living covenant 03 - eternal covenant (8 page)

I rolled my eyes and found Aric smirking at me. “I blame you for all of this,” I said. “If we’d eloped like I wanted, we could’ve gone to Red Lobster and eaten all the crab legs we wanted and no one would’ve cared about the bibs.”

Aric plucked a stuffed mushroom cap from one of the plates and shoved it in my mouth. “Put that in your mouth and stop talking.”

He was getting a little too full of himself, but the mushrooms were really good. I swallowed the first and reached for a second. “I want the mushrooms, too.”

“That’s a fine choice,” Pemberley said, frowning as I dropped another mushroom into my mouth and immediately reached for a third. “Breathe, my dear. At this rate you’re not going to fit into your wedding dress.”

“Leave her alone,” Aric instructed, grinning as I bit into the third mushroom. “I’ve found that it’s easiest to give her what she wants when she finds something she likes. Make sure you order a double round of the mushrooms.”

“I’m guessing that goes double for your relationship,” Pemberley said dryly.

“What goes double for our relationship?” Aric asked, clearly confused.

“The ‘giving her what she wants’ thing,” Pemberley replied.

“Oh.” Realization dawned on Aric. “I enjoy giving her what she wants whether it revolves around food … or television time … or naps.”

“You’re very cute,” Pemberley said, wiggling his bottom like an excited chihuahua. “I think your bride-to-be is very lucky.”

“I think we’re both lucky,” Aric corrected, reaching for a breadstick and biting into it. He waved it in my face. “These are good. Do you want me to put this in your mouth?”

The double meaning wasn’t lost on anyone in the room.

“That will be enough of that,” Helen commanded, making a face. “There’s no reason to be coarse when we have company.”

“I agree with that,” Kelsey tossed out from the living room. She’d grown tired of sampling food five minutes into the event.

“Where is Paris?” I asked, glancing around. She got out of sampling everything by saying she was afraid of other people’s germs accidentally getting on her food during a joint tasting. I had to give her credit, it was an inspired lie.

“She’s in the hot tub,” Kelsey answered. “She wanted to take advantage of it being empty.”

“I think she’s having more fun than us,” I groused.

“I don’t know,” Aric said, grabbing the last mushroom from the tray and shoving it in my mouth. “I’m having a great time using food to get you to be quiet.”

I smacked his arm. I knew he was joking, but it still bothered me. “That’s not a very nice thing to say to the woman you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.”

“Since when do we say nice things to each other?”

“Since … .” I didn’t get a chance to answer because my stomach picked that moment to flip – and not in a good way.

“I believe your first words to me were mean,” Aric pointed out. “You set the tone of our relationship. This is all on you. Now open your mouth and try the shrimp.”

I slammed my lips shut and shook my head, sidestepping Aric’s attempts to put more food in my mouth. Instead I braced my hands on the counter as my stomach lurched.

Aric gave up all pretense of playing games. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” I rasped, nausea washing over me. “I think … um … .”

“Are you going to be sick?” Helen asked, horrified. “I forbid you to be sick in front of people. That’s terribly unbecoming.”

“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said, moving away from everyone.

Aric followed close on my heels, concern etched on his features. “Maybe the mushrooms aren’t a good idea after all.”

The mentions of mushrooms caused my gag reflex to kick in and I covered my mouth. “I’m definitely going to be sick.”

“Hurry up,” Aric prompted, putting his hand on my back and prodding me toward the bedroom. “It’s going to be okay.”

I barely made it to the master bathroom before losing the entire contents of the tasting into the toilet bowl. I lowered myself to my knees and vomited a second time as Aric struggled to pull my hair from my face.

“Zoe, are you okay?”

I couldn’t answer. Instead I vomited again … and again … and again.

I could guarantee I’d never eat salmon again. And, yes, I blamed the whole fiasco on the salmon. There was something comforting about the bitterness.

8

Eight

^“
I think I’m dying.”

