Finding Sam (Featured)

Chapter 16 - Excess Baggage

It was late when I awoke. Erik's arm was flung just below my breasts, his hand curled around my waist as I lay on my back, facing him. His face was certainly nice to wake up to, though I had to stop staring after some time, afraid he'd wake up and discover me watching him. But then, I had gazed at him all night as I sketched him, I thought. What was a few minutes more?

I had made two drawings of him, hidden now in the bin under my bed. I'd give him both drawings to keep, a part of me afraid that David would find them. I didn't know what Erik would think about my sketches, but they were about as true as I'd seen him last night. Asleep, there was a vulnerability to him that I'd never noticed before, his smile obscuring everything else. But there was also an edge to him that seemed to have translated itself onto the page, coming to life in the way I had smudged the colors to represent the shadows along the soft edges of his face, the laugh lines that graced the sides of his eyes and the squinting lines between his eye brows.

Even now, I could see those edges as he slept, his breathing soft and deep. I moved his arm as gently and quietly as I could, trying not to wake him as I rolled to my side.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," he murmured and I almost jumped. No one had ever called me Sleeping Beauty before.

"Don't look at me!" I cried as I covered my face with my hands. "I have to put on my face."

"Oh, nonsense," Erik said, pulling me back towards him. "You're beautiful. Anyway, it's too late to put on your face. I've been watching you sleep for the past hour. Do you know that you snore?"

I hit him on the arm with my fist, even more embarrassed.

"I'm only joking, Sam," he said, laughing and bringing up his hands to ward off my blows. "You actually don't snore, I swear it."

"You're going to regret saying that I do, mister," I said, pouting.

"What's my punishment then?" He asked, his voice low and playful. I felt his hand caressing my torso, moving down towards my hips and back up again, ending at my cheek.

It was difficult to stay angry at Erik, with his big grin and laughing blue eyes. No wonder Serena could barely let him go at all. "You'll see," I said. "You'll never see it coming."

He arched an eyebrow. "Fighting words, I see," he said, his hand moving down again towards my waist and as I watched his face turn even more mischievous, I gasped and tried to move away.

"No, you don't," I screeched as he tickled me, and soon we were in a scuffle on the bed, laughing and getting tangled in the sheets, till I begged him to stop. One was always at a disadvantage during a tickling contest when they were flat on their back, I wanted to tell him. That was the only reason he had the advantage. But even if I had wanted to say that to him, all such thoughts vanished when Erik brought my hands down on the bed and kissed me.

We kissed for a few minutes, and I could feel his hand moving down my hip and thigh, his fingers curling around my buttock. But the pressure on my bladder was just too great, and I pulled away. How could my timing be any worse, I thought.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried.

"You tickled me so much I need to pee," I whispered, slipping from his arms and running to the bathroom. Once inside, I shut the door and noticed that one of my new toothbrushes was out of its packaging. He had gotten up before me, I thought, as I brushed my teeth and freshened up. By the time I got out of the bathroom, Erik was in the kitchen checking on the cupboards, making sure they were sturdy.

"I hope you don't mind - I used one of your new toothbrushes. I'll replace them later," he said.

"Oh, shush, I've got so many I can't use them fast enough," I laughed. "That's what happens when you buy them in bulk and there's only one of you."