Living In The Shallows (UK Crush #1)

Chapter Twelve

I contemplated looking at my secret Pinterest, something I normally did only when I was completely alone, but the cramps had begun in earnest, and I really needed something to take my mind off the pain. I turned to look at Teddy, but he was facing the window with his eyes closed, singing along with Mika, so I risked it and spent a few minutes enjoying some of my favorite pins, which included the mahogany Kawai grand piano I hoped to someday own, along with pictures of all the shelter animals I'd love to adopt, my dream wristwatch—I'm sort of a time Nazi and have a thing for watches, gardens filled with roses and honeysuckle, beautiful children I'd have and adopt, boxes from Tiffany's, and bookshelves filled with books I'd have in my house if I were ever lucky enough to own a house. Someday. The rest were all travel photos of Greece, Italy, Egypt, Capri, England, Fiji, places that took money to get to, money I'd never had, could never hope to have.

So the whole cheering myself up and taking my mind off my pain thing hadn't worked. I was more bummed and aware of the cramps than when I started. I pushed my iPad away and sat back.

Teddy turned to face me, pulling the buds out of his ears. "These playlists are damn near schizophrenic, Foster. I mean, look at this." He leaned in so we could both see the screen. "You have Journey, Pink Floyd, followed by Michael Bublé, then NWA, then us, thanks for that, by the way, then the Rolling Stones? That's just weird!"

"Dude. No one's making you listen to it, you know," I tried to sound offended, but I was distracted by the Scent of Teddy (I wondered if the smog in Japan was affecting my sense of smell?). "You can give it back any time you want."

"No, no, I'm enjoying it, I feel like I'm really getting to know you, you know?" He smiled. "Do you want to share? You look as though you're finished with your iPad."

"No, it's okay. I'm not feeling well, to be honest," I finally admitted.

He immediately turned off my phone and set it down. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Where does it hurt? Do you have a temperature or what? Paul's on the other bus, but we can pull off at the next exit and get him on this one if we have to." He looked out at the sea of motionless cars. "Actually, he could probably just get off his bus and walk to ours with this bloody traffic the way it is. Should I call?"

"No, it's nothing like that, don't worry," I patted his arm.

He looked closely at me. "You're white as a sheet, now that I look at you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly! You're not my nursemaid, it's not your responsibility to take my pulse every hour." Honestly, this guy's parents deserved a medal for raising him this way.

"You're in a cold sweat, what's the matter? Did you eat something off for breakfast?" He lifted the bottom of his shirt and wiped my forehead.

I could not, I simply could not, tell him I had cramps. No way.

"Tell me how you feel?" He looked into my eyes, and in spite of the pain, I was close to fainting with the nearness of him.

I sucked in my lips and looked up at the roof of the bus, hoping for inspiration.

"Are you having cramps?" he asked softly.

"Oh my god, how did you know that?" I asked wildly. I could feel my cheeks reddening.

"I have a mum, you know, I lived with her for fifteen years, I do know a little bit about women," he said with a gentle smile. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a normal part of life, happens to half the people on the planet."

"I know that," I said, still feeling awkward as fuck to be talking to him about it. "It's just—"

"Let me guess," he said, still smiling. "Private? You know, you have a lot of privacy issues. Must come from spending so much time alone. You're going to need to get over that if you're going to be with us for five weeks. We really live in each other's pockets. I mean, we're walking around practically naked in front of you already. At least Ronan is, anyway," he finished with a chuckle.