Page 62 of Psync
The bed sank, and warmth and calm rushed back in to envelop Eli, driving him back into blissful oblivion.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Eli
The next time Eli woke, he didn’t have to fight his way free from sleep. His aching head demanded attention, and it wasn’t taking no for an answer.
“Yuck, my mouth tastes like ass.”
The sun was high in the sky and pouring through the window, highlighting a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol. Before he could reach for it, Haruka handed them to him, not quite touching his hand as he passed the items over.
Eli took them gratefully. His head didn’t hurt half as bad as it had that morning, but his body ached like he’d been tossed around like a ragdoll.
He turned to Haruka, who was staring pensively at something in his hands. Eli leaned forward for a closer look.
“You found my kitty!”
Haruka nodded, still staring down at the small stuffed cat. “It was on Jace’s bed. With this.” He picked up a familiar hoodie and tossed it to Eli.
His cheeks heated. This looked so bad. There was no way he could disguise the fact that he’d taken Haruka’s things to bed with him as part of his nest.
“It’s not what it looks like . . .” He began nervously. How was he going to explain it in a way that didn’t make him seem like a complete weirdo?
“What does it look like?” Haruka’s voice was a thin veneer of ice over a rushing river—which didn’t make words come any easier to Eli.
“Um . . .”
“Do you sleep in his bed?”
Well. This wasn’t going in the direction Eli had been expecting.
“Sometimes?” Only when Jace was away—which was every night, currently. Eli knew it was an incredibly childish thing to do. “Is that bad?”
Haruka didn’t say anything, instead he kept turning the little cat over in his hands.
What was happening right now? Earlier, Haruka had seemed fine with how weird Eli was. Was it really such a surprise that Eli had a fucked-up sleep situation? Maybe it was one thing too many.
He chewed on his lip and tasted blood, which reminded him . . . “Do you want help with your face?”
Haruka looked up from the cat. “My face?”
Eli scooted forward for a closer look at the cut on Haruka’s mouth. It looked small, but he knew it was probably painful, “Your cut. Did they clean it for you at the hospital? I can help you with it if you want.”
“Okay.” Haruka’s pensive expression transformed into something Eli couldn’t read.
Eli stood up gingerly, testing to see if his head was planning on cooperating with him. Everything acted the way it was supposed to, so he hunted down his first aid kit and brought it back to where Haruka sat at his desk.
“This might hurt a bit.” Eli dabbed an alcohol pad on Haruka’s lower lip and stopped when he heard a hiss of pain. “Sorry, I’ll be done in just a second.” He finished as quickly as he could—or at least he tried to, but he kept getting distracted.
Haruka’s mouth was perfect, how dare Ash damage it?
“You have to ask that after what he did to you?”
Eli started, then realized he had a hand on Haruka’s chin, which meant Haruka could hear his thoughts. “Perfect can mean a lot of things, you know. Like a painting, or a flower.” Eli snatched his hand away before he embarrassed himself further. “I’m all done.”
“So, I’m like a flower?” Haruka leaned backward in his seat and put his hands behind his head.
Eli was just happy the weird mood had dissipated, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying, “Oh, shut up.”
