Eden’s mouth burned. She’d been kissed before, and several times at that, but this felt different. Far more different than her first kiss. That had been hungry and demanding and obsessive. This was barely a graze and it left her trembling and wanting for more. More than that brush of mouth and again.
Sterling shifted, and for a second, Eden feared he felt the contact. But he merely removed his hand from her hair and wrapped it around her, holding her tighter. Eden couldn’t fall back asleep. His hold, which had once been comforting and peaceful, became hot. She didn’t pull away. Instead, she swallowed, trying to calm herself down and cupped his cheek gently, rubbing her thumb over the skin.
Sterling let out a soft hum and shifted again. His eyelids fluttered before opening just a crack to peer at Eden. His vision was blurry for a moment, so he didn’t realize who it was right away. His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember in his half-asleep state.
“Eden?” he murmured, voice raspy from sleep. He closed his eyes again and leaned into the touch of her hand, a small, if not slightly confused, smile tugging at his lips. “What time is it?”
She’d woken him up. He leaned into his touch and a smile broke out on her lips. God, she was acting like a fool with a crush. Better yet, she was acting like they were dating, with her in his lap and his arms around her and all. And then he spoke, his rough, sleepy voice sending pleasant shivers down her spine. Her thumb brushed against the corner of his mouth, more to see how he would react to it.
“Around four,” Eden responded quietly. “Four in the morning. Go back to sleep, Sterling.”
Sterling turned his head to press his mouth against her palm. His hand found her hair again, his fingers twisting it around them. “You need to go back to sleep, too…”
Why was this feeling so good? Why did he feel so good against her? His mouth pressed against her palm… she wanted it pressed against her own. Then his hand went into her hair again and she exhaled through her nose, leaning against him.
“I’m not sleepy anymore,” Eden murmured. “I slept more than I’m used to. I’ll just lay here while you sleep.”
Sterling hummed, opening his eyes again for a moment to look at her. She looked flushed, but he couldn’t tell if it was because of the position they were in or…
He lifted a hand to feel her forehead, then her cheek. “You’re warm… Are you feeling okay?” he asked softly.
Eden blinked at him dazedly, letting out a puff of breath. She felt incredibly hot, her breathing unnecessarily heavy thanks to the position she was in.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, frowning in confusion. “Why?”
“You just feel hot… And while it could definitely be because of me—“ Couldn't resist the chance to make a joke, could he? “—I don’t think it is. Maybe we should take your temperature…”
Eden’s face twisted into a glare at his joke, though he definitely wasn’t wrong. Of course she was hot and flustered because of him. What was he expecting? She exhaled through her nose and rested her head in the crook of his neck.
“I don’t have a fever,” she muttered, holding him tightly. “You just never let a chance slip by, do you?”
Sterling frowned again but didn’t protest. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her again and held her close, burying his face in her hair. “If you say so. And no, I don’t. I have to uphold some of my reputation, don’t I?”
Eden took another heavy breath, her body feeling incredibly warm. “It’s hot…” Eden murmured, squirming in his lap, starting to get a little suffocated. She would have responded to his statement, but it just felt so weird. “Did you raise the temperature?”
“No… I’ve been here the whole time, Eden,” Sterling reminded her softly, cupping her cheek in his hand again. “You are really warm. We should really take your temperature.”
Eden exhaled again, squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t want to,” she mumbled, leaning into his touch. “I don’t want to move from your lap.”
“Then I’ll carry you,” Sterling chuckled. “Just tell me where to go.”
“Do you see that cabinet with the picture frame of me and Lucas? It’s in the top corner,” Eden wrapped her arms around him tighter. “Razor’s not here anymore. Where’d he go?”
“All right. I don’t know… Maybe he went to use the litter box or something,” Sterling suggested with a shrug, shifting her in his arms so that he could hold her better. He stood up from the couch with a little difficulty — there was a girl wrapped around him, after all — and then started toward the cabinet. Holding her with one arm, he reached up to open it and fumbled around for the thermometer.
“Maybe I should have stayed on the couch,” Eden mumbled quietly. “This is hard for you, isn’t it?”
“It’s not that bad, Eden. I’ve got it,” Sterling mumbled as his fingers brushed against it. “There. Found it.”
“Great,” Eden murmured, her head beginning to pound. She’d always had a faint headache due to lack of sleep, but this one was bad. “It’s getting hotter.”
Sterling sighed and carried her back over to the couch. He sat down, Eden still in his lap, and held the thermometer out to her. “Here, E. You should use this now.”
Eden sighed, taking the thermometer from him and staring at it, though her vision was blurry. “Shouldn’t we wash this, first?” She mumbled, sighing again and pulling herself off of Sterling and on to her feet. She couldn’t make him carry her around, though she was incredibly light.
A wave of dizziness crashed over her, making her stumble a little, but Eden managed to catch her balance. She sighed, running a hand through her hair.
“I’m going to wash the tip,” she declared, turning around to make her way to the kitchen since that was the closest.
Sterling pushes himself to his feet when he noticed her stumbling. He crossed the room to stand at her side and slipped an arm around her waist. “You’re going to fall over if you walk alone,” he murmured, holding her close.
Eden burned hotter, but not because of the possible fever. He just slipped an arm around her waist and held her close and she was already in a daze. Eden blinked, snapping herself out of it.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I don’t think it’s that bad. I’m probably just exhausted.”
“You just said that you slept more than you usually do. I don’t think that’s why you’re like this, Eden,” Sterling said softly as they stepped into the kitchen.
Eden simply sighed, leaning on to Sterling. They stopped in front of the sink, where she turned on the water and washed the tip of the thermometer. Once it was washed, Eden turned the tap off, pressed the button and set the thermometer under her tongue, closing her mouth. When it began to beep a few minutes later, she held it out for Sterling.
“Here,” she mumbled. “I can’t read it, so you read it for me.”
Sterling took the thermometer from her and checked the screen. He sighed as he read the numbers and gave Eden a wry smile.
“You have a 101 degree fever,” he said softly.
Eden blinked at him, his words ringing in her head. She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “Well,” she started quietly. “At least we know it’s not because of you.”
Sterling chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, a hand holding her head to his chest and the other around her waist. “You should rest some more. Even if you don’t sleep, you should rest.”
(Why don’t you both just stop being ‘just friends’ and I don’t know, make out?)
Eden leaned into his embrace, sighing as it immediately made her feel better. Now if only he started rubbing her scalp with the hand on the back of her head…
“Lie down with me?” Eden found herself asking despite herself. “No, wait, I’m sorry. That was—that wasn’t a good suggestion.”
“And why not?” Sterling breathed, burying his hand in her hair and twisting the strands with his fingers. “I would gladly lay down with you. Even if that’s all we do.”
