Page 31 of Never Feed a Dragon

Damn autocorrect

I laughed.

There was no way it was autocorrect. Eli was just… funny.

Despite my stubbornness, I could admit that was a good trait to have in someone I was apparently going to be tied to for life.

That didn’t mean I was ready to embrace the bond, of course. It was just an observation.

One more text came through as I plugged my phone in.

Eli

I love your laugh

My throat swelled.

I shut off the phone and dropped it on my nightstand, squeezing my eyes shut. If I could go back in time and stop myself from making that damn bowl of spaghetti, everything would’ve been different.

And normal.

And I wished like hell that I could somehow find a way back to the normalcy I craved… even if it was a little bit lonely.

I tossed and turned all night, only dozing for a few minutes at a time before sweat or pain woke me up.

It was getting worse by the hour. A lot worse.

My entire body felt like it was a pincushion full of needles when six AM finally came around. I was in a puddle of my own sweat, and my sleep tank and shorts were basically glued to my body.

I had been fighting the desperate urge to ask Eli to come to bed with me for hours.

And to leave my room and get in the shower.

But if I went to the shower, Eli might see how much heat was affecting me. And if I invited him to my bed, I’d be giving in, which wasn’t an option.

I’d kept myself on the mattress with willpower alone, counting down the minutes until six.

As soon as it arrived, I finally peeled my exhausted ass off the bed and shuffled to the door. Hopefully Eli was asleep on the couch, and I would have just enough time to get to the bathroom before he?—

I froze at the door as soon as I had it open.

Because Eli wasn’t on the couch.

He was laying on the floor, right outside my door.

And he wasn’t asleep. Hadn’t been asleep all night if the tension in his entire body and circles under his eyes were anything to go off of.

“Are you in pain yet?” His voice was low and gravelly when he spoke.

It sent shivers down my spine.

“Nope.” The lie almost came out as a squeak.

I felt ridiculous, but whatever. The ridiculousness wasn’t anywhere near as big a deal as the pain. And the sweating.

Eli took in a slow, deep breath.

If I wasn’t already red as hell, I was pretty sure I would’ve blushed.

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