Anna tiredly rolled over, her body cushioned by lavish pillows and a firm yet soft mattress that would put anybody to sleep. There was only one problem; she hadn't gone to sleep on the bed last night. Titus had went on the bed after promising that he would finally let her just sleep on the couch. Her eyes opened on the angry realization, scanning the room for any sign of the man who had just broken what had felt like a sincere promise.
No sound came from the bathroom. The covers of the couch were neat and made. As she got out of bed, Anna looked toward where he had left his shoes last night. She found that spot empty. The man had probably gone downstairs to the workout area to kill his body so early in the morning like he had been these past few days.
Grumbling about it being a little past six in the morning, Anna put on her flip flops and walked with frustrated steps down to the workout area in nothing but Titus's shorts and her torn t-shirt. At about halfway down the stairs, she realized her mistake in not wearing a bra. Her breasts were beginning to hurt without the support, but she gritted her teeth and forged on.
Titus was so in for it. As soon as she got her hands on him, he would regret ever having moved her from the bed for three consecutive nights in a row. Today was their last day of vacation. The very last day for him to just take a break like he deserved. He deserved the bed, a hot tub, and just plain everything that he's ever wanted; but, she realized once again, he didn't take any of it.
Titus just kept forcing and forcing himself to wake up at five every morning. He didn't allow himself the bed that would alleviate the pain she knew was afflicting his back. She had seen it every day back at the ranch as a wince would come over his face every time he did something as simple as bending down.
Trying not to bend down and throw up herself, Anna approached the desk. The attendant for the fitness room gave her a wide-eyed look, most likely surprised by the angered look on her face and her wild, bedhead hair that fell down to her back in frizzy, snarly waves. She ignored him and used the hair tie from her wrist to tie her hair back in a somewhat okay look.
“Sorry. I just forgot something,” she told him, trying to put a gentle smile on her face. “Shouldn't take more than a second to go get it.”
“Okay, miss. You can go right in.” He opened the door for her.
She walked right in, flip flop-covered feet smacking against the thin carpeted floor. Filled with every workout and weightlifting machine or exercise under the sun, the area was huge. But that didn't stop her from immediately spotting Titus.
He was on the floor, back and legs straighter than a board as he lowered himself down and up and down and up. The muscles in his bare back, arms, and legs bunched with every movement, flexing and bending according to their owner's will.
Taking a swig from the water bottle he had left next to his sweaty shirt on the floor, Anna effectively cleared the morning breath from her mouth. She could tell by the way his languid movements became stiff and edgy that he had noticed her, but she didn't care. Instead, she walked towards him, water bottle and sweaty t-shirt in hand.
“You moved me again,” she stated, sitting down on the padding of the bench where an impressive amount of weights was on its bar.
“Yup.”
“Today is the very last day of your vacation. So, tell me what you promised me you'd do today? Really, enlighten me.”
“Promised that I would let you take the couch, so that I could have the bed and sleep all day.”
“You did, didn't you? Ya see, if I would have said that to anybody else – and I mean anybody – they would have gladly taken the bed.They would've said, 'Oh, Anna, how so very sweet of you. I mean, the couch is just the perfect size for you, so I see why you would want me to take the bed.'”
He stood up then. Chest bare with rivulets of sweat running down and soaking through part of his shorts, Titus was right in front of her. If she reached forward, she'd be able to touch those abdominal muscles, those pectorals that had a light dusting of hair, or the arms that were so solidly layered; but Anna didn't. She just sat there, waiting for him to give her one reason why he couldn't take the damned bed.
“Look, we've already talked about this. I'm fine. I just wake up at five. It's not my fault.”
She handed him his water bottle, watching as he gulped all of it down in under ten seconds. There were bags under his eyes, under his tired looking eyes that had been looking more and more exhausted with everyday of what was supposed to be his time to finally just relax.