Aric rubbed my back as I rested my face against the bowl rim. He looked as miserable as I felt. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shoved all that food in your mouth. After the big breakfast you had, that was a mistake.”

“I didn’t have to chew it and swallow it.”

“You’re you,” Aric replied. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t like to eat.”

“I think there’s an insult in there, but I’m too weak to notice,” I muttered, reaching for the washcloth on the counter to wipe my face. “You don’t have to sit here with me. I’m not leaving, but we have guests in the other room. You should make sure they’re okay.”

“They’re not guests,” Aric corrected. “My parents, your parents, Paris and Kelsey can all fend for themselves. I’m taking care of you.”

“I love you dearly, but I prefer puking in private.”

Aric sighed. After tying my hair back and resting a cold facecloth against the back of my neck, he was at a loss for how to help. Instead he watched me vomit – several times – and didn’t once flinch. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“You’re not really leaving me,” I pointed out. “You’re going into another room so I can stretch out on the bathroom floor without embarrassment.”

“Isn’t that whole ‘in sickness and in health’ thing part of getting married?” Aric wasn’t ready to give up and abandon me.

“It is,” I confirmed. “You can’t make this better, though. I just have to go through it.” My stomach rolled again and I readied myself for another bout. “Go, Aric. Please. I don’t want you to watch this. It’s gross and you’ll never want to touch me again if you sit there pretending this isn’t nasty.”

“I’ll always want to touch you, baby,” Aric said, pressing a kiss to my forehead as he got to his feet. “I’ll be in the living room if you need me. I won’t be far.”

“You never are.”

I WAS DREAMING.

Actually it was more of a memory wrapped in a dream. Whatever it was, though, it made the sickness dissipate.

“Sorry,” I sputtered trying to take a step back and banging my head against the refrigerator.

The chest belonged to an extremely tall man – like six-feet, three-inches tall – who took a step back to give me a chance to recover. As I regained my senses I realized – even though he’d moved back slightly – he was still a little too close for my comfort.

“Are you all right?” The voice that came from the behemoth couldn’t possibly be human – or normal. It sounded as if it belonged to a giant or something – like Fezzik in “The Princess Bride” without that weird lisp thing he had.

“I’m fine,” I grumbled. I didn’t like feeling penned in.

“Here, let me see.” The guy reached his extremely large hands toward my head.

Without thinking, I slapped them away. “I said I was fine.”

I finally got a glimpse of the head attached to the wall of chest and sucked in a quick breath. It was pretty impressive – well, as far as heads go. No dimples and dark skin, but a full head of wavy black hair and some really intense brown eyes.

Did Covenant grow these guys on trees or something? This is just ridiculous.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the giant rumbled.

I felt a little ridiculous for overreacting – especially after I realized he was hot – so I tried to offer him a friendly smile as an apology.

“No, you just took me by surprise,” I said quietly. Internally, I added that he also almost knocked me senseless – but I doubted that would be a good topic to open conversation.

The wall of muscles with the great hair smiled down at me. I couldn’t help but notice that, even though he didn’t have dimples, his eyes crinkled at the corner when he smiled, making him all the more appealing. Cripes, I must be in heat or something.

“I’m Aric, with an A,” he said, pushing his hand out to me in greeting.

What is it with people shaking hands? That whole process annoys me. Still, I didn’t want to offend him. I placed my hand – which seemed Lilliputian by comparison – into his and couldn’t help but smile back. I felt a little goofy for some reason.

“I’m Zoe.”

“Nice to meet you, Zoe.”

“What was that?” Aric bolted to a sitting position, causing me to follow suit.

It was dark, the light filtering in through the bathroom window when I fell asleep long since dissipating. The last thing I remembered was vomiting – and then passing out on the bathroom floor. I couldn’t be sure, but the lack of light seemed to suggest that was hours ago. “I … what was what?”

“That,” Aric said, gesturing in the muted light. I realized there was a pillow and blanket next to him on the floor, which seemed to indicate he’d been sleeping next to me. That was kind of sweet. It was also kind of weird.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, tugging a restless hand through my hair. “Were you sleeping on the floor with me?”

