Hot For Sensei

Chapter Sixty-Three

Ivy awoke to the sound of her toaster. It took her a moment to register the sound in her sleepy state, but when she did, she flew out of bed, anxious to see who had set her toaster off. She opened her door slowly and tip-toed cautiously to her kitchen, her fists raised and ready to knock out whoever had broken in. Crouching slightly, she peeked carefully between the cupboards and the bar to see a familiar figure with a fiery red mohawk. With a loud sigh of relief and agitation, she dropped her fists and relaxed her body.

"Eli! What the fuck?"

"Jesus!" Eli gasped, startled, and dropped the utensil he was holding, "You scared the shit outta me!"

"Me? I thought you were an intruder!" she groaned, "I was about to attack you!"

"Sorry. I just wanted to wake you up nicely since I felt bad about not staying over last night so I came to make you breakfast." Eli explained shyly, moving to reveal a plate of eggs and toast.

"Well thank you." Ivy moved to him, "But how did you get in?"

"You didn't lock your door...did you mean to?" he asked as he handed her the plate of food.

"I wasn't in the best mindset last night..." she mumbled and pushed the eggs around the plate with her fork, "I guess I forgot..."

"Is everything alright?" he frowned, placing a hand on her hip as she ate.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Just been stressed out from the merger I guess." She nodded and swallowed, eager to change the subject, "So your little project, is it done?"

"My planning for the little project is done, yes, but now the plan needs to be put into action." He gave her a teasing smirk, "Will you help me?"

"I don't like that look." She shook her head suspiciously and placed her empty plate on the counter, "What does it entail?"

"A little determination and a lot of elbow grease. No biggie." He shrugged with a grin.

"You're recruiting me for free manual labor?" she furrowed her brows, unimpressed.

"Not for free..." Eli murmured, his fingers sliding under her shirt and tickling along her waist, "I fully intend to compensate you."

Her skin felt hot where his fingers had danced, and she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. This wasn't fair, she craved his touch so badly she'd probably do anything for it at this point, and part of her wondered if he knew that. She looked to him longingly and bit her lip as his eyes lusted for her, and she found it hard not to give in.

"Alright, alright, I'll help." She took a breath and a step back, "Just let me get dressed."

"Thank you." He smiled, "Everything we need is in my car, ride with me?"

"Yeah." Ivy nodded and walked away, "Clean up and I'll meet you out there."

"Will do, gorgeous." He winked and went to cleaning up breakfast.

As she changed in her room, she was reminded of when Johnny had made them all churn concrete and then jump into the mixer. Just thinking about it made her sweat, and she dressed accordingly. It was probably below zero back home, but even in the winter you could get heat stroke here. It may have been nearly two years since she moved here, but her body still hadn't adjusted to it. She slipped into a pair of thin, black yoga pants, a black tank top, and a pair of her more worn-out tennis shoes. As she moved to the mirror to put up her hair, she got a glimpse of the bruise on her chest in her reflection. It had gotten smaller since the fight with Kreese, but it was still there, purple and kind of veiny, still touching her tattoo. It made her self conscious as she put up her hair into a messy bun, and she quickly found her red Eagle Fang hoodie and pulled it over her head to hide it. Satisfied but ashamed, she left her apartment to meet Eli outside, making sure to lock the door this time.