Strangely Comforting (boyxboy)

Chapter 26

My mouth dropped open. "I'm not getting in bed with you."

Xander's eyes sparkled as he grinned widely. "Then where the hell do you suppose you're going to sleep? Be grateful I'm even offering; this bed is barely even big enough for myself."

I cursed myself. "This is stupid."

Xander laughed deeply, the sound causing my heart to race. "No, you're stupid. Who doesn't check the bus schedule ahead of time?"

"Me," I shot. "I didn't check it because your idiotic self was on my mind the entire time."

Shit. My mouth had a habit of running on its own.

"Jasper," Xander said. "I don't know what's gonna happen to you if you keep saying stuff like that."

"What?" I asked.

"Just come here already."

I sighed, seeing no way out of the dreadful situation.

However, Xander's arm was laid out across the pillow where my head was supposed to go.

"Move your arm," I told him before I got in the bed.

"My god Jasper, get in here already," Xander replied, staring at me, evidently waiting for me to slide in next to him.

And so, I slowly lowered myself into the bed next to Xander. I immediately felt his body heat against my skin as I turned over on my side, my back to him. He never even moved his arm so my head inevitably rested against it.

"I see you chose me over Hayden."

I instantly shifted in the bed to face him, wildly thinking of an excuse in my head as I still rested on his arm.

"It's not like..." my voice trailed off as I stared into his unique, light green eyes and realized just how close he was to me. It made my heart thump loudly in my chest and I became hot from our body heat.

"Hm? It's not like what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as my eyes fell to his lips.

"It's not..." I tried again. "Fuck."

Xander laughed before replying. "You can say you like me better than lover boy, you know. I won't tell him."

"If you weren't in such poor condition right now, I would seriously hurt you," I said, narrowing my eyes at him. "But I see you're fine enough to make jokes."

"Of course," Xander replied. "I'll always be able to play around with you, Jasper."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

"But hey," Xander said. "Thanks for coming."

I brought my eyes back up to meet his. "Uh, yeah. No problem."

And suddenly, his hand reached out and traced across my forehead, moving my hair to the side. I sucked in a breath before my eyes landed on his arm as they trailed down to his wrist where his scars became visible.

I lifted my own hand and brought his arm down, tracing my fingers against his scars.

"Don't do this to yourself," I told him, not looking into his eyes.