Seven Days

Chapter Ten

December 7th

Tuesday

The phrase I thought I'd died and gone to heaven was almost cliché and Frerin had used it himself more than once, especially where women were concerned. But as he lay there in the dark, with Syd sound asleep in his arms, he realized he actually knew what it was like to die and go to heaven. And it wasn't anything like sex at all.

Despite Syd's soft warmth engulfing him, he couldn't sleep. He had a little over three days to convince the Big Guy he'd righted his worst wrong. And he had a little over three days to convince Syd she could trust him. He also had no idea how he'd know if he was successful in convincing the Big Guy, and that bothered him more than a little.

She sighed in her sleep, snuggling closer, and he smiled. This felt more right than anything ever had before. Lisa had practically lived with him and he'd never felt this way. Little by little, as her things began taking over his house, suffocated was the word that came to mind. But not now. Now, he felt anything but suffocated. He didn't want morning to come, didn't want to have to leave her and go to work. He wanted to spend every moment he could with her.

He'd be thirty on New Year's Eve (or so he hoped) and it was the first New Year's Eve where he didn't give a damn where the party was, or anything like that. He glanced down at Syd. He knew where he wanted to be this year. Right there. With the woman asleep with her head tucked against his chest and her silky red hair spilling across it.

Sixteen years ago, he saw Sydney Prescott for the first time and he still remembered it, as if it happened last week. He was a freshman, she was a junior, and they were in Spanish I together. She was sixteen and probably the cutest girl he'd ever seen, with her long, wavy red hair and eyes that hovered between blue and green depending on what she wore.

One time, she passed by him and her perfume alone was enough to fire an erection that made him terrified to have to get up for anything. Fortunately, it was only the beginning of class, but from that day on, she starred in every last one of his fantasies and he tried desperately to find some way to get her to notice him. She was a cheerleader and so he tried out for the football team, relying on his older brother's advice and legacy on the field to score his way onto the varsity team as a freshman. He was lucky, he was skinny, but tall and fast, and could catch anything the quarterback threw within ten yards of him. His sophomore year, Cranford Falls won State. Even so, the only time Syd ever called out his name was on that damn field. She didn't know he was alive otherwise.

He closed his eyes now, letting his fingers skim along her silky hair. She felt so right in his arms. Why the fuck had he been so stupid where she was concerned? If he'd just called her the next day, none of this would have happened.

Frerin didn't remember falling asleep, but then his alarm began bleating at eight-fifteen and he reached over to slam his hand down on the button with a, "Okay, okay. I hear you."

Syd stirred, lifting her head to peer at him with heavy-lidded, sleepy eyes. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight." He flopped back into the pillows. "I forgot to turn off the fucking alarm."

"Maybe I should've gone home then, instead being woken up when I didn't have to be."

"Oh, no, you shouldn't have." He reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes as Riley bounded up onto the bed and proceeded to stomp across to stand over him. "I think my dog's trying to tell me something."

Syd's chuckle floated into the air. "I think you're right."

"Let me let her out while you get the shower going."