I watched Rex carefully as he ate the sandwich he made for himself. I had changed into a pair of pajama pants and a large t-shirt he had given me and was sitting on one of his kitchen table chairs. My knees were pulled up to my chest with my arms wrapped tightly around them.

"Seriously, Rose. I'm fine. Stop worrying." He grumbled around a mouth full of sandwich, though that did nothing to ease my nerves. He was quite literally locked up for six hours.

"I'll take a shower and be good as new." His tone was light, even teasing somewhat which was such a stark difference from how he had been in the car. I think he did it to lighten the mood, but I could never be sure with him.

We came inside shortly after he made that weird cryptic comment, and even though he had leaned forward and kissed the tip of my nose before letting me go, it wasn't my lips. It still made heat pulse throughout my entire body.

His words had only made me more confused than ever, but I was suddenly too exhausted to nag him about it. And he was tired from his day. I had almost forgotten what he went through too, how selfish was that?

My cheek was resting against the top of my knees and I was staring absently at Rex's fridge as he finished off his food and stood to his feet. I blinked up at him as he stepped into my field of vision, his hand outstretched for mine with a small smile pulling at those gorgeous lips.

"Bedtime, Roza."

Yeah, okay, bedtime.

I slipped my fingers through his and let him pull me to my feet before leading me into his bedroom. I was in Rex Turner's bedroom. That was something I was never going to be able to get used to.

"Will you tell me what happened tomorrow?" I asked on a tired yawn as I climbed into his comfy bed. Though I spent more time sleeping on him than bed's lately. I glanced over at his alarm clock only to blink in shock as the little green numbers flickered eight o'clock.

Wow, it was early.

"Of course." He spoke casually as he walked over to his dresser and grabbed a clean pair of basketball shorts and a plain black t-shirt.

I rolled my eyes at the way he said 'of course', almost like it would be ridiculous that I even had to ask. Because, you know, he's always been so forthcoming with information before.

"I'll be out in a couple of minutes." He called over his shoulder before slipping into his bathroom and shooting a smile over his shoulder.

Smiley Rex was also something I would never be able to get used to either. Sure, he was always good looking, no matter what, but he put a whole new definition to the word 'perfect' when he smiled.

Too perfect for you.

"Did you text you sister?" Rex asked ten minutes later as he stepped out of the steamy shower fully clothed—sadly. I nodded in response and reached over to plug my cellphone into the charger he had gotten for me.

Luce wasn't exactly happy I was staying the night with him. She even threatened that her and Tate would come get me, but she had no idea where Rex lived. I loved my sister, and I felt bad, I really, truly did, but I didn't care about what she wanted when it came to Rex anymore.

She liked him more when we first became friends, even held a regular conversation or two with him after what happened at Halloween. But I was still her kid sister sleeping at some hormonal teenage boy's apartment.

Not that he ever planned on kissing me.

Like ever.

Just friend. Just friends. Just friends.

"She cool with it?" He asked as he tossed the silk sheets back that I had been curled beneath.

"When is she ever?" I grumbled but tucked my hands under the pillow I had coveted and watched him with a dreamy gaze. He chuckled and shook his head as he climbed in next to me.

He always wore a t-shirt to bed, at least when we were together, and it made me sad. I had only ever seen him shirtless once, when I had followed them to his 'job', and I was a little too 'out of it' to appreciate the sight.

I wasn't sure if he was one of those guys that wore a shirt to sleep, or if he just did it because of me. Either way, I wish he wouldn't. I can stay just friends with him and gawk at his muscles—right?

"Do you feel better?" I asked softly as he reached over and flicked off the lamp by his nightstand.

"Hm." He mumbled as he rolled over until he was leaning on his side facing me. "Loads. You comfortable?" He asked on a yawn, like he did every night, even when he slept over at my place.

"Yeah." I smiled softly, since I knew what was coming next. A little game we had started before we fell asleep, if you could even call it that.

"Well I'm not." He would grumble and then reach over until he could scoop his arms around my waist and pull me against him. I would wiggle until he would let me roll over and then squish my back tightly against his hard chest.

"Mm, now I am." He murmured into my ear, like every night for the past week or so. I couldn't help the giggle that passed my lips.

He was quiet for a moment, his hand gently running along my arm as his hot breath fanned my shoulders. "I like your laugh." He spoke quietly, his body spreading warmth into my own. "I wish you would laugh more."

"What do you mean? I smile all the time."

"Yeah, you smile all the time. But you don't laugh a lot."

His words seemed almost sad as that soft touch of his brushed slowly over my arm. I didn't want to think about sad things though. Not when we were lying like this, about to fall asleep. This was my happy time.

I shrugged and reached up with my sprained wrist to rest gently on top of his strong forearm. I put it there every night so I wouldn't accidentally roll over on it in my sleep. "I guess I just don't find a lot of things funny." I murmured softly as another yawn tore from my lips.

"I can change that." Rex muttered into my skin, his arms tightening around me as his face buried into my hair. "I will change that." The dedication in his tone surprised me, but I didn't say anything about it as silence fell over us.

