Until Harry(18)

“The latch on the door is broken,” he murmured, his voice low to soothe me. “That’s why it opens when it’s been closed – you know this. We talked about it, remember?”

I refused to believe that.

If that was true, then why did the door just magically decide to open in the dead of night? Why not during the day when it was bright out and not scary? I’d tell you why: it was because there was no stupid broken latch on the door. It was the hideous monsters that lived inside my wardrobe that opened the door at night. They were planning to take me away.

“It’s them,” I mumbled into Kale’s chest. “I know it is.”

He sighed but chuckled a little. “I’m not going to argue with you. Move over and I’ll sleep on the outside of your bed, so that way, if they come out, they’ll have to fight me to get to you.”

I gasped in horror. “No! What if they take you away?”

They couldn’t take Kale away from me. No one could. I wouldn’t allow it.

“I’m not going anywhere – now move over. It’s really late, and I’ve to get up for my football match tomorrow morning.”

I did as Kale asked; I moved to the inside of my bed and shivered because that section of the bed was cold. Kale settled next to me, and I thought he was going to turn his back to me so he could watch the wardrobe, but he didn’t. He lay on his back and used his left hand to tug me over to him. I was wide-eyed as he settled my head on his shoulder. His arm was hooked around my body and his hand rested on my hip.

My. Hip.

I began to breathe heavily, and I felt myself blush like crazy. I could actually feel the heat crawl up my neck and spread out over my cheeks like wildfire.

What the heck was happening?

“You okay?” Kale mumbled to me, then yawned.

I cleared my throat. “Yep . . . just scared about the monsters.”

That was a lie; I wasn’t bothered about the monsters anymore. I was freaked out that I was feeling strange lying like this on Kale. He was on my bed, and I was just lying on him. I liked it. A lot. And that was super weird because Kale was like my brother, but I didn’t feel all tingly in my stomach when I lay with my real brothers, so why was it like this with Kale?

I’m coming down with a severe case of the flu, I thought. It’s the only explanation.

“Lane, are you sure you’re okay?” Kale pressed, worry laced throughout his tone. “You’re breathing really fast.”

I swallowed and tried to control the rise and fall of my chest.

“Yep, I’m good, like I said . . . just scared of the monsters.”

He sighed. “There are no such thing as monsters, Lane. I told you to pay no attention to those stupid lads in your class at school.”

I grunted and sat up so I could look down at Kale. My room was dark, but the night-light plugged into my wall helped brighten the place up a little. It was enough for me to see Kale’s face anyway.

I looked down at his tired features, my eyes scanning over them. “But what if they’re right? What if monsters do come through the wardrobe at night and kidnap me? What if they eat me and spit out my bones? That would be horrible, Kale. I’d never survive it.”

I frowned when Kale shook with silent laughter.

“I’m not playing right now!” I huffed.

He laughed harder and had to put his hand over his mouth to muffle the noises.

I shoved at him. “You’re horrible!”

I turned my back to him and lay down on my side of the bed. I tugged my duvet up and covered myself with it completely, but the darkness creeped me out, so I poked my head out of the duvet, leaving everything else covered. Kale was lightly chuckling as he turned to me and grabbed at me with his hands under the covers. I slapped at his hands and kicked at his legs, and he found it bloody hilarious.

I was just about t0 explode with anger when Kale suddenly grabbed hold of my body and pulled me back into his. He wrapped his arms around me and pinned my arms to my sides, trapping my legs together by throwing his leg over them. I felt his bare chest pressed against my back and felt his breath on my neck.

“Kale,” I breathed, “what are you doing?”

I was feeling something, and I wasn’t sure what. I was very aware that it was Kale who was holding me, and I was also aware that I really liked it. I liked it in a way that I didn’t quite understand.

“Protecting myself,” he chuckled. “I knew you were about to snap and hit me.”

He was provoking me by laughing on purpose then.

I growled. “You’re such an idiot.”

“Possibly,” he said, chuckling, “but I’m an idiot who is going to protect you from all harm. Especially monster harm.”