29. Rosie

Chapter 29

Rosie

Forrester Sibling Group Chat

Rosie : The rumor is true.

Jules : Which one?

Rosie : Dylan Savage is as good a kisser as he is hockey player.

Rosie : Are you there?

Rosie : Why isn’t anyone responding?

Rosie : Brooootherrrs.

Haydn : We need time to process this development.

Jules : And we’d appreciate a maturity rating on any further texts that will contain graphic depictions.

Bennett : I thought the relationship was fake!???

Rosie : The relationship may be fake, but the kissing was oh, so VERY real.

Jules : Blocked

It took me so long to fall asleep, I was offended when freezing cold water dripped onto my face and woke me up. I flailed in my bed, stuck in my heavy covers, and accidentally kicked the step stool I’d been using to do an above-water scene near the ceiling before I heard Dylan finally come home and could relax.

My bedsheets and blankets were damp.

I flipped on my lamp, but it remained dark. Ugh. The power was out. I used my phone’s flashlight and shined it around to see that my entire bedroom floor was covered in a shiny pool of water. I must have been in a deep sleep not to hear this happen.

Lizzy scratched at the door with high-pitched trills. Oh, poor furless thing. If her heated blanket wasn’t working, she’d be freezing.

Outside, the storm raged, and with a surge of wind, more water trickled from an ominous bubble in the ceiling onto my bed.

I let out a squeal as more of the chilly water splashed onto my skin.

“Rosie? What’s wrong?” Dylan’s muffled voice boomed through the wall.

A huge chunk of ceiling collapsed, and freezing, filthy water cascaded over me like a waterfall. I don’t know what sound I made next, but it was enough for Dylan to kick in my door and be standing in my bedroom doorway in the next blink. I scrambled to my feet on my bed, my pajamas sticking to me like an icy second skin.

His eyes were wide with shock as he took in the mess of my bedroom, and then me.

“I have a leak.” The words trembled out through my shaking lips.

Dylan stepped onto the sloshy flooring to where I was perched on the bed and swept me into his arms. “You’re freezing cold.”

As he turned, I saw that my fresh artwork, the paint still wet when I’d gone to bed, had smeared across most of the mural, ruining it. Dylan’s long strides took us quickly from the room.

“Lizzy,” I said as we left the apartment. Dylan paused, then turned around and opened the door again so Lizzy could follow us out. She was trembling as well. Probably scared on top of being cold. I knew the roof needed some repairs, but I hadn’t realized it was so dire.

We entered Dylan’s apartment and went straight to the bedroom. Dylan set me gently on the bed, and rifled through his drawers, pulling out a huge sweatshirt and super soft joggers that he tossed to me. “You need to get warm. Your lips look blue.”

I took the clothes into the dark bathroom and changed by the light of my phone. If only I could take a steaming hot shower. But the power being out meant that my ancient electric water heater was useless to me right now.

When I came out of the bathroom, it was to the sight of Dylan swaddling Lizzy like an adorable little baby. She was tucked into one of my extra fleece blankets and snuggled close to his broad chest.

“Who’s the nurturer now?” I said through chattering teeth.

He leveled me with a dry look. “What happens during a Winterhaven storm, stays in Winterhaven.”

I snorted out an unexpected laugh that was interrupted by a shiver.

“Come here.” He patted the bed beside him. “I moved the bed away from the wall, so hopefully we won’t get drenched tonight.”

My stomach did a hop and then a skip at “we.” And it did a full acrobatic twist when he lifted the covers for me. Okay, then. I guess I was getting into bed with Dylan Savage.

I climbed into bed, and he got under the covers as well, Lizzy still burrowed into his chest—her eyes at half-mast and her deep purrs letting us know she was in heaven.

I wasn’t jealous of my cat. I turned my phone’s flashlight off, plunging us both into darkness. This whole one-bed business would be way less awkward if we didn’t see each other.

I faced Dylan and when he adjusted his position under the covers, his foot brushed mine.

He hissed out a swear. “Your feet are ice blocks.”

“You should feel my hands.” And because I had the maturity of a twelve-year old, I reached out to touch his neck with my numb hands. He sucked in a breath, but instead of reeling away from my coldness, as I expected, he grabbed my hands and tucked them under his side. Under his obliques. The ones I’d been admiring from day one, and which were not covered in a shirt.

We were in a skin-on-skin situation.

Take that, Lizzy.

His side was so warm. Who needed hot water and electricity when they had a human furnace in bed with them?

Lizzy snuggled in deeper between us, her purrs at sonic level.

I could hear the grin in Dylan’s voice when he said, “Does she always sound like this?”

“When she’s warm and happy,” I said, my breathing still a little stilted. I must have been lying in that pool of cold wetness longer than I realized. I was still freezing.

“Tuck your feet by my calves,” Dylan said.

“They’re too cold,” I protested half-heartedly as I did what he said. I hadn’t realized he’d worn shorts to bed, until my feet were pressed against the bare skin of his calves.

“I’m always on ice. I’m going to pull you closer,” he warned me. As if there were a universe in which I would protest to Dylan pulling me into his bare chest.

Lizzy relocated to nestling between our stomachs, and I pressed my face into the hollow between Dylan’s neck and collarbone. My icy nose thawed out minute by minute.

“You know, this was a lot of effort just to get your bed back,” he whispered teasingly.

“Bet you didn’t see this coming,” I said into his neck, and I felt his reverberating chuckle against my whole body. His skin was soft against my lips. I wanted to explore that sensation further.

“Rosie, I haven’t seen anything coming since I met you.” He rested his chin against the top of my head, securing me beside him.

As I grew warmer, my shivering lessened, and I was able to relax into him more fully. A less selfish person might insist on not using Dylan to keep themselves warm.

But like Lizzy, I had no intention of leaving this spot anytime soon.

My eyelids grew heavier, and to the sound of Lizzy’s purring and Dylan’s steady breathing, I fell asleep.