Chapter 13
Rohan
My body feels a bit heavy as I blink slowly, my eyes still adjusting to the darkness around me, us.
I can hear a flame, low and burning somewhere near my back.
On instinct, I press my face into whatever it is I’m cuddled against. Cuddled.
Against. My eyes fly open. I tilt my head slightly to stare up at Tyson, who’s still asleep, his arm wrapped around my waist and his cloak covering both of us, mostly me; the black fur lining across the collar feels warm against my cheek.
Holy shit.
I drowned.
I drowned in the fucking river, and Tyson saved me.
Tyson. Saved me.
I’m so fucking stupid. I feel embarrassed, and maybe he only saved me because if I die, he might die.
But still, I’m thankful. What a shitty way to go that would’ve been.
All because I didn’t want to admit I couldn’t swim.
I didn’t want Tyson helping me. But I think dying is way worse.
And the look on Tyson’s face. I feel bad for scaring him like that.
I should have just let him carry me across. Besides, being up against his body isn’t so bad. I wonder if we fell asleep like this or if I snuggled closer myself. I tend to do that in my sleep. I always need to be cuddled against something. Usually my body pillow, but I can’t say this isn’t better.
I just wish it wasn’t Tyson.
“Thanks for saving me,” I whisper, my eyes flicking to his gamer tag and slowly to his lips. I think I remember the feeling of them on mine when he was giving me CPR. My cheeks burn just thinking about how soft they were and the metal rings against my mouth.
What the fuck am I thinking about right now?
It’s bad enough we’re cuddled together under a tree in the middle of nowhere under the night sky, like something out of a romance storybook. I try to laugh to myself as quietly as I can so I don’t wake him, but this has been the most ridiculous couple of days of my life.
I listen to Tyson’s breathing until I fall back asleep.
* * *
I jolt awake to me alone still underneath the tree and covered in Tyson’s cape.
Where did he go? The fire is out, and the morning sun hangs in the sky above me; its small rays of light peek through the tree.
I stand up, draping his cloak over my shoulders.
I walk from under the branches and scan the area.
It’s really beautiful and must be one of the safety zones in the game because there are no monsters.
I keep walking down the hill and gasp when I see Tyson shirtless, actually, I think he’s completely naked, in a still body of water at the foot of the hill.
The muscles in his back flex as he sloshes water over his head, rinsing his hair.
He runs it over the rest of his bare chest in quick flicks, and my lips part.
I stand there stunned, heat washing over my entire body.
He has a tattoo on his back. A huge dragon.
He’s so fucking typical, but it’s still so…
My breath hitches. I quickly turn around and walk back to the tree right when he turns and definitely sees me. But at least I don’t want him to know I was standing there ogling his body while he was washing up like a creep.
“Hey! Rohan!” Tyson yells from the water.
“What?” I say, turning back toward him.
“You wanna wash up?”
“N-no. I’m okay. I can wait till we get back,” I reply, my face burning.
“You sure? It’s calm. It’s a smaller river,” he reassures me.
“No, I’m okay, really,” I stammer back, walking away from his shrugging form. My heart is racing when I make it back to our little spot, and I wrap myself in his cape tighter, pulling my knees to my chin.
I hope we get out of here soon.
* * *
Tyson finally gets back from his bath, I guess, and stands over me. I look up at him, and his head is tilted.
“You feeling okay?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I breathe out.
“Don’t do that shit again, alright? You should’ve told me you can’t swim,” he says, and I don’t even try to fight. He’s right. That could’ve ended so badly. Shit, what if he could save me from the water but didn’t know how to perform CPR?
I’d be dead right now.
“Yeah. Sorry,” I mumble.
Tyson looks down at me, stunned. I’ve shocked myself, to be honest. Never in a million years did I think I’d be saying sorry to Tyson Moon.
But I really do feel bad. We could’ve both been in trouble.
We don’t even know how the game is functioning fully.
He really could die if I die. And I would never forgive myself.
Not because it’s Tyson, but I would never want anyone to be hurt because of me, let alone lose their life.
“Can we go back?” I mutter, my brows pinched.
“Yeah. Of course,” he says, helping me up from the ground. “You sure you’re okay?” He eyes me warily.
“Yes, Ty! I’m fine. Jeez,” I snap.
“Ah, there we go,” Tyson laughs. “That’s my Rohan.”
“Shut up.” I stalk off toward town, biting back a smile.