A Blaze In My Heart

20. "Did you just call me feral? You're a beast!"

(1428 words)

My eyelids fluttered open slowly, adjusting to my surroundings, my vision going from blurry to clear, leading me to realise I was in a car—Blayze's car. As I became more conscious of my surroundings, I realised my head was resting on a shoulder. To my horror, it was Blayze's shoulder.

I immediately moved away, looking at him with my eyes wide. He didn't look my way. "We're here. Let's go." He said emotionlessly, opening the car door and instantly stepping out.

I blinked, trying to get my brain to function. As I stepped out of the car, I mentally upbraided myself for falling asleep on Blayze's shoulder. I could have rested my head on the window. Why his shoulder?!

I still felt tired, just not as much as before, where I felt like I might drop to the floor.

I walked up the steps to the entrance of the hotel, taking in the magnificent view as I did.

"Blayze. Nice to see you." A guy greeted Blayze as he walked out of the hotel, shaking hands with Blayze. I stood close behind.

"Hey, I didn't know you were in the city." Blayze replied.

"I had a conference to attend, and I thought I'd show my girlfriend around afterwards... I thought it was you. You've been sitting in the car for nearly an hour. I didn't wanna come up and say hi in case you were someone else." Said the guy, and I frowned in confusion as I listened in on their conversation.

"I was on my phone for work." Blayze replied.

"I see. Well, I promised my girlfriend a date, otherwise I would have caught up with you." Said the guy.

"No problem. Maybe some other time." Said Blayze.

"Yeah, I'll text you. See you around, I guess."

"Bye. Have a good time." Blayze said, shaking hands with him one last time. As the guy left, I neared Blayze.

"Who was that?" I asked.

He began walking into the hotel and I followed him. "A classmate from university." He responded.

I stayed quiet for a couple of minutes as Blayze approached the reception. He spoke to the receptionist, who told us to wait while she checked the system for our rooms.

I took the silence as an opportunity to ask him the question that had been eating at my insides. I didn't like how curious I'd get over the smallest of things. "If we got here an hour earlier, why didn't you get out of the car?"

"We got here the moment you woke up." His reply was instantaneous, his eyes refusing to meet my gaze.

I squinted my eyes at him. "Don't lie. I heard your conversation with your classmate."

He sighed deeply, still not looking at me. His fingers tapped on the marbled reception impatiently. I kept my eyes on him, waiting for him to say something or at least get bothered by my staring.

He let out another sigh. "Miss Woods, stop looking at me."

"Answer my question then."

"You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you." He mumbled so quickly, I thought I had imagined it.

"You didn't want to wake me?" I asked in disbelief. His silence confirmed that what I had heard was not my imagination; he really did not want to disturb my sleep.

I didn't know what to think of it. I didn't know why it made me feel giddy. Maybe because I was easily moved by kind gestures no matter how small they were? Anyhow, I still could not believe that I could expect anything good or compassionate from Blayze Colton. There was something odd about him recently. From offering me his shoes to not disturbing my sleep.