“I see what you're saying, but that doesn't mean you should come down here right away and push yourself for almost two hours. It's not even seven in the morning! Do you have any idea how tired you look?”
“I'm not tired,” Titus said defensively.
“How many hours of sleep did you get last night?”
He looked down at the ground, wringing and twisting the shirt in his hands. “Enough.”
“Look at me, Titus,” she instructed, standing up and forcing him to look in her eyes. Just as expected, the blue orbs were bloodshot, streaks of red covering certain areas and giving evidence to his fatigue. “Did you even sleep at all last night?”
Face looking pale and almost sick, Titus looked away again, stammering, “Well, n-no...but-”
“C'mon,” Anna said, guilt at being the cause of his restlessness making her feel even more sick.
She hated that she had to do this to him – that she couldn't just suck it up and share a bed with the man who had been her most trusted friend ever since she could remember. But she was scared – scared that she would feel anything close to attraction to this man. For Anna knew that if they shared a bed, she would end up fidgeting and then subconsciously moving into his warm body.
Despite that he had held her so many times before, it was just different here in Florida. Here, everything was just so much more intense. The scenery was different, as were the people and just Anna's attitude in general. She had enjoyed it here in Orlando, for they hadn't had to worry about anything more than which ride they should go on next.
They shared their own room that was made for pure, honeymoon sex. She had eaten every meal and spent every minute of the day with Titus, enjoying every millisecond. She spent so much time with him at home and yet, this extra time had made them closer than ever. But, she reminded herself sternly, it was just the hormones.
Hormones, hormones, hormones, Anna chanted in her head, stepping back from Titus and crossing her arms to somehow protect herself from him.
“You feelin' alright?” he asked her, still twisting that shirt in his hands.
As if summoned by his voice alone, her stomach suddenly felt like it was being twisted, causing a bile-like taste to rise up in her throat. But she wouldn't focus on herself right now. No, it was Titus that needed all of her concern and attention.
So that's who she'd focus on. Clasping almost half of his arm in her hand, Anna physically made it known that there would be no argument in this. Although she knew he could easily have just stopped walking on their entire trip up to the room. He didn't even utter a protest as she all but pushed him toward the warm shower.
Closing the door behind her, Anna went about cleaning up the room, getting ready for their upcoming departure that would be taking off at roughly seven in the morning. She folded and packed all of her recently laundered clothes into the suitcase. From the drawers, the first to be shoved into the deep recesses of her suitcases were the lingerie bras, stockings, and silky underwear.
Their material felt cool and even seductive underneath her hands, the lace smooth as she folded and hid it underneath her other clothing. Anna jumped as she heard the bathroom door opening from behind her and immediately stuffed the rest of her clothes over the top, zipping up the suitcase in record time.
If the man could just put a damn shirt on, she complained to herself, averting her gaze as Titus walked out of the bathroom with only his shorts on, bare chest glistening with water. A toothbrush was sticking out of his mouth, and she could smell the mint coming from his toothpaste.
She watched as he meandered around the room, deft fingers rummaging through pamphlets and phone books. His brow was furrowed, and his arm moved slowly as he brushed his teeth. Titus was clearly a man on a mission, even though he had just told her that he hadn't slept a wink last night.
“Hey, Anna,” he said, back turned to her while he talked around the toothbrush, “you wanna-”
From her position on the floor, Anna saw his eyes widen and look at something by her feet. She didn't even get a chance to see what he had been looking at, for Titus fast walked it out of the room with stiff, agitated steps out of the room, slamming the heavy hotel door behind him.
She followed, disregarding any foot wear. The carpet was the only thing she could feel as panic mode took over. Had she done something wrong? Was he sick? Was something else wrong? He hadn't gotten any sleep last night, and she had probably only made it worse this morning by forcing him up into the room.
