“Right,” I say.

He pulls himself up from leaning and attempts to walk toward me but ends up hopping. The cast on his lower leg is big. I pick up the crutches and hand them to him. Finally, he relents and puts one under each arm. “Dreaded things,” he mutters.

I suppose we’re both limited in our modes of travel. Eron can barely walk, and I failed my driver’s test. Obviously. Though my mother wasn’t happy with my performance that day, she is glad I won’t be driving around the streets of New York City. And she thinks there are worse boyfriends to have than a guy who’s so polite he makes Miss Manners weep with joy. And even though he has a penchant for showing up in my bedroom late at night, he likes her gazpacho, so in her eyes, it balances out.

“I’ll see you in a week,” I tell him, smiling under the weight of his gaze. I can’t not smile when looking at him, can’t not feel warm and shivery at the same time.

He nods.

“And I’ll call you when I get settled in.”

“All right.”

“And before I go to bed, okay?”

“Yes.”

“And in the morning.”

He laughs at me. “That would be lovely.”

I bite my lip. “I hope the bed isn’t lumpy. You know how I like my sleep.”

“I do, all too well,” he says. He reaches over, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me long and slow on the lips. My toes curl. “I wish you sweet dreams.”

I smile. That’s what you are. My sweetest dream, come true.

CYN BALOG had a massive case of insomnia while writing Sleepless. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughters. Visit her online at www.cynbalog.com.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by Cyn Balog

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

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eISBN: 978-0-375-89493-0

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