Chapter 77: Chapter 77

Her head was killing her. After a few hard tries, she was finally able to open her eyes. She adjusted her eyes to the dim light of the table lamp. She flinched as a killer pounding started in her head.

It was difficult, but she sat up leaning against the headboard. She ran her eyes around noticing it was their room—no! It was Thomas’s room. Her room was the one she had decided to stay after the fight with Thomas.

Again no! Her room was where her mom was.

She shook her head at those thoughts and winced as her head started to pound again. God! What was wrong? Why was her head reacting that way?

She tried to remember how she had gotten to that room when she had decided that she would never step into that room again…It had just been a day since she made that decision. She was there in his room not knowing how she got there.

She could not remember anything. Thomas was not in the room. It was late at night or early in the morning, she could not tell as it was dark still. She picked up her phone and saw that it was four in the morning. She never got up that early. Thomas did get up early, but wasn’t four a little too early to start the day?

Anyway, she was glad that he was not there and she could leave the room without having to face him. Although she had many questions, she could not ask him. It was for the better that she maintained her distance from him.

Wincing from the headache and dragging herself out of the bed, she put one foot forward out of the bed. She noticed that her leg and thigh were exposed. Looking a little above, she noticed that she was wearing a black t-shirt that reached half of her thighs. Oh! She must have changed before going to bed.

‘But I don’t remember changing out of my clothes.’ She thought with a horrified expression.

But then she remembered that she was not at a stranger’s place. That is when she knew that she was not in some kind of danger. Despite not being a fan of Thomas at that moment, she knew that she was safe. He would never do something that would harm her.

But where were her clothes?

She looked around and found her gown neatly folded and laid on the chair beside the bed. Her heels were also placed there. The unambiguity of everything was adding to the pounding in her head.

She went to grab her dress and stilettos from the chair when the door to the bathroom opened. Her heart dropped. She did not think he was there.

She snapped her head in that direction on impulse, but she instantly got the idea that it was a wrong idea. She could just get a glimpse of him shirtless amongst the internal chaos of her body. The sudden movement made her feel dizzy and something in her stomach stirred making her feel nauseous.

She swayed a little and tried to grab the arm of the chair to stable herself with one hand while the other one was grabbing the dress, but he was there to catch her on time.

She held her in his arms until she was feeling okay. She could feel his hands—strong hands around her arms. He was so close that she could feel his heartbeat. For some reason, it was beating hard.

She raised her eyes to look at him to find him looking down at her face with concern and something more. She did not know how to react for a few seconds. Now, it was her heart that was beating hard.

He smelled fresh. His hair was wet and the droplets of water were dripping from his hair to his face and chin and then to her face. She was short, and she was standing right under his chin. She did not mind her face being on the receiving end of his wet hair and the falling droplets.

Was he always that handsome or had he just had a glow-up?

And with that, the pounding started again.

“Ah!” She grabbed the head closing her eyes.

“Come here,” Thomas said taking her to the bed and lying her down. She hated herself for listening to what he had to say, but she had no choice. She had to sit down somewhere. Otherwise, her head would keep pounding and spinning.

Her hand accidentally touched his bare chest in the process. She froze feeling the hard yet warm skin under her palm. Thomas was staring at her when she did that. She quickly retreated her hand back avoiding his eyes. She did not want him to see that she was feeling embarrassed or that he had any effect on her.

But that did not go unnoticed by Thomas. Although he chose to ignore that for her sake, he wanted to smirk. He knew that she had been trying so hard to avoid him lately which was not working. He could feel that after the previous night when she said things, she would probably never say in front of him in her normal state.

“Here.” He got up from the bed and offered her the glass of orange juice that he had put on the bedside table. He was worried she would be hungover which was why he had placed the juice there. He had not slept at all. He was waiting for her to gain consciousness. And when she did for a little while, she said things that removed all the traces of the sleep from his eyes.