Aric switched on the lights around the mirror, keeping the overhead off, and ruefully smiled. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“I don’t think that counts when you’re sick, but it was a nice gesture,” I said, rubbing my stomach.

“How do you feel?” Aric asked, concern washing over his features.

“I’m still a little shaky,” I admitted. “I don’t think there’s anything left in my stomach to throw up, though.”

“Here; I brought you a bottle of water,” Aric said, rummaging around on the tile floor until he found it. I took the bottle without question and carefully sipped. “What was that, Zoe?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, frustration taking over. “I don’t know what you’re trying to get at.”

“Your dream,” Aric said, licking his lips. “I was in your dream.”

I froze, surprised. “You were?”

“You were dreaming about the day we met,” Aric said. “I dream about it all the time. That’s how I recognized it.”

“How do you know you weren’t just having the same dream as me?” That’s plausible, right?

“Because I felt it from your point of view,” Aric replied. “When I dream about the day we met I always try to think of ways that I could’ve been more suave and debonair. What I just relived was from your point of view. I knew what you were thinking.”

Well … that was embarrassing. “Oh … um … hmm.”

“Don’t worry,” Aric said, smirking. “It was cute. I especially liked the part where you thought Covenant College grew hot guys on trees.”

“I don’t understand,” I admitted. “I … how could we share a dream?”

“You’re magic, Zoe,” Aric said. “I think you let your guard down when you were sick. I was holding your hand and … it happened.”

“Are you saying I have the ability to draw you into my mind?”

Aric shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Okay, I’ll play,” I said, licking my lips. “What am I thinking now?”

“You’re thinking that I’m handsome and you’re embarrassed,” Aric answered, not missing a beat. “I don’t need to be a mind reader to know that.”

“Uh-huh.” I still wasn’t convinced.

“Do you feel well enough to move to the bed?” Aric asked. “I’m too old to sleep on the bathroom floor.”

“You didn’t have to sleep with me the first time,” I grumbled, getting to my feet. “Hold on.”

Aric patiently watched as I brushed my teeth and gargled mouthwash before leading me to the bed. He settled us both, making sure I had a pillow propping up my head before cuddling behind me. “Try it again,” he prodded.

“Try what?” I didn’t want to unleash my frustration on him, but my patience was at an all-time low – which is saying something, because patience is the one thing for which I’ll never be known.

“Pick a memory,” Aric instructed, rubbing the back of my neck. “Relax. Let go. Pick a memory. I want to see if you can do it on purpose.”

“I think this is ridiculous, Aric,” I muttered, although I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m tired. I need to sleep.”

“Then go to sleep,” Aric prodded. “Try to find a good memory before you do, though. Make it fun.”

“You’re unbelievable,” I grumbled. “It was a coincidence that we dreamed the same thing.”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Aric said, his voice a low murmur. “Go to sleep. Remember something fun.”

I RECOGNIZED IT RIGHT AWAY.

“Aric?”

He didn’t answer. Did that mean he wasn’t here?

“So what’s going on?” Aric asked, as he looked me up and down after I climbed into his truck. “You look like you haven’t slept in weeks.”

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean… .”

“No, that’s just what every girl wants to hear.”

“Are you still upset about last night?”

“Yes ... no ... I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

I launched into a recitation of what had happened since I had left him the previous night. When I was done, I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t look nearly as upset as I felt. In fact, his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter.

“It’s not funny.”

“Girls, I swear.”

“What?”

“This is only a problem with girls.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just that you like drama.”

“I don’t think it’s funny,” I said. “Paris isn’t speaking to me. Laura is a mess. Brittany is sitting there and judging me in her little matching sweater sets. It’s a nightmare.”

“It will blow over,” Aric said dismissively.

“What if it doesn’t?”

“Paris seems like a reasonable person. She just needs some time to calm down. Besides, she can’t expect you to just stop being friends with Laura because she had sex with her ex-boyfriend.”