Chapter 102 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Celsie stirred in her sleep in the middle of the night when she felt a little pressure in her bladder. The first thing she noticed was that this wasn’t her bedroom. It didn’t smell like her room, and the mattress was soft unlike hers.

Her eyes snapped open in surprise and she held her breath when she realized that she wasn’t the only person on the bed. Someone else was sleeping beside her on the bed? Who was it? She wondered in confusion as her brain was yet to booth completely.

Her back was pressed against something solid in a spoon position. She knew it was a person because of the heat emanating from the person’s body, and because of his breath which was fanning her neck.

What was going on? She wondered as she tried to remember how and where she had slept off. Her nostrils twitched when she recognized the familiar scent in the bedroom and her lips rounded in surprise when she realized who was on the same bed with her. Benne! She thought with wide eyes.

Her heart skipped a beat when she remembered that she had fallen asleep while watching a movie with him…. With him as her boyfriend!

Holy shit!

But why was she sleeping with Benne on the same bed? What happened? They didn’t do anything else after that kiss, did they? Nah, they didn’t. If they had done anything she would have remembered, since she had deliberately not taken too much alcohol for this reason, and she was also still fully dressed in Benne’s clothes.

From the sound of his even breathing, she could tell that he was fast asleep, so she tried to quietly crawl out of the bed so she could leave and return to her apartment before he wakes up, but she stiffened when she felt his arm come around her waist and he snuggled closer to her.

Benne who had been sleeping comfortably beside her, noticed the moment she stiffened and opened his eyes when he realized that she was awake because of her uneven breathing.

“From the way you slept off I wasn’t expecting you to wake up until morning,” Benne said in a husky whisper which made her toes curl as he snuggled closer to her and adjusted to make sure her head was resting comfortably on his left arm, while his right arm circled her waist, before placing his head in the crook of her neck.

She had thought he was sleeping. Why was he awake? And for a fake… No. For a temporary relationship they were doing quite a lot, Celsie mused.

“I need…” She paused to clear her throat which sounded cracked, “I need to go home,” she managed to speak past the lump which had clogged her throat.

“You don’t have to leave. Just sleep, okay?” Benne said as he took one of her hands in his hand which was over her waist, and tried to fall asleep again.

Celsie who was holding her breath swallowed nervously. She had never been in this kind of awkward position with anyone, and she really didn’t know what to do. Her heart was thumping wildly against her chest, and she suspected that Benne could probably hear it if he paid close attention to her.

“Relax, Celsie,” Benne murmured sleepily since he could still feel the tension in her body.

She wished he could stop talking. The more he talked the more the butterflies in her belly fluttered especially since his lips were so close to her ear. Even the beard stubble she had not noticed on his chin earlier, prickled her skin in a way that sent heat waves down her body.

Why wasn’t she pushing him away from her? What was stopping her from standing up from the bed and demanding that she wanted to return to her apartment? Why did it seem like a part of her was enjoying the closeness?

Celsie swallowed, “I…I am not comfortable,” Celsie whispered.

Benne let go of her hand and lifted his arm which was around her waist as he sat up on the bed. He reached out to switch on the bedside lamp before looking at her. Celsie sat up on the bed too but didn’t meet his gaze.

“You really want to go home?” He asked, looking at her face as he ran his fingers through his hair. When Celsie simply gave him a nod, he got out of the bed.

“Let’s go,” he said, and Celsie looked up into his face, trying to see if he was upset or not, but he had a blank expression on his face.

She was the one who had slept off while seeing a movie, and now she had woken the poor guy from his sleep, saying she wanted to go home in the middle of the night. He must be upset, Celsie thought apologetically.

She didn’t want him to think she was leaving his house because she was scared of him, or felt he was going to do something to her. That wasn’t it. Although he was handsome and extremely attractive, she wasn’t the type to want guys this way. She had only wanted to have sex the first time out of curiosity not desire. So this whole attraction or whatever it was she was feeling when she was with him, was foreign to her, and it confused her.

“It’s not like I don’t trust you or anything… I’m just not used to sleeping out or sleeping with someone else on the same bed like this, apart from my best friend,” Celsie tried to explain as she stood up.

Benne was tempted to point out to her that she would never get used to it unless she tried spending the night with others, but he chose not to since he didn’t want to sound like he was trying hard to convince her to do something against her will. As long as she wasn’t leaving because she was scared of him, he was okay.

“It’s okay,” Benne said, as he turned around and led the way out of the room.

Celsie’s brow creased in a frown this time as she followed him. Just okay? Why wasn’t he saying anything else? “You are not mad, right?” Celsie asked tentatively once they got to the living room.

“I have no reason to be mad. By now you should know that your comfort is the priority here,” Benne assured her as he turned to look at her after he stopped by the door.

She couldn’t help but feel guilty. She had agreed to be in a temporary relationship with him, so why was she still having so many reservations? Couldn’t she just put them all away, at least for the short duration of their relationship? Why had she agreed to the arrangement in the first place if she was going to be like this? Celsie quickly placed her hand over Benne’s hand when he reached out to open the door.

“What is wrong?” Benne asked out of concern as he looked from the hand which she had placed over his hand, to her face.

“Maybe I can just spend the night?” She asked tentatively, not understanding herself or anything she was doing. He must think she was childish.

“You don’t have to. I know I should have woken you up, but I didn’t want to disturb your sleep because you were sleeping very soundly, and even when I was carrying you to the bedroom you seemed disorientated. Don’t worry, I’m not upset,” he said with a reassuring smile since he guessed that she was doing this so as not to offend him.

He had carried her inside? Celsie swallowed as she looked into his face. There was no way she could say she has been in a relationship without checking the list of everything couples usually did together, could she? Maybe she needed to make a list as usual, and check it with Benne’s help.

“As my boyfriend what do you think I should do? Should I leave or stay?” She asked, making the side of Benne’s lips twitch in amusement, even though her question surprised him.

“I think you should do whatever you feel comfortable with,” Benne said as he held her gaze.

Celsie took in a deep breath and nodded her head as she said, “I will stay.”

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