Page 10 of Boyfriend From Hell
“I do,” he said so quietly I wasn’t sure if he had said anything at all.
It was nearly one in the morning when we crawled back through my window, and I was beyond ready to sleep. I set up the living room couch for Raios, and told him if he woke before me to lock my door behind him.
It felt weird having someone I barely knew sleeping on my couch, let alone a man. Part of me held a strange sense of guilt having a guy sleep over, but it’s not like he’s sleepingwithme.
I glanced at the picture of Felix and I, somberly sitting on my nightstand, and felt a twinge of pain. It was a blurry picture of our first date—I couldn’t just throw it away.
I sighed and reached for it, placing the picture side down before sauntering to the bathroom. I huffed in frustration the entire five feet to the bathroom. The moment I stepped inside, the weight of the day clinging to my skin suddenly felt suffocating.
I refused to make eye contact with the gray hairs that had begun to sprout from my scalp earlier this year. Once upon a time, this would’ve been a much longer process—lining my pale blue eyes with the darkest eyeliner I could find, then plastering not one, but two sets of strip lashes on each eye.
Now? Brown mascara and a lip tint was the most I had in me,maybesome blush if I was feeling feisty. What was thepoint? After scrubbing my face damn near raw, I finally fully took in my reflection.
My box-dyed crimson hair had already started fading, silver strands poking through at my hairline, roots growing in. Next time, maybe I’d see an actual hair stylist. It’d only been two weeks with this color, and maybe it was just my own negligent upkeep—or too much faith in a $9 box of dye—but this wasnotit.
I should probably start putting more effort into my appearance. I scoffed at the thought, if Raios thought I wasdevastatinglike this, I bet his head would roll if he saw me all done up.
No, I scolded myself, grabbing fistfuls of hair and twisting it into a messy bun that flopped on top of my head like a deflated jellyfish. I shrugged off the jeans and sweater I’d been wearing, tossed them into the hamper, and slipped on a big over-sized shirt that might have been Felix’s (I know, I know—I really needed to move on).
In nothing but my old favorite bra, socks and underwear—and, of course, the world-famousex-boyfriend's old T-shirt—the air bit at my skin as I pranced to the comfort of the bed. It felt strange being nearly naked with Raios just feet away. Sure, he couldn’t see me, but it still felt kind of weird... and also, maybe, kind of hot.
“Goodnight,” I said out loud into the darkness of my tiny studio.
There was a soft chuckle and the rustling of blankets. “Goodnight, Deer.”
“No, NO!” a man yelled in my dream.
“Stop! NO!” he shouted again, and I stirred beneath my blankets. My eyelids fluttered open, and I wiped the sleep from my eyes. The yells continued, causing me to jolt upright, my heart beginning to pound.
“Please, no!” the voice sobbed.
Did I leave the TV on last night—Oh wait, Raios.Raios!
I peeked into the living room and found my guest thrashing under his blanket. Is he having a nightmare? I slid off my bed, dragging my comforter behind me like a cape, and knelt beside the man on my couch, trembling from his night terror.
“Hey,” I whispered as I rested a hand on his shoulder. He was burning up—did he have a fever? He seemed to run warm, so it seemed unlikely. Besides, even if he did, there wasn’t much I could do; my medicine cabinet was bare.
“Shit,” I whispered, my heart starting to calm. Brushing a sweaty strand of hair from his face, I nudged him again, a little harder this time.
“Raios?”
His eyes flew open, pain and fear flooding them as they searched my face.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “You were having a nightmare, I think.”
His head sank back into the pillow, his eyes falling closed as he slipped back into sleep.
I edged away as quietly as I could, but his hand caught my arm, “Please,” he drawled in a sleepy, raspy voice—far hotter than it should have been. “Stay.”
Raios lazily scooted himself back against the couch cushions and lifted the corner of the blanket up, a clear invitation, but one I didn’t know if I wanted to accept. Was I really about to crawl under the blanket with this stranger who I let stay the night?
It seemed crazy—but then again, I’d already invited a stranger to stay on my couch in a city where I knew only two people. Yeah, it was definitely crazy. I stared at the man, his hair perfectly tousled across his forehead. What’s the worst that could happen? Just crawl onto the couch with the hot stranger—sure, why not? Before I could give myself a second chance to skitter back to my bed, I tossed my fluffy comforter on top of Raios and wiggled my way in beside him.
Wiggling out from behind the sweet girl I had wrapped in my arms should have been a sin all on its own. Part of me felt embarrassed that I’d woken her up with my night terrors—though, technically, they were hers. Love, was at times, a thankless job, and I’d made a career out of figuring out how to reach Deer over the last few years.
My heart lurched knowing I would have to unwind myself from her, the last batch of hours with her made me feel less lonely for the first time in well—my whole life, honestly.
It sounded creepier than it really was, it wasn’t like I had been stalking her. Just more so listening to her thoughts every waking moment I could. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t become a slight obsession, but I couldn’t get enough of her. Despite her heartbroken thoughts about the waste of space that broke her, her mind was the most beautiful thing I’d ever had the pleasure of exploring.
