The Sun in My Eyes

29 You Should See the Way She Holds Me When the Lights Go Low

😘 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! 💖

Bobby & Lili are in the Hideaway and uh...PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED 🔥🔥🔥

"Wow," Bobby said, needing to talk to quell his nerves. "This is...great!"

Soft lights glowed in the ceiling of the Hideaway, turning the loud orange walls into a dreamy sunset oasis. He breathed out and looked around. One side of the room was built up on a short platform. A huge bed was low to the ground in the center. Rose petals were scattered everywhere and at least a dozen little red candle holders surrounded the bed. The fake votives inside flickered prettily in the low light.

It was so quiet. Here there was no one to walk in on them. Or snoop at the terrace door. No one to rush them along or announce a text. Despite the cameras mounted in the corners of the room, they were truly alone.

"Look how big this bed is. It's unreal." He threw himself down on top of the soft fur coverlet. It made no noise at all and the mattress was firm beneath him. "Wow, tell you what, this is amazing," he babbled. "I bet it's got like a proper expensive mattress. Want to build a pillow fort?"

Lili hadn't moved from the center of the room. Her hands twisted together as she stared at the bed. She glanced up at the cameras mounted around the room. "I—" She looked genuinely panicked.

He scrambled off the bed and took her hands. "Hey, we don't have to do anything you're not comfortable doing. I'm happy if all you want is to spoon and talk about Taylor Swift." He gave her an encouraging smile.

She nodded. "I know. It's just...this is so nice and quiet. But without all the noise it's like I'm even more aware of the cameras. I just wish we were really alone."

"I get it." He pulled her into a hug, and she relaxed in his arms. He kissed her head. "There's got to be something that I can do to make this more comf—Oh!" An idea came to him and he grinned into her hair. "Don't move, I'll be back."

He left the hideaway and tiptoed to the linen closet next to the first floor bathroom. It was full of extra blankets and pillows and sheets. No one ever needed them as the villa was blazing hot most of the time. Air conditioning and fans couldn't run unless everyone was outside, because the sound messed with the microphones.

He grabbed a handful of blankets and sheets and carried them back to the room. Lili watched him, her brows drawn in confusion, as he dropped them on the bed and went back out, returning a moment later with a box fan he pilfered from the bottom of the same linen closet.

He went out onto the deck outside of the hideaway, it was also beautiful and closed off from the rest of the villa. Lovely. He dragged in the heavy outdoor chairs and the glass top patio table.

"Bobby, what are you—"

He stopped to catch his breath. "Every fort I've ever made has led me to this moment." He gave her a grin as he dragged furniture to the platform, placing the pieces at each corner of the bed. Nodding at his handiwork, he grabbed a handful of sheets and passed three of them to her. "Please knot these together on the long ends."

She sat cross legged on the bed and knotted the sheets together, pulling them good and tight. "This isn't at all what I imagined the night would be like."

"Give it time." He tied one end of the sheet to a chair and gave it a firm tug. She followed his lead and did the same on the other side. He crisscrossed the sheets and secured the other ends.

Lili's confusion gave way to a sunny smile. "It's a canopy?"

"Yeah, I mean what's a canopy except a fancy fort? And I'm excellent at making forts!" He shook out a blanket and handed her an end. With careful hands, he draped two of them over the top of the structure. Then, they stretched the thinner blankets out and tied them to the sides and end of the frame.