I wanted to ask her what happened. I wanted to talk with her about her relationship. I hadn’t been serious with enough women to have ever been put in that kind of situation, but I could see how hurt she was by it. Who did he cheat with? Did he give her any reason as to why he did it? Was there some massive fight that ended with her having to move or leave her job or flee home?
There was even a part of me that wanted to know his name, though I choked that part down while I continued to study her.
Her hands drew the covers close to her body while she began to shiver again. The tears subsided as she closed her eyes and sighed. Automatically, I reached out for her. I expected her to buck against me. To get upset or to push me away. But instead of fighting with me, she merely rolled back into me, allowing my arm to drape over her while my legs found hers again.
I decided it was best to simply drop the conversation right now and pick it up at a later time.
We laid there, huddled together in silence, for what seemed like ages. The blustery wind was howling past the window, and the room was steadily getting colder. I pulled Abby as close to me as I could get her before I finally heard her breathing even out, and I smiled before I placed the lightest of kisses on the top of her head.
Then, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep the best I could that night.
Chapter 12
Abby
I woke up with my body aching. With every movement I made, it was like I was trying to climb out of a vice grip. I peeled myself away from Colin’s grip and stretched, listening to every joint in my body crack. I stretched my legs and arched my back. A massive yawn unhinged my jaw while Colin slept soundly next to me. I looked over at him and squinted my eyes, taking in the way he looked so relaxed. He was always so tense and brooding. It seemed that the only place he ever really got peace was when he was sleeping.
Then, it hit me. I was squinting.
Rubbing my eyes, I rolled onto my back and looked around the room. The light beside the bed was on and so was the one over the sink. I threw the covers off me and slid out of bed, quickly getting dressed before I peeled the curtains back from the window.
And just as I had suspected, the snow had finally stopped falling.
The hotel phone rang out loudly in the room as I tried to contain my squeals. I knew the power would come back on soon enough. I went over to the heater and practically sat on it, sighing at the fact that warm air was pouring out of it. The chill my body had held onto for the majority of the night slowly fled from my body, and in its place sat a relaxing heat that settled the rest of the aches in my body. I was overjoyed at the fact that we had heat. I was elated at the fact that the power was back on.
But mostly, I was excited about the prospect of hot water.
Colin groaned and rolled over in bed, casting his arm over his eyes while he tried to get back to sleep. He was mindlessly stretching his legs while his body lay rolled up in the blankets. I watched the revelation dawn on him suddenly. His arm fell from his face, and he tried to open his eyes, but all he could do was squint.
The look on his face when he sat up in bed was priceless.
“Hello?” I asked as I picked up the phone.
“Front desk. We wanted to make sure you guys had power.”
“Yes, we do,” I said. “And warm air, too. Does that mean the hot water heater is fixed?”
“It does. Just wanted to make sure your room was up and functioning again. If you need anything, let us know.”
The call cut off, and I squealed as I set down the phone. Colin had rolled over toward me with his eyes trained on my form, but there seemed to be a slightly disappointed look in his eyes. I caught his stare for just a second before he continued rubbing the exhaustion from his face, and every single part of me wanted to get in that shower and run the hot water out of business.
I wanted to take the shower I’d set out to take yesterday. I wanted to soap up my body and stand there while the bubbles popped against my skin. I wanted my skin to burn and turn red with anger at how hot the water was, and then, I wanted to steam up the entire hotel room when I got out. I hummed at the idea of being clean while the heater continued to warm up the air around us, and as I closed my eyes and reveled in the warmth around me, I suddenly felt tired again.
The warm air on my back felt so good, and it was relaxing me back to sleep even as I stood there.
“What time is it?”
Colin’s voice was heavy with sleep, accentuating the low undertones of his voice. I felt a slight shiver scale down my
