Chapter 27
After dinner, Jake was still there. He stayed throughout dinner and while the family watched TV afterwards. Sam slept against him off and on throughout the evening. It didn't go unnoticed by Dad, Gram or Brynna.
Even by the time the rest of the family was ready for bed, Jake stayed.
"Are you going up to bed soon, Sam?" Brynna had to ask.
"Soon," Sam promised.
"Goodnight then," Sam's family said to the two young people.
"Goodnight," Jake told them.
Sam yawned and nuzzled into him when her family had left.
"Do you want me to go so you can sleep?" Jake asked.
"No," Sam shook her head. "I don't get to see you enough, so I don't want you to go."
"I have to go eventually," Jake pointed out.
"Why?" Sam teased. "If it meant you'd stay with me forever, I'd gladly stay sick."
"You know I have to go back," Jake stroked her hair and Sam sighed.
"Yeah," she murmured, her eyes closing. "I don't have to like it though."
Jake couldn't help the smile. He hated leaving her behind, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't make him feel great to know she missed him like this. It made him feel ten feet tall and superhuman.
A bit later as he watched the late news on TV, he felt her shivering.
"Are you cold?" Jake asked.
"A little," Sam confessed.
"Maybe I should go," Jake said.
"No, please," Sam begged. "Just hold me and I'll warm up."
Jake pulled the quilt off the back of the couch.
"Move for a second," he instructed her and Sam moved out of his arms. Jake lay on his side and opened his arm for her. Sam slid in front of him and Jake spread the quilt over the two of them.
"How's that?" he asked.
"Perfect," Sam laid her head on his arm. She sighed as his arm came around her waist, bringing her up against his chest.
"Let me know if you get stiff and want to go to bed," Jake told her.
"Not anytime soon," Sam murmured and Jake smiled behind her.
He knew the instant she fell asleep. She lay so trustingly in his arms and Jake wasn't sure he could love her anymore than he did.
Jake hated that she wasn't feeling well, but couldn't complain about being able to spend his day with her. He was sure he'd hear about it later from his family, but he'd take any amount of teasing to be with her.
It would be hard for him to describe to anyone, but she brought him comfort as much as he comforted her. He felt complete when he was with her and he hadn't realized it until he had come here.
Jake knew these feelings he had for Sam would only get more pronounced once the two of them were intimate. He wasn't sure when that would be. He surprised himself to realize he was in no rush. It would happen, he was sure of it. He had the rest of his life to make love to her.
As he lay with her back against his chest, Jake couldn't help thinking that she felt so perfect against him. He hoped her family wouldn't come back down and demand that he leave.
Jake snorted to himself. Then he frowned imaging Wyatt's response. Jake groaned to himself. Wyatt would shoot him if he knew he was lying on the couch with his sixteen year old daughter.
He had no idea when he too fell asleep.
Wyatt and Gram had already started their day and were surprised to find Sam and Jake sleeping on the couch.
"He was here all night?" Wyatt asked his mother.
"Looks like it," Gram told him. "I doubt he left and came back over already."
"Doesn't it bother you that they're sleeping on the couch together?" Wyatt wondered.
"Not really," Gram was honest. "They're sleeping, Wyatt. Your daughter is sick, exhausted and more than likely finally slept through the night for the first time in days."
"But…," Wyatt began. "They slept together on the couch."
"They didn't do anything but sleep," Gram said. "Jake wouldn't do that with you upstairs. He respects you and her too much."
"I noticed you said 'with me upstairs'," Wyatt murmured.
"They're young people with hormones," Gram reminded him. "Both were raised right, Wyatt. Trust them."
"That's my daughter in there," Wyatt pointed towards the living room. "She's sleeping on the couch with her boyfriend."
"Sleeping," Gram emphasized. "Wyatt, you can't stop them when they decide to be intimate."
Wyatt flinched visibly. Gram raised her eyebrows at her son. "You were eighteen once."
"Which is why I flinched," Wyatt responded.
Gram rolled her eyes and got busy starting the coffee and making breakfast.