Sleeping Next to Him

Amanda could only shake her head. No matter how she begged to return the clothes the next day, Christopher insisted to get it that very moment.

She was left with no choice but to let him follow her to her home. Not unless she was willing to strip naked in front of him and walk to her home the same way. Of course, she suspected this was a trap to be able to walk her home.

Arriving at her beach shack, Christopher said, "Woah. This is one very laid back home you have. You have electricity here?"

Merely pointing at the cables to one side of the house, she said, "Obviously. But during the last storm, I was out of power for two days."

Amanda only had a one-story home, which was practically around 30 square meters of floor area. It was dark and gloomy without any paint. While it was primarily made of concrete, it was very outdated.

When she came to Trinity Bay, the structure had no roof. She acquired the house at a very low cost, and the reason behind such a generous discount was the fact that it was usually flooded from the beach following any storm.

Opening her home, she let him sit by a coffee table from the inside, facing the window. The house had no divisions, except for the bathroom. Amanda had a similar set-up with a studio apartment, and Christopher could literally see everything; her bed space and her very small kitchen.

He sighed and said, "What happened to your... bed? Have you been sleeping in that?"

She still had her old mattress settled on the side of one wall. She had not had the time to dispose of it yet.

"Oh. That. Haha! That! Was during the time when I did not have power. I had to use candles and - and my bed caught fire as I dropped a candle!" She lied. That was the time when Abasi dropped her off, in her house when she was still partly on fire.

"Haha! Silly me. I know," she said before going to her hanging closet. She never had closets that touched the floor, and her bed was also precisely three feet above the ground.

"You had your bed made?" He asked, seeing its unique framework.

"Yes, I had to have a bed that did not touch closer to the floor. I always get flooded here," she answered after finding a set of clothes to wear.

"Look, I have nothing to offer you but packed cookies and coffee - "

"Coffee is great." Christopher had already seen she had no fridge. She was basically living it simply with a small stack of ready to cook food in her kitchen top and a small electric stove. He quickly assumed she must have taken most of her meals at the restaurant where she worked.

"Okay... Well, let me get changed first and I'll make coffee after," she said while walking to the bathroom. Make yourself - "

She stopped herself from talking more, seeing Christoper walk to her bed, and climbed on top. He rested on her pillow, laying sideways, grinning.

"Well, I'm glad you are very comfortable," she said sarcastically before finally closing her restroom door.

After changing into a new set of clothes, Amanda found Christoper still resting on her bed, closing his eyes.

"Chris? Chris?" She called for him. She poked on his cheek, but he did not budge. She frowned and asked, "Should I make coffee?"

There was no response, and in just seconds, she heard him snore. She sneered, realizing the sleep was real.

"Chris? Chris?" No matter how she called, he just did not wake up.

Amanda decided to fix a coffee for herself alone. She determined he must have been drained following their climb.

An hour passed, but Christopher was still sleeping in her bed. Not doing anything, she was feeling drowsy herself.

Amanda was left to decide whether to doze in her bathtub or join Christopher on the bed. She sneered and told herself, "I better... watch him."

Despite having drunk coffee, it was not enough to keep her awake. She did have an eventful fight with a lizard the night before, climbed up to a cliff in the morning, and walked to Christopher's home. Her body was utterly tired.

She fell asleep on her coffee table after another half an hour of watching Christopher.

Hours passed. Amanda opened her eyelids to the obscurity. She realized it was either already evening or in the wee hours.

What surprised her the most was feeling a man's hard chest against her palm and the fact that she was resting on someone's arms. When she could make out the image, she realized she was sleeping next to Chris, and she was on her bed.

She gulped as her eyes grew wide. She asked herself, 'How did I get here?'

'He must have awoken and carried me to bed.' She frowned just thinking about it. 'How could I have not noticed?'

It was because Christopher was the first normal person; she had touched in three years that she found the circumstance completely bizarre. Just like the night at his fireplace.

Amanda began to feel her heart raced. Even if she had given Christopher warmth at his home a week ago, this was an entirely different situation.

While Amanda was thinking of what to do, she felt Christopher hold her even tighter. He wrapped his other arm around her waist, leaving no or very little space between them.

After a while, she tried to lift his hand, but that ultimately wake him. She heard him speak, "Amanda, are you awake?"

"I'm sorry. I did try to wake you, but you were completely out. I carried you here, and I also fell asleep," he explained while letting go of her and slowly sitting up.

The truth was, after taking Amanda to rest, he lay next to her and simply watched her beautiful face. However, being exhausted himself, he eventually fell back into slumber.

It was fortunate that it was still dark, as Christopher would have already seen Amanda's flushed face. She could not believe she was in this situation.

Pretending not to care, she gradually got up from the bed. "What time is it?"

Christopher checked his watch and said, "It's almost five in the morning."

"What? I slept for fourteen hours?" Once again, Amanda beamed in shock. She had not had such a long sleep in years, all the more in the bed. She was always worried that her unconscious state would send her house burning up in flames.

"You must have been very tired, Amanda. That happens," he said. "Have breakfast with me?"

"What?" She said while rubbing her eyes. "I don't have food here. I only have four eggs in my kitchen."

"I'll take care of food," he said before finding his way to her door. "Wait for me."

Amanda was left dumbfounded for seconds, but eventually, she followed him outside. However, he was not there. "Did he go back to his house to get food?"

She went back inside, turned the lights on, and took an early morning bath.

Just as she came out in the bathroom, wearing fresh clothes, Christopher came back, carrying a twenty-inch fish by its tail. It was still wiggling, hoping to get free.

Just like yesterday, he was half-naked and barefoot.

Holding up the fish, he said, "Breakfast?"

"You went fishing?" She asked with her brows drawn together.

Christopher's mouth fell open but realized his pants were not wet. He coughed before saying, "There was a fisherman's boat that came up to the shores just up ahead and sold me a fish."

"Then why?" Her eyes narrowed and said, "Why did you have to take off your clothes?"

'Shoot.' Christopher said to himself in silence. He was so excited to show off the fish that he did not put on his shirt and shoes back upon his return. He brushed his hair with his fingers and said, "Ah - I - I just wanted to show off my sexiness and maybe... just maybe you'll fall in love with me instantly?"