying, "You choose."
Surprised, I looked at him asking, "You sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure." He chuckled at the small squeal that escaped from me.
I turned on the television and clicked through the channels before settling on another classic, this one starring Marilyn Monroe.
After the film concluded we each performed our nightly bathroom business then I snuggled under the covers, relishing the comfort of the mattress and pillow. After spending two nights curled up in a bucket seat that was reclined as far as possible, the bed felt magnificently cozy.
I watched Xavier lay down beside me and turn off the light. He turned on his side to face me.
"It's nice being able to stretch out on a mattress," I said.
"Oh, you don't like sleeping in the car," he asked.
"Not really, no." I scrunched my nose.
"I should have brought the tents and sleeping bags."
"Oh, yeah that would have made all the difference," I said.
"It would have been better than sleeping in the car."
"I wouldn't know. I've never slept in a tent."
"You've never been camping?"
"Nope."
"We'll have to change that."
"You think you're going to get me camping?"
"Sure! Why not?"
"I imagine it to be about as fun as training."
"Aww, camping is way more fun than training."
"I guess you're just going to have to prove it, then." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Deal."
Wait. Did I just agree to go camping?
"Umm, I -"
"I'll make sure we have s'mores and hot chocolate."
Well, dang it. He knows my weaknesses. I huffed. "Fine. We'll go camping some time."
"We'll start small. Pitch the tent in the backyard just to give you a feel for it, then maybe do a few weekends at different spots around the territory."
That didn't sound too bad.
He continued, "Summer's coming up. We'll start after we graduate."
"You're really into this camping idea."
"It'll be fun. S'mores and hot chocolate."
"I'm not getting out of this am I."
"Nope." He popped the 'p'. "Goodnight Ash." He leaned over to kiss my forehead.
"Goodnight Xavier." I reached for his hand and he laced his fingers with mine.