by Emma Cole
Three classes? Four? I’m still drawing a blank other than he really does look familiar. Now I really do feel bad. And make me feel better?
“It’s not my place to say who or who isn’t her friend, but I’ll warn you now, don’t play with her.” I think I’m warming up to Eli’s protective attitude, it’s sorta nice in a Neanderthal way.
Finally, I hear them say their goodnights and a few moments later the door closes. As I start drifting off, I’m vaguely aware of Eli moving around putting food away, cleaning up, and turning out lights. I hear him come close and sit down. By now I’m barely awake and content just to stay here in the giant pillow nest.
“Hey baby doll. You want help getting to bed?” All he gets for his effort is a grunt. Super ladylike I know, but I’m just too tired to care. “I can carry you if you’d prefer. These pillows are comfortable now but won’t be if you roll off onto the floor. I’ve done it a time or two.” I can hear the smile in his voice. He sounds happy. Without cracking an eye I hold an arm straight up and wait for him to guide it around his neck. “I’ll take that as I’m your chariot then.” He picks me up like I weigh as much as one of those pillows and heads down the hallway. I’m thinking I don’t mind being carried by my big football player when wham! Head bounces off the corner of the turn in the hall he didn’t quite navigate properly.
“Son of a—what the hell Eli!”, I grumble as I open one eye far enough to glare at him while rubbing my head. Did he really just bounce my head off the wall? Such a dork. He instantly starts apologizing.
“Crap Remi, are you okay? I’m so sorry. Hold on let me get you in your room and then I’ll check it.” He says as he continues carrying me down the hallway. When we get to my room, he sets me down on the bed and instantly looks at my eyes then starts to gently rub through my hair looking for a bump. As he finds it, I hiss in air. “Go in the bathroom and get ready for bed. I’ll get you some more Tylenol.” Sounding frustrated he leaves the room. I’m sure he feels bad about the attempted concussion and I start to giggle until it makes me grab my head with a wince.
I ignore his orders and get up. I’m awake now and ready to get into pajamas. Some soft and loose short shorts with polka dots and a plain cotton tank top. I toss my bra in the closet, adjust my socks and head into the bathroom. I pull a wide wrap band around my head to keep my hair back and coat my face and neck in minty face cream. I rinse my hands and get my toothbrush and paste out and start brushing my teeth. As I do, I see a movement in my peripheral, turning to look I see Eli standing there standing with his hands suspended with pills in one and a glass of water in the other taking me in from head to toe. At least the face cream is hiding my blush, unless the heat I can feel creeping across my chest gives me away.
“Never see a girl wash her face and brush her teeth before?” I mumble around a mouthful of foam. Oh, good going, now your spit is dripping down your chin. Teach me to talk with my mouth full. That thought nearly causes me to choke as I think of other things a mouth could be full of. I must have hit my head harder than I thought to meander that far down the gutter from basic hygiene.
From the look on Eli’s face he may also have been thinking along the same lines as I was. “I like the shorts…” with a perusal from my toes to my chest, then finally up to meet my gaze with a dirty grin, “and the top.” I look down and see my nipples have hardened from the cool air in the room and are showing through the thin material of my tank. Attempting to break the sexual tension going on I toss out, “It’s cold in here, or is that only a guy excuse?” I snigger, more at the awfulness of the joke than the joke itself, but it does the job. Eli laughs and the mood breaks. He brings the pain reliever and the water into the bathroom and places them on the counter. I spit and bend down to rinse my face. I hear a quick inhale of air behind me and a soft groan, with a muttering of “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me.” I raise my eyes to the mirror and see Eli’s are situated decidedly lower than face height. I probably should have considered the absence of length on the shorts.
Deciding to own it I shrug and finish rinsing my face and neck and dry them off while Eli continues to watch me. I picture thanking him for his assistance, telling him goodnight, and climbing into bed with a smile on my face as I drift off. Well it probably could have gone that way yesterday. Instead, Eli scoops me up and carries me across the room following me down onto the bed. I keep my arms looped around his neck, so he can’t escape.
