Page 45 of Chase
“No, no,” she gasps, shaking her head almost violently before falling limp inside my arms again.
“Ok, baby,” I whisper, “come on, Izzy, this isn’t real. Come back, wake up…IZZY!” I shout and it’s like she’s been startled awake with her hair stuck to her forehead from the sweat covering her skin. She then looks at me with confusion marring her brow. “You ok?” I ask tentatively but she just continues to look blankly into my eyes. “You were having one of your nightmares.”
“Oh, God,” she sighs, rubbing a hand down her face, “I must look and smell gross.”
“You think I care about that?” I whisper softly, stroking back a damp piece of her blonde hair. “Are you feeling ok?”
“I’m fine,” she lies, nodding her head before getting out ofbed. “I’m going to have to shower though. I did warn you about the sweats and screaming nightmares,” she says as she moves into the bathroom. I sigh sadly into my hands, realizing how close I was to getting the truth from her.
“Theo?” she calls out and I instantly get up to close the gap between the bed and the bathroom, with fear beginning to creep its way back in. “How the beegeesus do you work this fancy pants shower?”
I smile at her, for even though I didn’t get my answers, she is beginning to show me some of the old Izzy who once trusted me. Hopefully, she isn’t as lost as I thought she was. I walk over and fiddle with the knobs until the shower starts running at a decent temperature.
“I’ll get you a towel and a new set of PJs from your room,” I utter, reluctantly leaving her before she strips off completely.
When I get to her room, her scent hits me in the face, and it brings back nostalgic emotions along with lustful desires down below. I curse myself before looking around for a change of clothes. Her underwear drawer is devoid of anything remotely sexy, instead, it’s full of plain cotton panties and functional bras and socks. I can’t help but think what a crying shame it is, given how beautiful her body is. I then rummage around her drawers for PJs before going to look under her pillow because there’s nothing remotely suitable for her to wear to bed. Mom always keeps her nightwear here, so seeing as I’m having no luck anywhere else, I give it a go and…BINGO!
I pull out the black fabric from under her pillow, but when I look more closely, I realize I’ve seen this shirt before. The corners of my mouth turn up because I’m holding the shirt that I gave to her when I was seventeen.I can’t believe she kept it. I bring it upto my face and inhale; it smells of the deodorant I used to wear. Not only did she keep it, but she never washed it.
When I return to my room, she’s standing by the bed, wearing her towel around her body, and hair hanging over her shoulders. I drink in the sight of her before she looks over at me and frowns at the item of clothing in my hand. I gift her a teasing smirk before walking over to hand it to her. She turns bright red when she realizes what I’ve just given to her.
“You kept it, huh?” I smile cheekily.
“Shut up!” she huffs, rolling her eyes before shoving it over her head.
We both climb back into bed and face each other, her big blues looking awkward and lost into my green ones.
“It’s a nice shirt is all,” she lies, shrugging as she does so, “quality fabric and good stitching.”
“Mm-hmm, and I’m guessing you just like the fragrance of the deodorant?” I laugh.
“You’re such a dick,” she says, pushing at my shoulder but eventually falling into laughter with me. I take hold of her hand and bring it to my lips. Our smiles turn serious, and we fall into silence, just taking one another in. The real us, for the first time since we found each other as adults.
“I’m yours, Iz,” I whisper, “always have been, always will be. Even if we can only be friends.”
She opens her mouth to say something but stops herself. Instead, we lie there staring at one another until she eventually falls asleep.
There were no more nightmares after that.
_____
Izzy
Disorientation hits me full force when I wake, momentarily forgetting I had fallen asleep inside of Theo’s huge bed. So, when I feel the warmth of a man’s body spooning me, I practically jump away from him. The action causes him to groan, enough to have me remembering that it is Theo, not the monsters from my past. Even so, a few days ago this would have caused me to go into full panic mode, but knowing it’s him, the one man I’m starting to trust, I manage to calm down. Theo would never hurt me.
Settling back down to where I was, with his body touching my back, I dare to believe we might be friends again. I even smirk when I feel his morning arousal brushing up against my back.
“Still can’t control that thing, huh?” I giggle when he stirs. “You’re lucky I trust you, Theo Chase.”
“Oh, God,” he moans before rolling away from me, then laughs sleepily. “Sorry, Iz, I was asleep, and you know…morning wood and all that.”
“Relax,” I reassure him with a shrug before getting out of bed. “Like I said, I trust you. But I’m going to return to my room now so I can get dressed in a no-man zone.”
“Wait,” his instruction halts me at the door, “I wanna take you out today.” I turn to see him smiling as he leans up onto his elbows. “We used to hang out all the time.” He watches me contemplating his offer for a bit before laughing. “Stop doing the whole Charlie Brown mouth thing, Iz, and just come out with me.”
“Ok,” I concede, “but only if you control your manhood!”
He salutes and drops down to the mattress, so I return to my bedroom to get changed. I brush my hair and wince from the bruise that must have formed on the back of my head. I had almost managed to forget what happened with Ethan yesterday, but the memory has me dropping my brush to feel for any bumps. Of course, this would be the moment Theo comes by to see if I’m ready. Seeing my hand at the back of my head, he marches over to look at what has caused my face to pinch up.