Unwanted Heat

Nicholas

I feel like I’ve been hit by a fucking Mac truck!

My body aches, every fucking muscle hurts; like I was hit by a fucking truck or something! What the fuck is wrong with me? I try to open my eyes but FUCK, even doing that hurts! I can barely focus on the clock next to my bed… 2:03 it reads. My room is dark so it must be two in the morning. I manage to push myself into a sitting position but fuck if just sitting up doesn’t hurt. What the fuck happened last night? I scramble my brain, trying to figure out why I feel like I-want-to-die-and-afraid-I-won’t death. Kenzie and I went to the dinner; I remember the dry chicken that had no taste whatsoever. I gave a speech… Kenzie kissed me.

Kenzie fucking kissed me.

Kenzie kissed me… on the lips.

Kenzie’s lips were on mine.

God, I was so shocked, I think I just stood there without doing anything for a full minute. I knew she would rightly assume that the scholarship portion of my speech was written because of her. When I was writing that part earlier in the week, I couldn’t help but think about her. I have been fortunate that if something like that happened to me when I was at NYU, my parents would have immediately stepped in and helped me out until I could apply for loans or other scholarships.

Kenzie is so closed off that I don’t know much about her family, but since she had to drop out of school, I can only assume that they were not able to financially support her for her last year. I immediately knew that if PFS were funding a scholarship I wanted a clause put in that the same thing would not happen to a student we helped.

However, her reaction to my speech was nothing I could have expected. I watched her from the stage, unable to take my eyes off her; I watched her eyes fill with tears as my speech sunk in. I couldn’t get off the stage fast enough… I wanted to go to her and do… something. I don’t know what but I just remember thinking that I didn’t want to see her cry because of a speech. Of course, the moment I stepped off the stage people surrounded me, shaking my hand and wanting to talk to me.

When I finally made my way back to the table, Kenzie was standing there waiting for me. I immediately took her hand in mine, relieved to see that there were no tears in her eyes any longer. I don’t remember what I was thinking, but the next thing I knew her lips were on mine. I swear it took me a minute to realize it wasn’t my all in my head- I’ve imagined what her lips would feel like for weeks now… hell probably since the first time I saw her. I couldn’t help but pull her closer to me. When she gripped my arms, I swear I almost bent her over the table right there. It took everything in me to pull back in that moment; if we weren’t in the middle of an awards dinner, I never would have stopped kissing her.

As we sat down, I remember I had absolutely no interest in the following speaker’s remarks. It was Kenzie, only Kenzie, who held my attention. But she wouldn’t look at me and seemed entirely enrapt with who must have been giving away the secrets to life. I decided to wait until the speaker was finished before saying something to her to make sure she was okay, but then I started feel sick. I remember feeling hot and dizzy, the room was spinning as if I had too much to drink. I remember wondering if I was drunk but I negated that possibility when I remembered no alcohol was served at dinner. No matter how hard I try, I can’t remember anything else from last night.

It takes me a few minutes and multiple tries but I finally manage to get out of bed. When the room finally stops spinning, I decide to head to the bathroom, hoping that if I splash water on my face it will help.

FUCK

I walk right into the chair that is normally in the corner of my room. What the fuck is that doing next to my bed? Why the fuck would I have moved a chair last night? There’s a throw blanket from the great room lying across the chair… did I sleep in the chair last night? Why would I move it next to my bed to sleep in it? Why wouldn’t I just sleep in my own bed? I shake my head; nothing seems to make sense tonight. I use the bathroom, splash water on my face and decide to head to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. I’m confused when I open my bedroom door as the apartment is very bright; my room was nearly pitch dark but now I realize that someone must have closed my curtains.

I slowly make my way down the hall to the kitchen and am shocked again at what I see and confused even more. Kenzie is in my kitchen, with her back to me, cooking something on my stove. I try to figure out how the hell she ended up here last night but for the life of me I can’t remember anything. God, I would think if I fucked her I would remember it! But that doesn’t make sense… I can’t see either of us jeopardizing our arrangement like that, no matter how much I’ve thought about it since I saw her in a bikini. So if I didn’t fuck her, what the fuck is she doing in my kitchen?

