The game ended an hour ago, but we stayed up while she vented about the Sox and their pathetic relief pitching. I'm not sure if it was the two beers or the long day at the office, but soon her eyes were slipping closed and her weight shifted, bringing her body closer to mine at the end of the couch.

I watch her sleep, our noses mere inches away from each other. I'm not sure how we ended up here, her body pressed against mine. But I'm not complaining. I long to sleep with her by my side each and every night. It feels so natural, so comfortable.

But I can't tell her how I feel, so I'll take what I can get and I'll relish every moment in silence until she wakes.

I try to remain still, but it is so hard with her hand sprawled along my back, her fingers tangled in my hair as her thumb absentmindedly brushes against me every so often.

I watch her lips as she sleeps. It is so tempting to just reach out and-

I know I shouldn't. It's taking all my willpower to just lay here and watch her sleep and not touch her, even though every fiber of my being wants to know how her skin feels, how it tastes.

With each breath she exhales, a tuft of her dark hair moves ever so slightly...taunting me. It is pure torture to watch and not touch.

I love her so much.

I don't know where I would be without her in my life. Her whole family has taken me in, given me a home...a place where I feel loved.

I know she loves me, too. I see it in her eyes, the way she looks at me sometimes. There's a softness there that spreads to her smile when she looks at me. That's when I know she needs me just as much as I need her.

My eyes dart to her bedroom door. How I wish we were in her bed, where the scent of Jane permeates every fabric.

I want nothing more than to have her hands all over my body, to grind my body into her sheets in pure unadulterated ecstasy.

But that is too much to ask, so instead I'll just stay here on the couch with her and enjoy her gentle touch.

I inch closer as I watch her eyelids flutter. She's dreaming, I think. I drop my gaze down to her lips. They are parted slightly as she breathes. I can't control the urge any longer. This is my once chance, so I take it. I open my mouth as I close the distance and take the forbidden taste.

Jane bolts up so quickly, it startles me. I jump to the far end of the couch, away from her fury. I'm literally trembling with fear as she stares at me; eyes wide and filled with shock. She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What the hell?" She practically spits the words at me. "God, your breath is disgusting."

Yours is laced with the taste of stale beer, so you really shouldn't be talking- is what I want to say.

Instead, I sit in silence. She's disappointed in me and revolted. I cower a little further at my end of the couch.

She shakes her head and looks at me again.

It takes a beat or two, but finally I see some of the softness return to her eyes. I relax slightly.

She lets out a breath and rests one hand on her hip. "Well, since you've had your tongue in my mouth, I guess I just as well invite into my bed now, huh?" She waves her arm over towards her open bedroom door.

I'm no fool, so I practically run into her room, jumping into the middle of the bed as I wait for her.

She turns the television off before joining me. She crawls under the covers and rolls over on her side to face me. She eyes me suspiciously.

"Whatever you do, don't pee in the bed...okay?"

I should be appalled, but I'm not. That's just Jane being Jane.

I settle my head next to hers, this time at a safe distance so I won't be tempted again.

Her eyes are closed again as she speaks to me for the last time before she falls back to sleep, "'Night, Jo."