Page 3 of Hooked On Seth (Hooked #5)

Jenna woke sometime in the early morning hours as the sun was coming up.

She still had a headache but her nose seemed a little bit clearer.

There was still the smell of menthol in the air and she assumed it was the vaporizer sitting on the window sill.

She started to lean back onto her pillow to stretch but hit something hard.

Afraid to know what might be there, she slowly stretched out her hand under the covers and found skin.

What the hell?

She rolled over in the opposite direction from the object in her bed so she could see what she’d gotten herself into.

Brown hair met her eyes and as she carefully pulled up the comforter, she revealed a man’s body in her bed, a naked body.

However, the military tattoo on his bicep gave away his identity.

The question she had now though, was why her best friend was laying naked in her bed?

She remembered telling him to crawl under the covers but he had boxers on when he did that.

Jenna knew she’d taken the medicine he’d forced on her, but it usually didn’t knock her out completely. Was she really that sick?

She sat up in her bed, running her fingers through her hair which was a disaster.

She reached for the hair tie on her night stand and manipulated her nasty hair into a messy bun on top of her head.

If she crawled out of bed very carefully, she might not wake him.

She couldn’t shake the feeling she had though.

If he was naked, does that mean they slept together.

Okay yes, they did technically sleep together but she was worried about the actual deed.

She was an idiot, she couldn’t even say it.

Jenna moved the covers away from herself to make sure she was dressed.

The t-shirt was her standard bed attire but she didn’t have any underwear on which was unusual as well.

“Oh shit.”

“Everything okay?”

Damn it, she hadn’t meant to wake him and hadn’t even felt him move. The man was stealthy.

“Yep all good. I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Oh it’s okay, I was trying to keep myself half-awake just in case you got worse. I felt you moving around though. Are you breathing better?”

This was her best friend talking to her but suddenly she was afraid to look him in the eye. She’d never once since the day they met been worried what he thought of her but what if they did it and she wasn’t any good? She wouldn’t want him to stay out of obligation.

“Jenna, look at me.”

She didn’t want to look at him but she knew he wouldn’t go away and the longer she avoided him, the more he would hound her. It’s just the way he was, she knew that. She also knew she couldn’t avoid him or the situation she was in.

Finally she turned her body to face the man now resting against her wooden headboard.

Thank god, the comforter was covering at least his lower half.

She really did have to give him credit because the upper half was impressive.

It made her all kinds of nervous. She could feel her face heating and it had nothing to do with having a fever.

Truthfully, she felt a little better than yesterday.

She kind of liked the fact there was someone there to take care of her.

She’d never wanted that before and wasn’t quite sure why she felt differently now.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“A lot of congestion.”

“You know that’s not what I mean. Come on, talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about Seth.”

“Did you know that your left eye twitches when you lie?”

He wasn’t wrong but she really wished he hadn’t noticed that. She’d been called out on it before by her secretary. It was one of those involuntary things that she didn’t know was happening but as usual, he didn’t miss a beat.

“Alright fine, have it your way. I’m concerned because you are naked in my bed.”

She looked away because she was embarrassed to even say it out loud, let alone think it.

“Jenna, it’s me, Seth. Seriously, you must know I would never intentionally hurt or take advantage of you in any circumstance.

Especially when you’re sick. I’m not going to say I haven’t thought about it but you said it yourself, we’re just friends.

So, I was here in your bed in that capacity, just like you ordered me to be. ”

“Okay but that doesn’t explain why you are naked. When you crawled in bed you had boxers on.”

“Yes, I did and all I can say is it’s a habit. I don’t sleep in anything at home. It’s too restricting and I must have taken them off during the night.”

“So, we didn’t do anything?”

“Why do you look disappointed?”

“Oh, um, I’m not, I just wanted to be sure.

“If you say so Jenna.”

“Don’t you believe me?” Does he really think I want to have sex with him? I mean I do but I can’t let him know that. I don’t want to lose a friend.

“Okay, I think you need to relax. I’ll get you another dose of your meds then I want you to lay in bed while I make you some scrambled eggs. By then the medicine should be putting you back to sleep.”

Seth rose from Jenna’s bed, baring his ass, which was muscular and perfect, but he wasn’t even embarrassed to be standing in front of her naked.

She could never do that. No one ever saw her body, she didn’t even like to see it.

She was sad when he pulled his jeans up to obstruct her view.

He disappeared into her bathroom and returned with the dreaded green liquid.

