Miss Fortune

Chapter Thirty-One

The sun streaming in through the windows along the far wall woke Alex. She lifted her head, blinking sleep from her eyes before turning toward the clock on the bookshelf. Quarter to eight.

Thorin was sound asleep beside her on his back, snoring softly. Some of the exhaustion had vanished from his face. A few days off were exactly what he needed. If only he didn't have to get stabbed and suffer a concussion to get them.

In the soft golden sunlight, the bandage on his chest stood out against his darker skin, stubble showing around the tape's perimeter. The itch had to be driving him crazy by now. It might have been a relatively small patch shaved, but considering just how much hair that small patch probably held? He'd go nuts in no time flat.

She traced her index finger along the line of his beard. It was far thicker than it had been when they first started seeing each other, and she wondered if he ever shaved it completely off. She couldn't recall ever seeing him without a full beard. She was pretty sure it had been full in high school as well. Probably even junior high, but she wouldn't know. They didn't share a school until her freshman year.

High school. She'd had such a crush on him back then. He had no idea she was alive, but she remembered seeing him on Fridays in his football uniform, and he always looked so much older than the other high school boys. She could still picture him in the tight white pants and the cranberry colored jersey that didn't quite reach the waist of those pants. He'd lift an arm and his washboard stomach was on display, complete with the dark hair and the happy trail that all the girls loved so much. Gorgeous didn't do him justice. Not even close.

Teddy was a cheerleader back then and Alex remembered being so jealous of her sister. They were both so certain that any day, Thorin Durin would ask Teddy out and while Teddy dreamed of it, Alex dreaded it.

She'd tried to approach him once, when she was writing for the school newspaper. She'd had the brilliant idea of interviewing a few of the football players and he was at the top of her list. She'd even managed to work up the nerve to linger around the practice field one afternoon, waiting for the guys to finish up practice. Her heart had begun beating so fast when she caught sight of him that she'd thought she might actually faint from it.

But as the team came off the field, and she hurried toward them before her courage faltered. "Thorin? Can I talk to you—oh!"

She tripped over the edge of the track and went reeling forward, fighting—and failing—to keep her balance. Her knees hit the track, the vibration jolted her notebook and pen from her grasp to send them flying in opposite directions, and she took the skin from her hands as she threw them out to block her fall, letting out a totally undignified, "Oooof!" as she faceplanted.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" Concern wove through Thorin's words as his shadow fell over her.

"Hey, Durin, looks like another freshman's falling for you. Too bad it's the freaky Prescott."

"Durin, watch out, man, she might put a hex on you!"

"Nah, she can't do that, only her hot sisters can!"

"Take her behind the bleachers. No one will ever know!"

"Fuck off, Morris," Thorin growled over all of them as he shoved by them and crouched to swipe up her notebook and pen."Hey, Alex, right? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she managed to croak, wincing as the other guys burst into laughter again. Her cheeks had to be bright red by that point, and she wished the rubberized track would just swallow her whole. "Can I have them back?"