Spellbound

I woke up the next morning with Geno’s arms wrapped protectively around my body. I turned slightly in his grasp to look at up him. He was smiling down at me and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. I smiled, closing my eyes, before bringing his hand up to my face and kissing it. I kept hold of his hand in mine and rested it on my chest.

The setting was perfect, well; it would have been perfect if my mind wasn’t busy reminding myself of the night before. I thought back to what had happened and cringed; part of me wanted to forget the whole thing had happened, that it was the alcohol’s fault, but part of me was sure that how I acted portrayed my true feelings towards Geno.

I mean sure, we’d got a lot closer in the past couple of weeks, he was the person in Pittsburgh that I had bonded with the most, but surely I only liked him as a friend, right? Don’t get me wrong, he’s an attractive no doubt, and his body…wow, but women think that of their guy friends all the time don’t they? Well, I hoped they did, else this relationship was about to get very awkward, if that was at all possible after last night.

→ → → Last night ← ← ←

“Geno,” I nibbled on his ear, “I want you,” I whispered, my hand tracing down towards his boxers, “Sleep with me”

He gently pushed me away from him, sitting up slightly and therefore causing me to move too. I looked at him with pleading eyes, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. I reached out for him, to turn his face to look at me. That was the least he could do, surely.

He brushed away my hand and kept his eyes fixed on his hands which were now in his lap. I felt horrible; he couldn’t even look at me. Why had I even tried to do this in the first place? Well, I think we both knew that. There was obviously chemistry between us; just none of us had ever brought it up. The least he could do was have the decency to look at me now though, at least let me try and explain.

“Geno” I stated, no emotion in my voice at all. He just nodded his head to acknowledge that I had spoken, but he still didn’t look at me.

“Look at me, damnit” I yelled, getting mad now. He kept his head down. I moved so I was in front of him and bent down so I was directly in his line of vision. He kept his head down, still not looking at me.

All of a sudden he stood up, moving to where he had left his clothes and picked up his trousers. “I have to go” he stated.

I grabbed the trousers out of his hands and threw them down behind me. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve not got anywhere to go. Damn Geno, am I that bad that you can’t even stand to be in the same room as me? That you can’t even look at me?” I cried, the tears beginning to fall.

“No” he began, “that’s not it at all. You’re not bad, definitely not. If anything, you are too good. Too good that I can’t be in the same room as you, too good that I can’t even look at you Elodie” He whispered the last part, it was almost inaudible.

“Why not?” I asked in the same hushed tone.

“I’m scared. I don’t know if I can trust myself”

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure what he meant; let alone how to reply to it. Instead, I felt myself move to the edge of the bed and sit down somewhat in a daze. It was late, I’d had wine, now was not the time to try and figure things out. Sleep was necessary and I could think things through in the morning. Plus, I’d just broken up with Tom.

Then it hit me. I had broken up with Tom. He was gone; he was cheating on me all this time. The few tears that I was already crying soon multiplied and before long I was bawling my eyes out.

Geno immediately enveloped me in a warn hug, of course, and I sank into his arms as the tears began to fall even harder if it were at all possible. I explained that it had only just sunk in about Tom, and that he was cheating on me which I couldn’t get my head around. “Was I not good enough for him? Why didn’t he love me?” I sobbed into Geno’s sleeve.

“You were too good for him Elo, and he didn’t love you because he doesn’t know what love it, he isn’t capable of it” he assured me, “and why are you so upset, I thought you weren’t in love with him?”

“I wasn’t, but it still hurts. I feel like a piece of shit, he’s just torn my life up and left me alone”

“Hey hey hey, you’re not alone. I’m here, remember that, I will always be here for you Elo” I looked at him and could tell from the look in his eyes, oh gosh his eyes, that he was being sincere. “And maybe him leaving you was a good thing, you deserve much better than him”

“Thanks Geno” I sniffed. My crying was coming under check now and the massive sobs that were wracking my body had died down. There were just a few sniffles and tears left now, but they would soon pass.

I hugged Geno goodnight as we climbed back into bed. He once again kissed my forehead and I fell into a happy, dreamless sleep wrapped in his arms.

→ → → Back to today ← ← ←

“So, do you want to grab some breakfast before we head back to Pittsburgh?” I asked him breaking the silence.

“Yeah, of course” he told me, before informing me that we both needed showers and that I was going to have one first because I needed it and he didn’t mind if there was no hot water, a cold shower would do him good.

I thanked him by means of a hug and quickly slipped into the shower. I told myself I wasn’t going to be too long but as soon as the hot water started pouring over me I felt all of my troubles wash away. I just stood there for the longest time until my mind clicked back into gear and I realised that the water was now cold.

I quickly washed my hair and towelled myself dry. I changed into some simple nay blue matching underwear and kept a towel wrapped around my body as I walked out to the room. “You can go in now; I’ll finish off in here. Sorry I took so long”

“That’s ok, take as long as you want” he told me, again kissing the top of my head as he made his way to the bathroom. I finished getting dressed; red skinny jeans, a blue vest top and a green hoodie were my attire for today. I let my hair dry in its natural waves and by the time I had finished touching my face up with some powder, Geno was coming out of the bathroom, already dressed.

“You are very bright today” he commented when he saw what I was wearing.

I nodded, “Might help to brighten my mood” I explained. We packed away our clothes from last night and anything else we had in the room. Somehow I managed to not be able to fit everything back into my small case, so I had to borrow some room in Geno’s.

“Breakfast now?” I suggested as I noticed we were all packed and ready to leave.

“Sure. I’ve just got to do one thing first though” he informed me. I looked at him confused which he noticed. He walked over to me and stood himself in front of me, “This” he explained, wrapping his arms around my small body, engulfing me in one of the biggest hugs I’ve ever experienced. He sure was something.