“So, do I get a snuggle buddy again? I think I’m owed time since you did take off on me this morning.” I arch an eyebrow in challenge as I wait for his reply. I drop my arms when he pulls back.
He rubs the back of his neck while contemplating his reply, “I wasn’t sure how much you would remember, and I didn’t want you to think I was a perv that takes advantage when you’re not coherent.” I look at him in surprise aghast that he would think I would take it that way.
“I would never think that. Even if I didn’t remember, I know you wouldn’t do something like that. And I kind of remember, it’s mostly hazy. I do vaguely remember you carrying me and helping me change, then being snuggled and warm. That’s about it. If I did anything else, say of the embarrassing nature, I haven’t a clue.” I add on just in case to cover my bases.
“Actually, that’s mostly accurate. Not too bad for the la la land you were in. Other than having no modesty. Not that I can say I mind, just maybe not drink random things next time so I can enjoy it. Does that mean I get to sleep with you again?” He gives me expectant eyes. I nod and he gets up and starts stripping. I laugh and throw a pillow at him that he catches.
“Go brush your teeth and come back, I’ll keep it warm.” I tuck in under the blankets getting comfortable while Eli grabs his toothbrush from his bathroom and he comes back in a t-shirt and pajama pants. Kind of cute he came back in here to brush his teeth instead of doing it in his own bathroom. Maybe he was afraid I’d change my mind.
I hear the water start then he asks, “I saw the Alice book on your desk, mind if I ask where you got it?” My brain stutters to a halt. I see it every day and it’s a bittersweet reminder of a beautiful boy I used to know. I keep it short and to the point.
“It was a gift from an old friend.” I think that’s the end of it when I don’t hear a reply at first.
“Huh, my roommate has the same one. So random that you have one too. I catch him reading it sometimes. We all give him shit over it.” Eli laughs a bit about it. I find it adorable. It’s one of my favorite collections.
“I have more by the same author, but they’re in storage. That one’s my favorite.” I’ve become super drowsy and the last thing I hear is Eli using the mouth rinse in my bathroom. I fall asleep before he gets back, I must have been more tired than I thought. I snuggle into him when he climbs in, breathing in the minty smell of the toothpaste mixed with the combination of other products he uses and his own smell. Guys always have such good smell. I sigh and slide back into sleep as he kisses the top of my head as he pulls me closer.
Seven
On Monday school is just dragging on. The professors gave out so many assignments I’m going to be busy every night this week just to keep up. It makes for an all around, crappy day. I woke up by myself. Again. What is up with him sneaking out before I’m awake? I make a stop at the grocery store on the way back to the house. As I come in through the automatic doors, I see Adam checking out at a stand. I groan internally not wanting to deal with any of his drama today. I only need a few things for dinner and some personal hygiene things and I can go back home. The cause that I need those for could be part of my problem. I’ll have to make sure to keep the trash under the sink for the next few days. Not that I’m embarrassed, but it can be a little awkward with a guy that you’re sorta/not quite dating to see if he happens to go into your bathroom. I wave to Adam as I pass without slowing down. He looks like he wants to come over, but he’s in the middle of checking out and can’t exactly follow me without leaving his item. I hurry and grab what I n
eed and head for the express lane. I don’t see Adam, so he must have taken off. I answer the usual greetings from the clerk with a smile and swipe my card while she bags up my few items. As I get out to the parking lot and see him waiting outside my car, I start to get annoyed. He starts talking before I quite reach him, before I can even say anything.
“How’d the rest of your weekend go? I would have called but I didn’t want you to think I was stalking you.” Adam looks nervous and unsure of his welcome with his hands in his jeans pockets. I must still have the grumpy look on. I make an effort to put on a pleasant face as unlock my car and put my purchases in the backseat floorboard. Straightening up I turn to address him.
