The Protective Heart ✔️

11. Protecting her from going too far

I blinked my eyes open to see sunlight. I didn't remember my bed being so close to the window. For that matter, I didn't remember my bed being so big and comfy. I turned over and realized I was not in my dorm room.

Oh.

My.

God.

I jumped out of the bed and stood there, looking around the room. Where the hell was I? I didn't recognize anything in here. The walls were a dark green with light grey accents. There was a nightstand next to the queen sized bed with my phone charging on it. I walked over and picked up my phone and saw that it was 6 in the afternoon. Suddenly, the door opened and Declan walked in with a plate full of food and a glass of water.

"Oh, you're awake." I stared at him, feeling my whole body tense up as my memories rushed back to me. This morning after my workout I confessed everything to him about my dad leaving. I must have passed out after that. Was this his room? Did I sleep in his bed? I looked down to see I was still in my workout clothes and then I looked back up at him as he walked past me and set the plate and water down on the nightstand. He then sat down on the side of the bed and patted the spot next to him for me to sit down. Slowly, I made my way over to him and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. I looked down at my hands. I remembered the feeling of having them wrapped around him, touching his bare skin.

"I'm ok." I said quietly, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye. He was looking at a space on the wall ahead of him. I looked up to see what he was looking at but it was just the wall, nothing interesting.

"You had me worried, Goldi." His voice wavered for a moment and I felt my heart ache.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, looking back down at my hands. All of a sudden, I felt his large hand on top of my head, ruffling my hair slightly.

"Don't be. I'm just glad you're alright." He responded, his voice becoming lighter. I finally had the confidence to look up at him. He had a small smile on his face but his eyes were full of concern. He held my gaze for a moment before standing up.

"I'll leave you alone to eat." He said and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I looked over at the plate of food. Salmon, brown rice and brussel sprouts. God, he really was a health nut. I ate slowly, thinking about this morning. I was still in shock that I had actually let it all out. He knew everything...

After I got done eating, I picked up the plate and glass and walked out of the room, into the hallway. I looked down one way to see half of the television that was set on a news channel, and the back of Declan's head as he lounged on the black couch. I looked at the opening in the hallway across from me to see the blue and white kitchen. I walked in and put the plate and glass in the sink before turning to see that there were two openings to the kitchen. I walked out the other one to see that it led to the living room. Declan looked up at me from the TV.

"You wanna watch a movie?" He asked. I walked up to the couch he was sitting on and sat down next to him.

"Sure." He got up off the couch and opened a cabinet that was below the TV. He grabbed a stack of movies and brought them to me.

"You pick." He said. I looked at all of them and noticed a majority of them were chick flicks. I would have never thought in a million years that Declan Murphy, professional boxer, was into chick flicks. I looked up at him and rose an eyebrow. He smiled sheepishly at me.

"It's my guilty pleasure." He explained. I gave him a small smile before looking back down at the movies.

"Hmmm, can't go wrong with The Breakfast Club." I said as I grabbed the case from the stack. He put the rest of the DVDs away and then put in the one I had picked out. I watched his movements as if he were more interesting than any movie. I noticed how even when he wasn't in the ring, his movements were always deliberate and focused, as if everything he did, he thought about first. It made me jealous. I wished I could be like that but instead I was a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. I usually didn't think before I acted, which got me in trouble a lot. I brought my hand up to my forehead and touched the bandaid with my fingertips.