Page 34 of Crash
“Violet. I’m cool with whatever. A night off from the bland shit I usually eat ain’t gunna kill me.”
“Then pick something.” I pointed to the remote.
He smiled then, a wide, shit-eating grin that made his singular dimple appear in his cheek. “You’re giving me control of the remote? Fuck.”
“You did save me from that spider.” The words were coming easier now, and it felt good.
“Any requests?” Sitting down on the bed, he grabbed the remote.
“Surprise me.”
He winked, and it made my insides flutter. “You got it.”
Rounding the bed, I made my way down to the kitchen, my entire being beginning to awaken. Grabbing a bag of popcorn from the cupboard, I shoved it into the microwave and pressed start, watching the bag inflate as the kernels began to pop. Lincoln Hayes was on my bed. Fucking hell. It was a momentous occasion, and all it had taken was a lone Huntsman spider and a can of hairspray.
I felt like a fucking idiot, and he didn’t care. He didn’t care, and he wanted to stay.Be careful, I thought to myself.It’s just as friends,so don’t get carried away.
The microwave beeped, and I pulled the bag out and dumped the popcorn into a bowl before heading back upstairs.
Lincoln was sitting back on the bed, his back against the headboard, his feet bare. He looked pleased with himself and pointed to the TV. “Good?”
“Forrest Gump?” I asked, pulling a face. I sat down beside him and put the popcorn between us.
“What’s wrong withForrest Gump? Everyone likes Tom Hanks and it’s chick friendly.”
“Chick friendly?” Ugh. Snatching the remote from his hands, I began pressing buttons, pretending not to realize our fingers just brushed, and it didn’t feel weird. Well, it did, but the good kind of weird.
“There,” I declared.
“Iron Man?” Lincoln said, his mouth falling open. “Fuck, I’m in love.”
It was just an expression, but I felt my face heat. “It’s my favorite.”
“You’re shitting me?”
I shook my head. “Two was okay, and three was just a giant CGI show off. One is more…real, I guess. I like the origin story.”
Lincoln smiled at me like he knew a secret I didn’t and shook his head.
“What?”
“See?” he asked. “You do know how to talk to me.”
Sliding underneath the covers, I said, “I guess.”
Holding up the remote as I settled back against the pillows, he asked, “Ready?”
“Yep.”
He hit play, and the movie began. We didn’t talk as we watched, we just sat together, and I wondered if he was doing it on purpose to allow me to get used to him being there. After a while, it began to work because I was totally focused on the movie, watching as Tony Stark became Iron Man and made his triumphant return to win back Stark Industries from the bad guy. I was so comfortable I fell asleep somewhere between the part where Pepper Pots was kidnapped and the identity of Iron Monger was revealed.
When I finally woke from a fitful dream, I was disoriented for a moment. I raised my head, trying to shake off sleep, my gaze colliding with Lincoln. He was sprawled out beside me, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling with each breath. He was asleep.Totally dead to the world.
I took in his features, committing every single part of him to memory. He was peaceful, his expression calm and his lips parted. He wasn’t even snoring, which kind of made him perfect.
I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep, but he’d stuck around regardless. It didn’t escape me that he’d left the lamp on so I wouldn’t freak out when I woke to find him still there. The thought of waking up to find a man in my bed… He got it, and I was glad he’d stayed.
I’d been crushing on the man for as long as I could remember, but in that moment, I think I actually began to fall for him.