She wanted to say that she did not want the juice, but then she thought the better of it. She took it from his hand so he would leave her alone. One: She wanted to escape from the room. Two: She wanted some distance between them. His naked torso was making her blush for no reason. It was not like she was having indecent thoughts looking at his half-naked, perfectly sculptured form. However, she was not comfortable with seeing half-naked men. She had the imaginable least of the least such encounters with men throughout her life.

She sipped on the juice quietly and slowly hoping that he would leave her alone, but he kept standing there and looking at her. He was making her feel conscious of her state. His hair must have been looking like a bird’s nest. Her makeup must have been smudged by now. She did not even remove her makeup before falling asleep.

Crap! Thinking about her appearance made her remember that she was out of her clothes and inside one that looked like one of Thomas’s shirts.

He was finally planning to move from his fixed spot. But surprisingly, she was the one who stopped him.

“Why am I wearing your shirt?” She asked going straight to the point. She had understood that beating around the bush would do her no good. Besides, she wanted to know about the previous night’s events. When she tried to think, her head hurt. He was the only one who could answer her questions.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

“You tell me.” He asked in a joking manner while having a smirk on his lips. She frowned. Where was he going with that?

“I don’t know. That is why I am asking.” She replied with a ‘duh’ tone. His expression had hastened her heartbeats for some reason. What did he mean by ‘you tell me’?

“You don’t remember?” He asked. His expression got a little serious, but he was still having that amused look on his face which she wanted to smack away.

“Will you tell me or not?” She asked trying not to look at his body which was so hard. It took all her strength and control not to stare at his torso which he was displaying for her in the daylight—well, not daylight. The sun was still yet to rise. But still…

She saw him move and takes steps forward until he was in front of her. He bent down until his face was right in front of hers. Her eyes widened as she moved her head back. It was not possible. The back of her head hit the headboard. She was trapped.

He smelled amazing. Everything screamed fresh while her state must have screamed miserable. She must have been looking terrible.

Wait, why was she thinking about her state and not the proximity?

“I will tell you. Gladly!” He said with a smirk. She squeezed the glass of juice in her hand and with the other hand, she clenched the sheet. He was so close—close enough to deprive her of her thinking ability. She could not utter a word. She wanted to look away, but the look in his eyes was too strong and gravitational to do that.

“You were drunk and we…” He trailed off making her breath catch in her throat. Did she…did they?

No! She would have certainly remembered something if that was the case. Besides, she knew that he was not the kind of person to take advantage of her while she was drunk, was he?

Her mind went blank as she felt tears pricking her eyes. She felt like a fool. Why couldn’t she remember anything?

Thomas noticed the expression on her face and quickly put some space between them. He sat by her side in silence and just stared at her for a while. She adjusted herself to a more comfortable position on the bed. Just a little proximity and her condition would be in frenzy.

He could not believe somebody could be this innocent. Sometimes, she acted so strong. He knew that she was strong. She was also tough and mature. However, at times, she was also fragile and innocent. He could not help but feel his heart swell.

“Your dress looked uncomfortable so I had it changed.” He said after a while gauging her reaction. Sure enough, she looked at him like he had grown horns on his head. He shook his head with a smile.

“I didn’t look,” He raised his hands in defense while having an innocent expression on his face, “I had the light switched off while I got your dress changed.” He said gently. It was true. He had done that. Despite the voice in his head telling him it would not be the first time he would see her naked, he did what had to be done.

He did not have her consent, and he was still guilty of seeing her in that state.

“Why would you do that? I could have slept in that gown, you know.” She was still mad at him for doing that despite her concerns being erased. Nothing had happened between them. It was enough to calm her down a little.

“Of course, I had to do that. It had puke all over.” It was the second time in the day he had seen that horrified expression on her face. He felt bad for lying, but he knew that she would not stop questioning him and being mad at him otherwise. He did not ignore the judging look on her face.

She did not throw up. It was just that her dress looked pretty uncomfortable. He just wanted her to rest.

He prayed that she would buy his lie. It would be the last time he would lie to her, he promised.