Page 176 of Nobody's Girl

The warmth of his breath goes right through the thin sheet and hospital gown between us. The dark waves of his hair are mesmerizing. I must touch them, but I’ll surely wake him if I do. I can’t stop myself. Gently, I plow my fingers into the thickness, finding it the softest thing I’ve ever felt.

He moaned! Oh, crap!

Pulling my hand back, I feign sleep. The weight is gone from my stomach. He’s sat back up. The sound of his footsteps as he walks across the floor, then the sound of the door closing, lets me know it’s safe to open my eyes. And he’s gone.

Why does that make my stomach hurt?

What must I look like? At least the bed moves up on its own with the push of a button. I barely have to move at all to sit up. I pull the table over and open it to find a hairbrush and a mirror, among a few other things.

My reflection surprises me. My hair’s been combed out and my face is shiny, as if it’s been washed. How hard was I sleeping?

I also find a small bottle of mouthwash. I swish some around in my mouth and spit it in the empty cup on the nightstand. That is so much better.

God, I’m starving. Why didn’t they ever bring me anything to eat?

The door opens and in he walks.

Why does he have to be so damn handsome? Eden! That’s his name—Eden Fontaine!

His smile lights up the entire room. “Hey, sleepy head,” he says with that crazy hot accent.

He has a tray in his hands. I hope it’s for me. “What did you bring?”

He places it on the table in front of me. “I asked your doctor if you could eat now and he said yes. When he showed me what the cafeteria was planning on feeding you, I said not to give you that disgusting mess. So I went down myself and picked out a few things that looked a bit better.”

He pulls the lid off, exposing brightly colored strawberries which sit on top of some yummy-looking oatmeal. I smile up at him. I love oatmeal. “Did Mom tell you about my oatmeal fetish?”

The shake of his head surprises me. “I thought this looked good and healthy. I’m a bit of an oatmeal lover myself. Seems we have something in common.”

“I see,” I say. We must be on the same wavelength or something. “I hope you ate too.”

Trailing his hand up my arm, he watches it until it reaches my shoulder, then his eyes land on mine. “I did,” he says. “I had to make sure it was good enough for you to eat before I brought it to you.”

Wow! How fucking thoughtful this guy is. Never have I met someone like him. Too bad I already have someone. Which reminds me—where is my beloved anyway?

“It was extremely thoughtful of you to do this for me. You’re the best, Eden,” I say, hoping to let him know he’s a great guy, but we can only be friends.

I hope Kyle likes him and we can all hang out this week.

He pushes the button on the bed, bringing me up to a better sitting position. His other hand is running through my hair, pushing it from my face. The fact he touches me so much may put Kyle off. I’ll have to talk to Eden about it before the two meet.

“You eat while I find something to watch on the television,” he says, taking a seat in the chair next to my bed.

“What time is it? Maybe Teen Mom is on. I hate the show so much I love it, you know what I mean?”

He chuckles. It’s soft and flows effortlessly through the air. “I do not know what you mean at all. But if my princess wants to watch trash TV, who am I to stop her.”

He called me his princess. Man, we have to get this straight, and quickly. “Eden, maybe you shouldn’t call me things like princess and baby. I hope we can all be friends. I’d like you to hang out with me and my boyfriend and our friends this week. But if you talk to me like that and touch me like you’ve been doing, it won’t work out.”

The look on his face makes me sorry I said anything. “I’m sorry if I’m offending you, Alyssa. If you want me to stop touching you, I will. If you don’t like how I talk to you, I’ll modify it. But please only ask me to do those things if it’s you who’s uncomfortable with them, not anyone else.”

Okay, what the hell does that mean?

“It’s not that I don’t like it. I mean, hell, who doesn’t like being called sweet names? My boyfriend, though, he might get uncomfortable, and that would make me feel badly. You understand, don’t you, Eden?” I take a bite of my oatmeal to find it tastes heavenly, with just the right amount of sweetness. “Mmm, really great oatmeal. Thank you so much.”

The cock of his eyebrow draws my attention as he reaches for my hand, sending chills through me.

Why does his touch do this to me?