April awoke the following day to the smell of coffee. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. She’d spent another night in Jonathan’s bed and that alone made her smile. They had the whole day to themselves. April remembered that they still had to watch Slapshot together. Jonathan had told her that this would be the next movie on their list.
Quickly she got up from the bed and pulled one of Jonathan’s Blackhawks sweatshirts over her head. It reached her knees and the sleeves were a bit too long, but it was just so comfortable that she didn’t want to wear anything else. The floor was warm when she exited the bedroom and headed straight to the kitchen where Jonathan was just turning around to her with breakfast on a tray. There were croissants, coffee, scrambled eggs, which looked slightly burnt.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jonathan glared at her before his face softened and he actually smiled at her.
“I couldn’t stay in bed any longer. And the smell of coffee took me here.”
“And I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed.”
April took the tray from him and put it aside. She ran one hand through his hair, rose to the balls of her feet and kissed his lips very lightly. “That’s sweet of you, but how about we have breakfast here? Otherwise I might not get out of bed all day.”
“I wouldn’t have a problem with that.” His eyes wandered appreciatively over her body. He really, really liked seeing her in Blackhawks stuff. It hadn’t been the same with Amelia. Not that she particularly wanted to put on his jersey or anything, but she looked pissed off most of the time when she did. April however looked gorgeous wearing his stuff, and she had a huge smile on her face.
“But I do. We have a movie to watch later on.” She pecked his cheek before stepping out of his embrace. She took the tray again and placed it on the dinner table, so that they could eat there.
“What movie? Did I miss something?” Jonathan took a seat and helped himself to a croissant, his eyes still on April.
“We’re watching Slapshot. You said that would be the next movie on the list, so I thought why not watch it today?”
“You just made one man really, really happy.” With a grin on his face he looked at her. She had no idea how happy she made him. He would never have guessed that April would become this important to him. She’d been with him for two months now. In the beginning he’d liked her and genuinely wanted to help her. The more he’d gotten to know about her, the more he’d fallen for her. And he felt the urge to tell her, just not right now.
They enjoyed their breakfast together and then a long, hot bath. They had all day, so they didn’t want to take a shower. Jonathan had lit a couple of candles and turned on music. He’d taken April’s iPod and chosen a list of songs. It set the right mood. During their bath they didn’t need words. They just relaxed listening to the songs, not worrying about the time since they didn’t have to go anywhere.
After some time, April started humming along to the music. Her humming soon became singing and Jonathan found himself listening intently to her. When she stopped, he squeezed her tight and placed a kiss on her shoulder.
“Why did you stop singing?”
“Because we should get out of the tub. The water’s getting cold.”
Jonathan first helped her out before he got out of the bathtub himself. They dried off, before putting on bath robes. After a week Jonathan had bought one for April as well. This was more comfortable than dressing if they wanted to lie on the sofa and watch a movie.
“You should sing more often. Your voice is incredible.”
“Don’t make me blush!” She gave his shoulder a slight shove, even though he was right. Singing made her even happier than she was right now. And she had to do something about it. Maybe get up on stage again, sing in small clubs or whatever. She’d think about this when Jonathan was on the road. The game tomorrow was here in Chicago, but the one after that was in Boston.
“I’m serious.”
“You always are,” April teased as she took her place on the sofa. “But you’re right. I’ll sing more around the apartment. That also means that I’ll be playing the guitar more often.”
“I’m fine with that.” He turned on the TV and the DVD before he got on the sofa. He stretched his whole body out, poking April’s leg with his foot. “Com here!” He reached for her and pulled her close. She was snuggled up with her back against his chest, head resting comfortably on a pillow. Jonathan loved the movie, but he spent more time looking at April than at the TV. At some point he started playing around with her hair.
They watched the whole movie in silence, but started talking about it afterwards. April smiled and said that she enjoyed the movie, but she looked drowsy. Her face was pale.
“Are you okay?” Jonathan looked at her worried.
“Yeah, just a little hot.” April smiled weakly at him and took a deep breath. Jonathan pulled her close again and felt her temperature.
“You’re not okay. You feel like you’re burning up.” He got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen. After rummaging through the cupboards, he returned and handed her a steaming mug. “Drink up. Are you hungry?” She took the mug from him and shook her head immediately. If she ate something now, she wasn’t sure whether she could keep it in. She didn’t know where this came from, though. This morning everything had been alright, even after the bath together, but now she was feeling like hell. Just thinking about food made her nauseous.
“Maybe we should get you to bed.” Jonathan held out his hand to her.
“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll go to my room then.” She took his hand an got up, but when she wanted to let go again, he held on tight.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll stay with me in my bed.”
“No, I’m used to sleeping alone when I’m sick. It’s usually the sofa, so it’s already more than I’m accustomed to.” She smiled at him, before turning away from him to head for her room.
“So, your ex-boyfriend made you sleep alone when you were sick?”
“He couldn’t look at me then, so I spent my nights in the living room.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” He took a deep breath to calm down. Seriously? She couldn’t be serious about that. If he ever met her ex-boyfriend again, he’d punch his face just for that. “I won’t let you sleep alone when you’re feeling like this.” Ever so gently he took he lifted her up and carried her to his bedroom. There was no way in hell he’d leave her alone.
After putting her down on the bed, he lay down behind her, wrapping his arms tight around her middle. He pulled the comforter over them. His nose nearly touched her neck. April relaxed a little when she put her hands on top of his. It was actually quite nice to be held when you weren’t feeling well. To know someone was there to take care of you. She was nearly asleep, when she heard Jonathan’s quiet voice.
“You really mean a lot to me,” he mumbled against the back of her neck, keeping completely still. He must have thought that she was already asleep. “I’m falling in love with you and it feels so good.”
Her heart started pounding in her chest. Had she heard that correctly? She might not have felt well, but her ears were working properly. She’d just keep pretending that she was asleep until she really drifted off. She couldn’t think about this right now with her head throbbing and her body giving up on her.