“It was good. Just caught up on schoolwork. Not that you can tell now. Every class just gave me twice as much as last week. I’m going to be working on it non-stop.” I move around to my door and stand in the opening. “I’ve got to get going, still have dinner to make.” I gesture to the bags in the back. “See you in class tomorrow?”
He smiles now. Not so nervous anymore. “I’ll save you a seat. See you tomorrow Remi.” With a wave he walks to a later model blue truck. I get in my car and head for home.
At home I make baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and heat up some beans out of a can in between reading assignments. With the college prep courses I took and the community college I completed I have about three semesters left to finish my degree in business management. It’s a shorter degree, but I wasn’t positive what I wanted a career in and this degree can really be applied in a multitude of ways. If there’s something else I decide I want to do, a lot of the classes are stepping stones for other majors. Thinking of high school and what happened my senior year and directly after puts me in an even worse mood than my period already has.
Eli comes in shortly after dinner is done and heads straight for it. “This is fantastic. What am I going to do when you leave me?”
“Fend for yourself maybe?” I snap out. He could have said hello first. It may be irrational, but I’m annoyed he went for the food first, then I’m annoyed that I’m annoyed. I huff a breath in frustration at myself. I decide to pack up my work and take it to the desk in my room. I’m getting a headache anyway and there’s not point sticking around to be grumpy with Elliott.
“Everything okay?”, he asks cautiously. I see him looking around trying to figure out if he actually did something wrong or not.
“Peachy. I have work to do, I’m going to take this to my room, I’m not the greatest company. I’ll clean up dinner in a little bit.” With that I move my work to my room and spread it over my desk. For the next while I do my best to absorb what I’m reading so I can write a paper on it. I hear Eli moving around in the kitchen, a few minutes later there’s a quick knock on the door before he opens it. He brought me a plate of food. Setting it down on an empty corner of the desk he retreats out the door and back down the hall. I take a break and eat then take my plate to the kitchen. He’s cleaned up the whole dinner mess. I rinse my plate and put it in the dishwasher. Without seeing Eli anywhere I head back to my desk to finish up my homework. A little while later I feel him come up behind me and begin rubbing my shoulders and neck. Oh, that feels good. I drop my chin down to my chest as the tension leaves me. Eli leans in and murmurs in my ear, “Let’s go do something, get out of this apartment.”
For a minute I debate on continuing with my homework then decide to go with him. I’m not going to get much else done right now anyway. I throw on some tennis shoes and pull my favorite soft, maroon leather jacket on over my t-shirt. Occasionally I get to take home clothes from shoots and this was from one of those jobs last year. I double check my appearance in the closet mirror making sure I’m presentable for public. Well broken in jeans that are comfortable and hug all the right places and a bit of a dressy tee with a v neck and some gathers to make it fitted. It’ll do as long as we don’t go anywhere too fancy. I grab my wallet and keys and tuck them in my jacket pockets.
Eli is coming out of his room dressed similarly in jeans and a t-shirt with his own leather on, his is black, at least we’re in different colors. I do have to say his jeans are looking mighty nice and I can see all the definition under his shirt. I stare for a moment and when I look up I realize I got caught checking him out. Again. He has a self-satisfied grin on his face. I make a scowl at him and turn to leave, together we go down the stairs. Instead of heading outside he turns and I follow him to a door I haven’t been through. As we walk in, I see we’re in the garage. There’s his Jeep, but he heads around that and instead goes to a sleek, monster of a motorcycle. “This is yours?” I ask with a hint of disbelief.
“No, it’s my roommates. He won’t mind if we take it out.” He puts on a full helmet and holds another out to me. It’s déjà vu. I feel the back of my eyes burn and must have looked as stricken as I felt. Eli notices and flips his visor up setting aside the other helmet he takes my hand, “Remi what’s wrong?”
I try to compose myself. Stupid hormones. “I’m fine. I just used to know someone that had a bike just like this. It was a surprise seeing it is all.” I shake off the feelings and reach for the helmet, mustering up a smile. There’s no reason to dwell on the past, I intend to enjoy this. I came here to get on with my plans after all the mess with my dad and I don’t plan to deviate from my course.
