What froze his heart

-8-

I woke up to sunlight I don't remember the last time I was up before the fluorescent lights were turned on tenanting the pure light that spilled in through the small windows. I tried to move and I felt a weight on me I looked down and Eric had his arm on my stomach and somehow his leg over mine his face was away from me. I cleared my through and began to sit up quickly he realized what he was doing and shot up
" guess you're not used to sharing your bed "
I said and he just kept looking at me I started to move to get up and he moved and put his hand on my cheek then kissed me. After a second he pulled away removing his hand and I was just looking at him
" fuck it "
He said in almost a hungry voice and he was kissing me aging and I returned it. We began to remove pieces of clothing barely breaking the kiss. I was surprised the entire time when he did something he'd make sure I was ok with it.

He collapsed on top of me after we finished at the same time and we switched sides of the bed. I had my eyes closed for a few seconds and I could feel him moving around getting the condom off and disposing of it. I opened my eyes and he was turning back to me and he gave me a gentle kiss then his eyes quickly looked down my body up until the blanket I was covering most of my body with
" god your covered in bruises "
" yeah there from the darts "
" did you count them "
The way he said it seemed so normal
" no "
I said then a smile appeared on his face
" can I "
The way he said it with a child-like excitement
" give me a second "
He put his head back in the pillow and I quickly put my undergarments back on
" ok "
His smile was even bigger somehow and he began to count lightly touching them as he went
" 21 ... 22 ... 23 that's all "
He laid back propped up a little on the headboard I laid down on my stomach and I closed my eyes for a second then his finger started to run up and down my back, I opened my eyes a little then smiled and closed them again. He started to draw shapes then his fingers moved to my side. I opened my eyes fully to find him looking at my tattoo I moved onto my side so he could see it better. He traced the way the snake was coiled and I said
" a fear of mine and also my favorite animal for it can travel where it wants and people don't mess with it "
He kept going over it
" Eric "
" hum "
He looked at me and he looked so soft complete with slightly parted lips instead of his usual clenched jaw and harsh eyes
" nothing "
" I like you "
He said
" well I sure hope so "
I laughed and he smiled
" I've liked you since the first time I saw you as stupid as it sounds "
I laughed again
" I'm serious "
" I know "
I looked at him
" I really really like you "
" I really really like you to Eric "
He smiled and it was strange then he said
" When you said that I know everything about anything you were wrong because I thought I knew you but you went amd surprised me "
" Eric "
" yeah "
" you really suck at talking about your feelings "
We both started laughing. I had my hands on his chest with my chin on top and looked at him
" well what do we have to do today "
" Today is a rest day "
" not resting from last night "
" no, the next part is going to take a toll on everyone "
" grate "
I started to move off him but he wrapped his arms around me
" where do you think you're going "
He had a smile on his face and then I said
" I don't want to raise any suspicion about why I'm in your room I just don't think it's a good idea "
He looked at me and it was clear that he could tell that I was worried for him and not for me because of what people would say.
" ok "
He said and let me go and he looked sad I was walking to the bathroom when he said
" After this is all over then "
I looked back at him and he looked worried that this was a one-off
" yes "
His eyes lit up and I went and got cleaned up. I spent the rest of the day with Tess and Troy and we talked about what we thought tomorrow would be like and what was going to happen. Tess looked at me
" where were you last night "
" hum "
" I checked medical this morning and you weren't there "
" oh umm for how bad it was they said I had to stay with a leader because they have some stuff to help if I reacted badly and all that "
" ok "
She had a small smile on her face but didn't ask anything else about it.