“Everything is neutral with you.”
“Hm.”
There was silence after that, just the sound of the machine working. He glanced my way at some point, asking me how I preferred to have my coffee. When I supplied him with the answer, he turned back to continue.
When he was done and had placed the mug beside me, he leaned against the oven opposite the counter, watching me as I took a sip.
It was… good. Not as great as Upper’s, but good.
“Is it okay?”
I gave him a thumbs-up as I drank while he watched me.
Feeling calmer after the shock of the earlier events, I put down the almost-empty mug. I decided to break the silence, trying to understand why he didn’t take his eyes off me, not even once.
They were calculating, assessing, like he wanted to broach a topic, but he wasn’t sure how to proceed.
“So… why didn’t you wake me?”
His gaze dropped to my lips. “I was about to,” he said, meeting my eyes again, “but then I entered the room and saw you were sleeping soundly; I didn’t want to wake you. Sleep is vital.”
“Says the guy who didn’t get any.”
“Hm. You know why I can’t go to sleep. I want to, I get tired and sleepy, but then I try to sleep, and it doesn’t come. It’s too loud in my head some nights.”
I sighed, concern enveloping me. “I thought you had pills that you can take?”
“I wasn’t in the right mind to take them.”
My gaze fell to his bandaged hand. “How’d you get that?”
He looked down and managed to take it out of my view. “An… accident,” he supplied.
“An accident from…”
“An accident,” he repeated, straightening suddenly as he walked toward me. His hands separated my thighs and he stepped between my legs, placing his hands on either side of me. I sucked in a breath at his sudden proximity. “I want to discuss something with you,” he said, eyes searching mine.
My throat went dry. “What?”
“I assume you are well aware that I am very straightforward, and I do not like being unclear with something this important to me.”
I felt a new brick in my walls come up. “Yeah?”
“Good,” he stated, ignoring the way my voice had sounded. “I have never been with any woman intimately more than once. You are aware that you’re an exception, yes?”
“Uh… I mean, it’s not a—it’s not a big deal.”
He frowned slightly. “It is. I have broken my rules and laws for you, I have gone back on my word, I have changed plans for you.”
I shrugged. “The pussy is good, you gotta admit.”
“Zahra.”
“Fine. I’m listening.”
“As I said, I do not like being unclear with something this important to me.” His throat worked, and his eyes fell to my mouth for a brief moment before looking back at me again.
My chest constricted.