The elevator didn't make a sound, leaving Anna with only one place to look. It didn't take long before she made it down to the vending machine area, immediately feeling sick herself. Titus was leaning against the wall, ice audibly crunching against in his mouth. He didn't even look up at her when she leaned against the wall next to him, only continuing to chew on ice cube after ice cube until finally, he ran out.
“Do you want some more?” Anna asked him, reaching over to the ice machine.
“No.”
“Why did you-”
“Not feelin' well,” he grunted.
She treated him as if he was one of her students, sitting down just like he was and smoothing his thick hair with the lightest of touches. “Was it just all of a sudden or was it 'cause you didn't sleep last night?”
Titus just stared straight ahead but leaned into her touch all the same, his bottom lip replacing the ice cubes.
“Look,” she said, trying to ease all of the tension from him, “I'm sorry for making such a big deal out of who got the bed and who got the couch. I just...I hate to see you so tired like this when I know it's all because of me. I-”
“It's not 'cause of you.”
“Don't pull that crap on me, Titus.”
“It's not crap, Anna!” he raised his voice, shifting a little bit. “This is my life - our life now. So if I do something that any man would do for their friend – like letting her sleep on the bed – then just let me do it.”
Anna shut up after that, just sitting in the dull vending machine room with the man who gave her way too much. He was still just staring ahead, clenching and unclenching his jaw as his hands did the exact same movements. His face was looking pale – a color that she had never once seen on him. He was always this tan, radiant person that was anything but pale.
“I think,” Titus began, standing up slowly, “I think I'm just gonna go to bed now. What time does our flight leave tomorrow?”
“Seven,” she said automatically and stood up with him.
He nodded and then went back to their room. She followed, always averting her eyes from his broad back. The first thing she saw once she got into their room was Titus kicking something over to her suitcase under the table.
Anna turned red once she saw what he had kicked. It was white, and it was lacy, and it was a piece of lingerie that must've fallen out of her suitcase in the rush to close it. It was a thong – a white, lacy thong that Titus must've thought she had worn for Hunter. She almost hit herself right then and there for being so negligent.
It had come as no surprise when Titus had told her how much he hated the stupid man who she had loved for three years. Of course he would've felt sick at seeing that piece of lingerie. And of course, this sort of thing would have happened to her. Stupid stuff like this always did.
The television turned on from behind her, its volume turned down until it was only background noise that Titus always like whenever he went to sleep. She didn't even look as the bed creaked with his weight while he settled himself for what would probably be an all day long nap.
Anna didn't blame him. Everything – even though it shouldn't be that much of a big deal – had left her feeling exhausted and drained. She hadn't gotten breakfast, and Anna still didn't know if that was a good or bad thing; for she knew that even a glass of orange juice would have her stomach going into complete mutiny against her.
“'Night, Anna,” Titus said in a low voice.
She turned around just in time to see him close his eyes and immediately start breathing deeply in sleep. Although it wasn't even close to night, the words made her feel extremely tired despite the fact she had slept so soundly throughout the night. Yawning, Anna ignored the exhaustion and began folding and packing all of Titus's clothes into his black duffel until all of the drawers had been cleaned and everything accounted for.
After looking at the time on the alarm clock, she realized the breakfast was about to end soon. Titus would most definitely be hungry once he woke up. Not wanting his day to be any more stressful, Anna quickly got dressed in a simple summer dress and was looking around for her flip flops when something stopped her short.
The sight was Titus. Sleeping, his face held an innocence to it that spoke of his patience and all around good nature to everything. Long eyelashes softly caressed his face, brow unfurrowed and making him look at peace for once. He was almost always on edge with work, the only times he could really actually relax were when he just slept.
With one last look at the man who had literally saved her over and over again, Anna closed the door, went out in search of breakfast, and tried to forget about the thong.
_____________________________________________________________
So, if you haven't already guessed, this will be more of a slow, building romance. Tobias was a bit faster, given the more normal situation that Tobias and Jane were in. All I'm saying is, please, bare with me. It may appear slow, but it will all be worth it in the end.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)