Why is she in my apartment?

“Kenzie?”

I finally give up trying to remember what the fuck happened last night and figure asking her is the only way to find out. Of course, my voice comes out as barely above a whisper but she must have heard me because she immediately turns around and gasps in surprise.

“Nicholas! You’re not supposed to be out of bed! Sit down, let me get you some water,” she rushes around me pulling a bottle of cold water from the fridge and handing it to me. As she runs over to the stove to turn the heat down on whatever she is making, I realize how odd it is to have her here. Other than Julie and my mother, no woman has stepped foot in this kitchen, yet Kenzie is comfortably moving around as if she has been here multiple times… as if she belongs here.

“How are you feeling? Do you feel like your fever is back? It shouldn’t be; you’re not due for more medicine for another two hours…” she glances at her watch while rambling.

“I don’t think I have a fever, why would I?”

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Not really… I mean, I remember the awards dinner.” Her face blushes and I can tell she must be remembering the kiss as well. I hold off bringing it up until I figure out exactly what the hell happened. “I remember I started not to feel well after my speech, but I can’t seem to remember much after that.”

“Drink the water and I’ll tell you what happened,” she eyes the still full bottle in my hands. “Your mom will be mad at me if you don’t drink enough.”

“My mom?”

“Drink,” she commands and I reluctantly open the bottle and take a few small sips which I admit feels really good on my sore throat. “We stayed for two speeches after yours but by the second it was clear something was wrong. Your face was very pale and your leg was shaking. I asked if everything was okay and you shook your head no. I texted Carter who met us at the back door since we were closest to that exit. By the time we got into the car you were pretty out of it-you kept your eyes closed the entire ride and didn’t say much. Carter offered to take you to the hospital but you refused-”

“Good.”

“He called your mom who came shortly after we got back here. She had asked to talk with me when she came to see you-”

“Why?”

“She suspected food poisoning and to see if I was at risk of coming down with it. Since we ate different meals the chances were slim that it would hit me as well.”

“Food poisoning? That’s what’s wrong with me?”

“Unfortunately, as all of your other blood work came back clear.”

“Why are you here though? Where’s Julie or Carter?”

“I…” she looks upset and I realize that what I said came out completely wrong.

“Shit… I’m sorry, Kenzie. I didn’t mean it like that. I was just surprised to see you here.”

“Julie is away for the weekend…at a wedding I think. Carter left very early this morning to catch a flight to meet her.”This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Oh that’s right, I forgot they were off this weekend.”

“Hunter is here and Ben is on call. Hunter went to the pharmacy as soon as they opened this morning and got everything your mom requested for you.”

“What are you making? Something smells really good,” my stomach growls suddenly.

“It’s chicken noodle soup. Your mom said you should start with broth first but if you are able to keep that down you could move to chicken and noodles. I’m making a large batch of it, figuring you could freeze it in case you get sick again.”

“I don’t get sick… well not usually.”

“Do you want to eat here? Or somewhere else?”

“Here’s fine.”

She brings me a bowl of hot broth a few minutes later before getting herself a bowl with chicken, noodles and vegetables in it. I can’t help but look at her bowl with envy; it looks so much better than mine does. I’m surprised when I taste my broth though; it doesn’t taste like colored water like I expected.

“I appreciate you making this for me, but it wasn’t necessary. I’m sure Ben could have gotten something from a restaurant, but thank you.”

“Your mom was concerned it wouldn’t be bland enough. It wasn’t a big deal; I haven’t made chicken noodle soup in a long time.”

“You said that Carter left early this morning?” She nods. “So you’ve been here since he left?”

“No… I… actually…” she stutters and for the first time since I’ve met her, she actually looks nervous, almost deathly nervous.

“What is it?”

“I’ve been here since last night.”

“You slept here?”