Page 21 of Forged in Flames (Made of Steel 2)

"Well, you smell perfectly the same." He touched the bottom of my chin so that my eyes would meet his.

"I do have more questions for you. A ton of questions. But I could seriously just stay like this forever."

"You know, I was thinking." He intertwined his fingers with mine and kissed the back of my hand. "What if we just put a pause on all the questions. What if we just acted like two normal college students for one day."

I smiled. "What do you have in mind?"

"Hmm." A smile formed on his lips. "What do normal college students do on a Saturday afternoon?"

"Study?"

He squeezed my hand. "I said normal, not nerdy."

"Hey!" I lightly swatted his arm.

I laughed as he rolled on top of me, pressing my back against the mattress.

"I was leaning more toward staying in bed all day."

I wrapped my legs around his waist. I'd give up anything to be normal for just one day. And staying in bed with Eli sounded like the best afternoon ever.

***

It was easy to forget my problems when I was with him. I didn't feel like I was out of my mind. I didn't feel like I was in danger. I stabbed at the rice with my chopsticks as I stared at him out of the corner of my eye.

"You're missing the best part." He gestured to the TV screen.

I looked back at the TV. We were watching a rerun of The Office. Jim had just played an epic prank on Dwight. Even though I loved the show, I couldn't pay attention. Not when I could stare at the corners of Eli's lips turning up into a smile. Or hear him laughing. God, I had been so stupid to push him away. I was lucky that he was willing to give me a second chance.

The afternoon had been great. It was just what I needed. I felt calmer and more centered. But now I wanted to sort out the huge mess that was my life. I couldn't just hide in this room forever. He had promised me he'd help me learn how to defend myself. And we needed to sit down with Liza and figure all of this out together. I didn't know when Don would be back, but I had to be prepared. A day off from everything was what I wanted. What I needed was a whole different thing.

I set aside my Chinese takeout container. "How long have you been watching me?" I needed to know exactly how much of my past he knew about.

He tilted his head down toward mine. "We said we weren't going to talk about this today."

"I'm not going to be mad or anything if that's what you're worried about. I just need to know how much I need to fill you in about."

"Seeing something and understanding it are two completely different things."

I nodded. "That doesn't exactly answer my question though."

"I mean, I want you to tell me everything. From the beginning. I want to know." His hand drifted to my thigh as he stared into my eyes. "But I want to talk about it tomorrow. Just one normal day. That's all I'm asking." He lifted his hand and tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"No matter how much we want to, we can't exactly freeze time." My life was on the line and Eli was acting like it wasn't an emergency.

"I promise that nothing bad is going to happen to you tonight. I'm right here. Just try to relax." He kissed the side of my neck. "Or do you need me to make you relax again?"

"Hey lovebirds," Kins said as she stepped into the room with Patrick. "Who's ready to party?" She threw her arms up in the air.

I would have bet all the money sitting in my bank account that Kins was wasted. "We were just going to hang out here tonight," I said.

"Actually, it might be fun," Eli whispered. "We've been holed up in here all day."

Because I'm scared to leave.

"Actually I just needed to change," Kins said. "But it would be more fun if you two came." She gave me an exaggerated wink.

I wasn't sure what she was winking about. Really, she should have been winking if she left us alone in the room.

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