I wasn't sure why he wanted to make me laugh so badly, but if that meant he was going to try and be funny I wasn't going to stop him. I curled further into him and let out a relaxing sigh as the day finally slipped away.

I didn't care about funny. All I needed was him.

The beyond soft, barely there, touch slowly brushing along the back of my thigh pulled me from the deep, dreamless sleep I had fallen into. Only with Rex could I sleep so soundly for so long. I let out a quiet, sleepy moan as I cuddled my face further into the soft fabric of his t-shirt.

Why did I wake up?

As if to answer my question, that soft, slow movement ran slowly up the back of my right thigh once again. The feeling shot electric tingles straight through every part of my body. Was that... Rex?

I tried not to move much against him. Besides the gentle rubbing on my leg he hadn't moved an inch, and I didn't want to wake him if that was some unconscious, sleeping action. But those fingertips made goose bumps pop over my bare skin.

Bare skin...?

My breathing hitched in my throat. Uh oh... I did this thing when I was sleeping if I went to bed with pants on and got too hot. Unconscious me always kicked them off to cool down. I must have done that last night, since sleeping next to—on top of—that boy was like sleeping in a furnace. An insanely comfortable, wouldn't trade it for the world furnace, but still.

Oh God. If he woke up and realized I was only wearing a t-shirt and underwear he would probably freak. So not something only a friend should be wearing with their other friend.

Would he get mad? Yell?

Would he hate me?

A small surge of panic began to build in my chest, and I knew I had to get my pants back on before he woke up. I didn't want to freak him or push him away, especially after that little episode in the car. He was the only reason I could sleep, the only person who made me feel okay—even if it was only for a little while.

I tried to stay as quiet as possible as I went to wiggle slowly out of his grip. Though it was nearly impossible tearing myself away from a beautiful sleeping Rex Turner who kept petting me. If I wasn't so mad at myself for kicking my pants off and freaking him out, I would have stayed there for an eternity.

"What are you doing?" The gruff voice broke through the quiet silence of his dark room. The hand that had been softly brushing my thigh turned into a gentle grip on my skin.

"Uh, I—I..." I had completely frozen at being caught. Did he notice that I wasn't wearing the pants? Or was he too sleepy to care? I prayed for the second one.

"It's early, Roza. Go back to bed." That dark voice grumbled as the strong arm that was wrapped around my back tightened and eased my body back onto his chest. The hand gripping my thigh eased down until it hooked behind my knee and pulled my leg up around his waist.

My face was on fire, and I was more thankful than ever that he couldn't see how much. "I-I have to go to the bathroom." I mumbled against his chest as his thumb rubbed softly against my skin. I was half on the bed, half on him with that leg he kept touching thrown across his stomach.

He let out an unpleased grunt, but slowly let go of my leg and unwrapped his arm from around my waist. I tried to hurry as quickly as possible so he wouldn't completely notice I was only in my underwear and a t-shirt. Thank God it was completely dark in the room. I bent down to grab the plaid pants off the floor and hurried into his attached bathroom.

I made sure the door was completely shut before I turned the lights on and pulled on the bottoms. I leaned against the counter and let out a shaky breath as the red from before slowly drained from my face. That was close. I knew he would get mad if he was awake enough to realize what I was wearing—but that didn't stop the aftershocks of his touch.

My whole body felt cold when I pulled away from him, my skin screaming at me to go back and let him keep petting it. But I couldn't. I refused to purposely do anything that would push him away.

I didn't have to pee, but I made sure to spend another minute or two in the bathroom and washed my hands before daring to leave. I would just have to stay awake for the rest of the night to make sure I don't kick them off again. Next time I'll be sure to bring my shorts-

"Eep!" I squeaked the second I opened the door and saw a yawning Rex standing there. "You scared me!" I tried to laugh off the shock on a shaky breath, my fist pushed against my beating heart—which was always pumping a thousand miles a minute from how gorgeous sleepy-him looked.

He ran that hand of his through his dark hair and gave me that gut wrenching smile I loved so much. "Sorry Sweetheart, didn't mean to." Those dark eyes flickered down my body and I watched with a small ache in my chest as that smile disappeared.

"Do you need to go too?"

That chestnut gaze flickered back to mine, and his frown disappeared as he shook his head. "No, I just missed you." My heart jumped a mile high as his strong arms circled around my waist and pulled me into his hard torso.

"Better." He murmured into my hair as he buried his face in my neck. I stood frozen in shock for a moment, before that quickly disappeared, and I let my hands slide away from his shoulders to wrap around his neck. It was a little difficult with my sprained wrist, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from hugging him.

We held each other like that for one, long, blissful moment before he eased away, forcing my hands to drop from around his neck to rest against his strong biceps. That frown was back on his handsome face.

"Why did you put these back on?" He grumbled softly as his hand dropped to tug on the waist band of the pajama pants. My eyes widened as big as saucers and I tried to force the air stuck in my throat down to my lungs where it was needed.

So, he did notice.

