True Sight (Nat. 20, #4)

Font Size

Line Height

Page 28 of True Sight (Nat. 20, #4)

CONRAD

M y eyes blink open and squint at the bright lights that are shining around me.

Looking around, I can tell that the power has come back on but the storm is still here.

Heavy rain is falling outside and the trees are still swaying in the wind.

But we have power again, which is a good sign.

I don’t even remember falling asleep last night, just the fact that Henry did before me.

Not wanting his apartment to burn down, I had gotten up and blown out all the candles before carefully lowering myself back down next to him on the couch.

I should have woken him up and told him to go get into bed.

I should have gone home and slept at my own place.

But looking at him last night and the way he looked so peaceful as he slept, I couldn’t do either of those things.

I didn’t want to do either of those things.

I didn’t know why I didn’t want to but I knew the last thing I wanted to do was to be away from him.

So instead, I carefully lifted the blanket, fit myself back into my seat, and let his head rest on my shoulder before falling asleep myself.

The more I wake up, the more I realize at some point last night we both shifted and are now lying horizontal on the couch.

I’m laying with my head resting against the arm and he’s halfway on top of me, spooning me with his head on my chest. I can feel he’s still asleep, the rise and fall of his chest against mine tells me as much.

One of his hands has fallen off the edge of the couch so I grab it in mine and lift it back so it is tucked at our sides.

Annie is asleep on the floor next to us, curled up in a ball with her head tucked into her legs.

Without much thought, my free hand comes to his hair and starts to curl a piece of it in a circle.

This is something I do to myself when I’m deep in thought, but it’s the first time I’ve done it to someone else.

I watch my fingers twirl his hair and can feel myself starting to drift back asleep.

For once, my heart isn’t panicking and it doesn’t feel like it’s sprinting behind my chest. For once, I feel totally at peace.

My eyes grow heavier as I spin his hair between my fingers until the sound of his voice startles me awake again.

“That’s lovely.” His groggy morning voice vibrates against my chest, causing a shockwave of energy to shoot through my entire body. The feeling of a distinct hardening in my lower half makes me wish more than anything that he would get off of me.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up.” I snap my hand away from his head and look uncomfortably towards the ceiling.

“That’s alright, it was a nice way to be woken up.” He opens his eyes and glances at me with a sleepy smile before a look of realization passes over his face. Part of me thinks he’s going to say something about the current arrangement of our bodies, but he doesn’t. “We have power again.”

“We do,” I agree. “Must have come back on sometime last night.” I keep my words short and am trying my best to not think about anything that will cause the growing situation in my pants to get worse.

But the way he’s laying on me and the sound of his voice is making that difficult.

He’s just a friend, he’s nothing more than a friend, I repeat in my head.

He turns his head so he’s looking up at me from my chest. “Let me make you breakfast, as a thanks for last night.”

“Okay.” I swallow hard and clear my throat that’s suddenly very dry.

“Are you okay?” There’s a slyness to his voice that makes me think he can feel what I’m hoping he can’t.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I quip and force a smile. “My leg is just falling asleep is all.”

“Oh, sorry, let me move then.” He pushes himself up but as he does, his hips press into mine and I know he feels what I feel. I keep my eyes glued on the ceiling but can see him glance up at me with a shy smile. The awkwardness of the situation is almost unbearable.

“I’m gonna go use the bathroom,” I say quickly as I roll myself up from the couch and dart for any ounce of privacy I can get.

“You do that…” His voice lingers at the end before he moves for the kitchen.

Once the door is closed behind me, I lean against the bathroom counter, holding myself up with the palms of my hands. I try to take a few deep breaths and splash my face with some water.

“Every guy deals with this in the morning,” I whisper to myself. “It has nothing to do with him .” I take another calming breath and run my hand over myself to try and get the blood to dissipate. When it’s safe, I use the bathroom and wash my hands before finally exiting to face him.

“I’m making eggs and bacon if that’s okay?” he asks without looking up at me. “I’m also making some beans and toast which you’re more than welcome to, but I don’t think you Americans are quite on that trend yet.” When he glances up at me with a smile I can’t help but smirk.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m going to take Annie out real quick, we’ll be back in a few minutes.