“If you want to talk about it we can skip this and stay in.” I give him a look. The one that indicates he should drop it. “Or we could just talk later. Get up here I’ll show you how to sit.” He looks like he’s going to say more, before he thinks better on it. I give a small smile, grateful for the subject being dropped.
Shaking off my melancholy I smirk up at him and throw my leg over the seat and slide into place, fitting my feet into the holds. I sink into his back and put my hands on his hips.
“Well I guess I don’t need to help you after all.” Eli says with some surprise. I laugh a little and nudge him to get going. He pulls his visor back down and starts the bike. It fires up with a roar. I slide my arms snugly around his waist as he calls back, “hang on!” and pulls out of the garage.
We ride into town, going through it and out the other side. Continuing down the highway until we’re on the outskirts of the next town over. I can smell fall in the air, the crisp wind and loamy mix of dirt and wilting leaves as we get out into the country. It’s just beautiful. I’m having such a good time I could stay like this forever, the turning leaves on the trees look like they’re on fire as they’re illuminated by the sun on its descent. Eventually Eli slows and turns down a paved road. As we come around the curve in the road I see it opens up onto a farm. Pumpkins! There’s a sign giving directions to the various attractions, a corn maze lit up with flood lights, and a tractor with hay bales driving people around. I see a stall with both food and crafts for sale. I’m so excited I can barely wait for Eli to find a place to park and get his helmet off. I already have mine off finger combing my hair. He stores our helmets and pushes my hands out of the way smoothing my hair for me. I feel my stomach flip on the spot. He really is such a great guy. I feel insanely lucky to have this man so into me. I grab his hand and turn to the lane leading to the pumpkins pulling Eli behind me in my excitement.
“Oh my god, I haven’t been to an autumn festival in years!” I almost knock Eli over as I stop abruptly throwing my arms around his chest hugging him tight. He catches me and smiles down into my face. He’s always attractive, but so sexy when he smiles. I realize I really want this, I want him. I reach up and slowly touch his lips with mine keeping eye contact the whole time. His eyes darken as he slides his hand down to clutch at my hip. I feather a couple more kisses over his mouth and set back down on my heels. Grabbing his hand again, I pull his slightly stunned self behind me making a beeline for a caramel apple stand. I notice the attention we’re getting with Eli holding my hand in line. He’s getting a lot of eye fucking by women young and old alike. I suppose they’d have to be dead not to notice him with size and looks. I hook my arm
through his effectively staking my claim and continue to wait in line. After we get our apples we walk over to the pumpkin patch meandering through the paths.
“I don’t think we can get a pumpkin on the bike though,” I tell Eli a little wistfully as I eye the pumpkins. “I can come back another day in my car.”
“Maybe pick a few smaller ones, we can tuck them in the saddlebags.” I smile brightly at the suggestion and continue searching through the patch for my perfect pumpkins. He chuckles at my enthusiasm and just follows along. We pick two smaller ones and go pay for them at the stall. Eli volunteers to run them to the bike while I browse the stalls. There’s a beautiful woven purple scarf I’m admiring when hands go over my eyes. I smile and turn around dislodging the hands. As I look up I lose my smile. Christian is standing there.
“Fancy meeting you here, gorgeous.” I repress the full body shudder that tries to overtake me as he speaks. This guy is a serious fuckwad. I throw a glare at him as I move a few steps away.
“Hello, Christian.” I begrudgingly greet him as I look around for Eli as unobtrusively as possible and see he’s almost to us. I’m relieved he’s close, I’d hate to show that I can protect myself if I don’t have to. Better to save that as a surprise if he gets out of hand and actually manages to catch me alone. He must see where I’m looking and tries to grab my elbow saying, “let’s go do the corn maze.” I shake his hand off me as Eli reaches us and slides an arm around my waist pulling me back out of Christian’s reach. Almost an exact repeat of when Adam interfered the other night. The similarity isn’t lost on Christian and his face darkens into a scowl.