"I-I kicked them off while I was sleeping. I'm sorry, sleep-me just gets too hot sometimes and I..."

My rambled apology trailed off as he raised one of those dark eyebrows at me, laughter sparkling behind his eyes. "Roza, I never want you to be uncomfortable. If you want to sleep without pants on, then I one hundred percent support it." I didn't understand that bright, amused look in his gaze no matter how much it made my stomach all fluttery.

I felt heat creep up my cheeks once again as I dropped my eyes to the strong chest only a few inches away from my face. "I-I don't ever want to make you uncomfortable. And I know it's, um, not a, uh, real 'friend' thing to sleep like that and I just... I-I'm sorry."

Rex closed the small distance between our bodies, one strong arm wrapping tightly around my waist as the other rubbed up my arm. I had to drop my own hands to curl into his shirt as he shifted us backwards. That amused light didn't leave his eyes, even as his face grew serious.

"Rose." He started softly, that chestnut gaze staring into mine as his hand traced over my shoulder and up my neck. I didn't know what to think when his thumb started stroking my jaw and cheek. The intimate touch reminded me of the car and how that situation went down.

"Why do you keep throwing this 'friend' thing around?" His tone was light, but there was a firmness to it that confused my heart.

I dropped my gaze to his strong jaw as my mind flashed through that conversation from only a few hours earlier. "Because I'm trying to be a good one and I just... don't want to mess up."

His dark chuckle shook through me, and those flutters I had forced down reared their heads. "You were right earlier. I don't want to be your friend." His voice seemed to echo a thousand times in my ears.

"Uh, uh, I just—I just thought..." My heart had no idea what it should be feeling right then. "I thought we were friends."

His words would have sent me straight to a locked room with my head buried in a pillow and crying my eyes out for the rest of eternity, but that look in his eyes, and the way his hands kept—kept petting me made every part of my being feel alive and coil tight like an electric wire.

I think he could tell how confused I was, if that smirk pulling on his full lips was anything to go by. His thumb stroked down my cheek and across my jaw, the rough pad of his fingertip shooting sparks throughout my body.

He eased us back until my lower back hit the counter and pressed his forehead against mine. His free hand gripped light at my hip as my fingers curled tighter into the bottoms of his shirt. I closed my eyes and tried to suck in a deep breath of air.

That look in his gaze, and the way he held me to him, made me want things I didn't think I could ever have. I was bad at reading people, especially Rex, but I could have sworn that look on his face was the same one from the car. The same one where I thought he wanted to kiss me.

"I don't want to be your friend." He said again, his voice dark as his words made my heart clench and drop to my stomach at the same time his touch and close proximity made my mind all kinds of foggy.

"I want to be your everything."

This time I really did frown. He was my everything. The only person I really looked forward to seeing every day, the only one I thought about every single minute, the only reason why I could sleep. He completely filled my head 24/7 and I would never change that.

I was just about to open my eyes and demand to know what he meant, when all rational thought flew from my head. A soft, barely there, feather-like feeling brushed against my lips. My eyes blinked wide open only to lock with a dark, chestnut gaze that was too amused for his own good.

"Rex-"

"Sh, I'm not done."

And as if to prove his point, his lips were back to brushing mine and it took all I had in me not to pass out at the contact. He didn't just want to kiss me—he was kissing me. Air wouldn't enter my lungs and my head was spinning a thousand miles a minute.

I closed my eyes again but stood completely still. I didn't know what to do. I'd never kissed anyone before, especially Rex! And I sure as h-e-double-hockey sticks didn't want him to stop. But he did, and pulled slightly away, making my heart plummet to my feet.

"You have to relax, Roza. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I-I know that!" I squeaked with wide eyes, but he only chuckled.

"Let go. It's okay."

Oh lord, maybe this wasn't real after all. Maybe I was dreaming and none of this was happening.

I wasn't sure what he meant by 'let go', but I would do whatever he wanted if it meant he would kiss me again. So, I closed my eyes leaned back against the counter and gripped tighter at his shirt. When that soft feathery feeling touched my lips once again my mind turned numb.

I let my lips do what they wanted and as Rex softly brushed against my bottom one, I eased further into him. And then it was just—just pure natural bliss. Both of his hands were suddenly wrapping in my hair, his strong body angling over mine so he could pin me back against the sink's counter.

Rex was kissing me—and I was kissing him back! It was the best possible feeling in the entire world.

It was all too soon before he was pulling away, even though I had followed his lips with my own. He chuckled, his hands leaving my hair to brush those thumbs slowly across my cheeks. I reluctantly let him pull his face from mine.

"My Roza..." His voice all but purred as that mouth dropped slightly to nibble at my chin. I was too numb from the kiss, and the desperate, desperate urge to bring his lips back to mine to notice.

"Don't give me that pout." He let out another chuckle as he slowly pulled his face from mine, those chestnut eyes clouded with something I couldn't pinpoint—something I hadn't quite seen from him before. Whatever the look was, I liked it. It made a strange heat course throughout my entire body.