” We both gear up again to go out in the rain and leave him to cook breakfast. Thankfully, Annie hates the rain more than most humans do so she doesn’t waste much time before turning around and hightailing it back for the safety of the indoors.

When I push his apartment door open again, the smells of cooked bacon, eggs, and beans waft into my nose.

“Something smells good,” I offer, shaking off my raincoat and releasing Annie from her harness.

“Well good, because the food is nearly done,” Henry calls back from the kitchen. I step out of my shoes and walk up to him.

“Need help with anything?”

He turns to look at me over his shoulder, his eyes flicking from mine to my lips and back again. “I wouldn’t hate it if you could grab the plates and such. They’re just in that cupboard.” He juts his chin towards a cabinet to our left. I nod at him and reach in to grab two plates.

“Cutlery is in here.” He bumps a drawer with his hip.

His kitchen space is so small that when I reach around him to open the drawer, our bodies graze against one another for the briefest moment.

His breath hitches in his throat when I have to lean closer to him to grab what I need from the drawer before I close it again.

“Do you want to eat here at the bar or the couch?” I ask, trying to keep my voice steady.

“The sofa is fine. Here, give me your plate.” I do what he asks and he fills my plate with bacon, eggs, and a piece of toast. I raise the plate at him to say thanks before returning to where we’d slept next to each other last night.

He follows behind me with his own plate of food and sits down next to me.

“Thank you for cooking,” I say before taking a bite. The food is delicious and better than anything I’ve ever cooked for myself. I mostly eat cereal or takeout because the thought of cooking anything makes me want to put my head through a wall.

“It’s no problem. Thank you for coming over last night.

” He’s holding his plate in his hand and smiling at me.

His knee bumps mine and I try my best to ignore the way having him so close feels.

The greens of his eyes are piercing straight through me like there’s nothing else in the world he wants to look at.

“Like I said last night, I didn’t want you to be alone. I know what that’s like and I didn’t want you to feel that way. I’d?—”

Before I can finish my sentence he leans across the couch and kisses me. My hands grip around my plate tighter and for a moment, I let myself lean into him. But then, as quickly as it happens something in my mind snaps and I push him away.

“What are you doing?” I gasp hastily and stare at him.

“I–I just—” His eyes are wide and he looks as surprised as I feel.

“I’m not that kind of person, I don’t know why you thought I was,” I spit. My body is moving on autopilot. Standing from the couch, I slam my plate down on the coffee table and start to move towards the front door.

“Conrad, wait, I’m sorry.” He’s following me around his apartment as I collect my things.

“Annie, let’s go.” She comes running and when she’s close enough, I get her gear on her as quickly as I can. My mind is running a million miles a minute. How could he just kiss me like that?

“Conrad, please stay. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to?—”

“Didn’t mean to?” I turn around and snap again.

“You didn’t mean to kiss me? What did you do, just fall over for a second and just land on my face?

I don’t like guys, Henry. I’m not like you.

” My words come out sharp and I can’t believe what I’m saying.

When his face falls, I know I’ve hurt him.

With all of my stuff and Annie in tow, I swing the door open and pull it shut behind me before he can say anything else.

I hurry us back to my car which is still parked on the street, only now with a parking ticket on it.

“Of fucking course,” I groan and snatch it off my windshield. Annie jumps in the car and lays down in her spot before giving me a judgmental look.

“Oh, don’t even start. He kissed me, out of nowhere, what was I supposed to do?” I snap. I fling the gear shift into drive and start down the street for home, mumbling to myself.

“I’m not that kind of person. That’s not who I am, I just got caught up in the moment.

I don’t like guys like that and I certainly don’t like Henry like that.

” But as I say the words out loud, I can’t stop my brain from replaying the kiss and how he felt on my lips over and over on a loop the entire drive home.

Several hours later, I’m pacing my apartment and trying to avoid where my brain is trying to go.

To the kiss.

To how nice it was waking up with him.

To the way my heart felt when he smiled at me.

“Stop, stop,” I groan. My hands are in my hair and pulling at it as if they’re trying to pull the memories out of my head all together.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket for the fifth time today and I pull it out, knowing who the text is from without even looking.

He’s sent me several texts and called me twice since leaving his place all of which I promptly ignored.

I slide my thumb across the screen to read his latest message.