“Okay, take this.” He handed her the little plastic cup filled to the rim with liquid. “I’ll make you breakfast while you relax.”

And then he was gone.

***

Good god, Jenna was going to be the death of him.

It was weird but he felt like overnight their friendship relationship took on a drastic change.

Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how to comprehend it.

She was giving mixed signals that he didn’t know how to read.

Who was he kidding, he didn’t know how to read any signals women gave.

The only difference is that this time it was Jenna.

He’d been in love with her for a long time but she’d always kept him in the friend zone.

He would rather that than not have her at all so he learned to live with it.

But last night was an amazing experience.

Even with her being sick, he was lying right beside her, watching her while she slept.

Unconsciously and sound asleep, she didn’t have a problem with touching him but he knew it would be different awake.

She wasn’t letting herself feel anything for him because she was scared.

He was too but life was meant to be lived, to take risks, then he’d take that risk to have her in his life forever. Only question is, would she?

Seth cracked open two eggs into the bowl, scrambled them with salt and pepper and poured them into the skillet to cook.

He didn’t use milk because it always made them too runny.

Cheese was usually his most important ingredient when they were for him but dairy wasn’t a good idea with all that phlegm she was still coughing up.

Shouldn’t be very much longer and the medicine would be making her tired.

Should he stick around while she slept? He’d already cleaned her entire apartment and he wasn’t in the mood to clean his own.

They’d both slept in late so her eggs were really lunch instead of breakfast but at this time of day, he could probably go spend a few hours on his computer checking email and doing a little research at the coffee shop without much interruption.

Then he could pick up groceries for a bland dinner and still make it back before she woke up.

He moved the eggs onto a plate with two pieces of toast and grabbed a fresh bottle of water. Walking into her bedroom, he noticed she was already starting to drift off but she would never get her strength back if she didn’t eat regularly.

“Okay sunshine, no sleeping.”

He’d scared her but at least she was awake. She moved her pillow and sat up against the headboard.

“Here is your breakfast for lunch and a bottle of water.”

Once she was settled with everything in front of her or within reach he moved to leave the bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

“Need to wash up the dishes I just dirtied, then I’m going to head out and catch up on a little work while you sleep in peace.”

He waited at the door hoping she might keep him talking.

“You don’t have to leave.”

“Thanks, but I won’t be gone that long. I didn’t bring my computer so I need to leave anyway. It won’t take me forever, then I’ll be back to make you something for dinner.”

“Are you mad at me Seth?”

Why would she ask such a question?

He’d never seen her play the helpless one so it surprised him.

“Not at all, you didn’t do anything wrong. I just need to work and you need to sleep.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

He really wasn’t mad at her for anything.

Maybe a slight bit disappointed things didn’t go differently but it wasn’t fair of him to even expect anything with her being sick.

Jenna was usually a busy person so finding a time when she was involved in nothing so they could talk was harder than one would think.

He did believe however that it was the right time to explore the option that they could possibly be now or at some point, more than friends.

He was deathly afraid to hear her answer because if she didn’t feel the same, it would be hard to go back to friends and he’d truly be lost without her.

He washed up what dishes he used, dried and put everything away.

Once she did start to feel better, at least she wouldn’t have to deal with a dirty apartment.

He didn’t want to bail on her while she was eating so he kept himself busy straightening pillows, folding the blanket he’d used on the couch and putting magazines away in the basket she had sitting by the television.

He finally heard her set the bowl on her nightstand so he meandered in and fiddled with the vaporizer. It needed more water so he filled it, then poured the menthol liquid into the well and turned it on.

“Thanks for the food Seth, it was good.”

“Glad you liked it. Now I’m going to get out of her and I want you to get some sleep. I’ll have my phone on me if you need anything before I get back.”

He didn’t wait for her to answer. He quickly stepped toward the front door, tapping his front pocket to make sure his keys were there, grabbed his sweatshirt and locked the door.

Once he was in his car, he took a deep breath.

The further away from her place he got the more horrible he felt inside.

He shouldn’t have been afraid to talk to her but he couldn’t trust himself.

He wanted to get into her personal space and tell her how he felt.

He knew it wasn’t the right time though.

He would have to just keep telling himself over and over until it sank in.

She needs to be fully functioning to make the right choice.

“I’ve waited this long, what’s a few more days?”

With her out of site, maybe he could keep her out of mind and focus on work for a while. A computer and a hot cup of coffee would have to do.