The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

86. About Harris

RILEY

I BLACKED OUT the second my head hit the pillow. I didn't even notice Luc finishing his shower and crawling under the covers. A throbbing in my head woke me the next hour. 

The room was dimly lit by street lights filtering through the blinds. They cast a disjointed shadow of the billboard across the opposite wall. I lied still for a fuzzy amount of time, listening to the quiet and Luc's steady breathing. His arm was wrapped around, pinning me tightly against him, as if he could lose me in his sleep. I was grateful for it in so many ways, for the calming effect it had on my thoughts, for the sense of not being alone. 

Later, jitters ran down my legs to the tips of my toes, like my limbs had ideas of their own. I fussed out of the blanket. No matter how undetectable I tried to remain, the movement stirred Luc. His eyes flew open and darted over the whole room, first to the door and landing on me. 

"All good?" he groaned and pushed his head back down on the pillow.

"Couldn't stay asleep. Sorry."

I slouched, back against the headboard, and stuck a finger to each temple. He stretched on his side to face me, looking up through heavy lids. 

"Sleep and I were never close friends. When the going gets tough, it takes off."

My lips tugged at the corners at that, and it felt natural to bring my hand down and sweep his forehead. It was barely a touch, more air than skin contact. My fingers brushed through his soft tousles. Luc shut his eyes a moment and leaned into it. 

"Maybe you need some help to relax," I said. 

"But not you?" He peeped with one eye. 

"I'm really not sleepy. I can catch up in the car." I dropped my hand from my temple, wishing for a distraction. "Today, I used light. When the man attacked."

"I saw that, actually," he murmured. "You missed."

Expecting a half-assed lecture, I gathered a quick remark, but then I lost the thought. A tender stroke against my outer thigh tossed all my words out the window, and I discovered tiny luminous orbs under Luc's slipping fingertips. 

"How... do you do this?"

"Just practice," he said absently, gazing down at my leg. 

I couldn't help but to huff. "Must have needed a lot of legs to fondle, then."

The wry but heart-squeezing smirk he pulled was laying it on thick. "Oh yeah, thousands. But legs as nice as yours? I'm going to have to thank your surf board and that pool..."

Lord have mercy on me for the way my stomach dipped and my mouth dried. It felt like we just met and he was hitting on me like there was no tomorrow. But there was no mistaking the small note of exhaustion in his voice, and I knew it was more play than anything else. 

However, my body couldn't tell the difference. 

"Sunshine, I'm just pulling your leg," he snickered low as if he picked up on it. 

My headache pulsed. "You're the unfunniest person I've ever talked to."

"Just put out your hand and imagine yourself bringing all your energy there. When it starts to warm up, you don't stop until the light shines through. That's our flashlight trick."

"What about shooting a beam like I did earlier?"

Luc quirked up one brow. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you ruined one classroom and a washroom, already. Don't expand the list."