Ego's Trap | ✔

50 | Her Simple Man

☆☆☆ Chapter 50 ☆☆☆

Her Simple Man

The soft purring of the air conditioner in the room guided me into waking up, only to find myself surrounded by darkness when my eyes got around to opening up. Well, to be fair, there was some light coming in from the windows 'cuz of the moon, but the night was no longer young. It was old, calm. It was probably sometime after twelve o'clock.

A yawn had me try to fix myself under the covers for sleep's sake, but I quickly realized there was no need to, had I been capable of moving in the first place. One of my arms was under my loving boyfriend's neck, and the other was over him, holding him against me by the small of his back. My chin was buried under his gentle waves, and a side of his face rested on my chest. With the hold I had on my sleeping Daniel, I was content, and warm enough. I closed my eyes and fell asleep again.

Except I couldn't. I tried to, but I couldn't.

Every silent breath that came out of Daniel tickled me just slightly, just enough to keep me awake, but I was way too comfortable to do anything about it. Instead, I decided to take in the moment, bask in it, 'cuz I might as well. Earlier in the night, I let a moment run its course with me, and the best of things happened── I was finally able to trace my fingers down his back and up his chest, without a shirt to keep me from the feel of his soft skin. What could possibly go wrong 'bout letting a moment take over again?

Heaven was on my side. I had an angel all to myself on the bed, after all.

I put my head down to his hair and took in a deep whiff of it. Its scent was like no other in the world. It was Daniel's own, unsullied by the earthly smells of cologne and shampoo. His whole bed had his scent, but it wasn't as concentrated as Daniel himself. It made me think of nothing but heaven, truly. I couldn't even compare myself to him. I was nothing next to him── whether the daylight's present or not, it didn't matter. All I saw was light 'round him. As a person who has done so much wrong, I was far from having such a presence, but I was blessed to be right next to one. No, I was simply lucky. I may not even deserve it or be good enough for him, but here Daniel was, beside me, trusting me with his love.

I found myself giving his waves a kiss when Daniel adjusted his position mid-sleep. It gave the arm under him a bit of more freedom, enough for me to slide it away from him, but did I really want to?

The answer came to me when, as if by divine intervention, my eyes happened to land on the dark figure of his wardrobe, where his safe hid away things I'm sure were far beyond the sensitive documents he told me of. I don't know, something within me pushed me to believe that. A certain curiosity did, one that could go away with just a touch or look at Daniel's smooth cheeks, but did I really want it to go away?

The chance to check things out has presented itself after all, right in front of me. Sure, there's no way that I'll be able to open it all of a sudden, but if I give it a try maybe I can be a lil' lucky. It won't hurt to try. Worst case scenario, I can push him into opening it when he wakes up, and if he objects to it in any way, that'll be the surefire way for me to know that he's hiding something there.

Why not give it a try?

☆☆☆

Curiosity killed the cat. Curiosity bites back. It's a known thing or hearsay or whatever. One that has proven itself to be true, at least to me. It's what led me into the rabbit hole of problems at the hotel. If only I hadn't followed Hilery around, I would've been fine. I would have never known about her relationship with Joel, or of Joel's chilling lack of humanity, or anything about Roger, or even of the type of people Daniel might be attracted to besides me. Too many things hit me all at once back then. Too many things could hit me all at once now. Did I need to know whatever it was that Daniel was hiding? Would it hurt me? What if it's nothing and I'm making a fool of myself by making a big deal about it? Ugh, this is a déjà vu moment for me, isn't it?