Page 28 of Care: Part 1

CHAPTER SEVEN

Care for Music

Johnathan and Anton had left not even a second after the whole encounter.

The whole situation was unexpected. Avelina still couldn't bring herself to break apart from Adrik. He seemed as if he didn't want her to leave his side, either. There was such a strong pull that existed between the two of them.

"I realized that you probably didn't eat your dinner," Avelina whispered as a frown coated her features.

"I had eaten quite a bit before Johnathan had shown up.”

She smiled at his words before walking over to the edge of his bed, where she sat down. He had already been lying down with a book in his hand as his eyes read through the text.

"I'm happy to hear that," she smiled.

Avelina found herself scooting slightly closer to him. He was quick to notice her body inching closer towards him. His eyes seemed to skim down her body before returning to the book.

"What are you reading?"

Avelina noticed how he moved over to allow her to have room beside him if she wanted it. Her eyes fell on the empty spot just before meeting Adrik's silver orbs.

"Come lie down with me, and I will tell you all about it.”

She managed to contemplate whether or not it'd be a good idea to lay beside him. Her mind was begging her to do it. She wanted to be surrounded by his warmth and to drown in his heavenly scent. For some reason, her logic only put her in a state of not knowing if lying beside him in bed was a smart decision.

Before she could end the brutal battle of her overthinking, Adrik wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest. Avelina was quick to gain that fluttering-feeling she managed to receive when she was near Adrik. Only this time, things felt more intimate. She had to stop her arm from curling around Adrik's muscular frame due to her temptation screaming at her to do it.

She looked at his face as he continued to read his book.

"I find you so extraordinary," she whispered, intending to keep her thoughts in her head.

He glanced over at her, his eyebrows coming together for a brief moment.

"If you are telling a joke, I am afraid that I do not find it humorous," he spoke.

Avelina frowned at his words before bringing her hand up to graze his cheekbone only to ensure that he was real. "No, Adrik, I'm not joking. You are so smart, so brave, and so strong. I don't think I've ever met someone that inspires me in the way you do. I feel as though I could take over the world when I speak to you. Maybe that's why I find it so intriguing to listen to every word that comes from you."

He could only stare at her in response. There was a feeling that spread throughout his body that he just could not describe. No one had ever said anything like that to him, which is one of the reasons he found Avelina so fascinating. There were so many words he wanted to say, and so many things he wished he could do in that moment, but the battle he fought with his mind never seemed to win.

"Okay," he stated.

Even as her eyes happened to skim through the words written in the book, he was looking at her. He was tracing every feature of her face deep within his memory. He was saying the words he wanted to say out loud but only in the echoes of his mind hoping that she could one day hear them.

"So, you promised to tell me about your book," she chuckled.

Her hand moved away from Adrik’s face and over to the novel in his hands.

"It is an informational text about Ludwig van Beethoven as well as his classical works.”

"Right. The German composer that you admire," she smiled as she recalled the memory from when she had first heard Adrik play piano.

"Yes. Did you know that he began to lose his hearing around the age of twenty-six? He was no longer capable of hearing shortly before his death. No one is completely sure of what happened to his hearing. Many believed it was caused by a disease such as smallpox or typhus that appeared in his earlier years as a child," Adrik informed Avelina before returning his attention to his book.

"I didn't know that, but I'm happy that I do now.”

Her eyes remained on Adrik's book before they trailed up his arms to his shoulders and then his face. He had taken his suit off and replaced it with a thin white V-neck that hugged his muscles so perfectly.

"I'm curious about something," she said softly.