Beastiful || Completed||

Thirty Three

Sasha rolled the paint roller with even strokes, ensuring that each layer of ceiling was equally covered with the off white paint. Her head bopped to the music blasting from her ear pieces.

The entire floor of Jeremy's room was covered with tarps to keep off the paint. The smell of paint was strong but she was used to it and found it quite comfortable. Obviously Jeremy had moved his things to his guest room for the time being.

It took her roughly 30 minutes to get all the white paint on the ceiling. At this point she was already tired of standing and craning her neck upwards. Her smock was splattered with white paint as well as her fingers. She decided to take a break to let the paint dry before coming back to dry it artificially.

As she stepped out of the room, she popped one ear piece out and listened for the tell-tale sound of Jeremy doing anything. Her heart still skipped when she thought of him. Her boyfriend. Jeremy Freaking -sorry - Harley Cox.

She skipped down the stairs and went onto the kitchen to find anything to quench the slight hunger within.

As she found a bag of crisps, she opened it and continued to jam silently.

She still hadn't told Sylvie about her new status. She wasn't actively withholding information. She just didn't feel like anytime was the right time. Sylvie would be so disappointed in her.

She started when she heard the tell-tale clang of weights against metal. Ah, he was in the gym.
She contemplated going there to say hi then looked at her paint splattered self. If he liked her as ugly as she was, then splashes of paint wouldn't make much of a difference.

She found him bench pressing. He was still wearing the gym shorts he'd been wearing since they'd got here. But his shirt was absent and she tried not to faint from the way his muscles curled and tightened and glistened with sweat.

His wavy black hair was unruly as always. Though she couldn't see his face, from the way he was pumping, she could tell he was not in the best of moods. What had happened?

"You know, it's really dangerous to bench press without a spotter."
She walked up to him and looked at his handsome sweaty face. He gave a wry smile and put the heavy bar bell back in its place.

"You wouldn't be much of spotter though. I doubt you would be able to lift that from my chest." His joke sounded strained to her ears.

"Haha. Is everything okay?" Her voice dropped in pitch, filled with concern.

There was a beat of silence.

"Yeah... I'm just tired that's all."

Sasha raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you're lifting weights? 'Cause you're tired? That makes total sense."

He shrugged and turned away.

"Well, I'll get back to work then. Keep lifting weights though. It'll help your tiredness."

"Your sarcasm isn't helping."

"Neither is your lying" She shot back instantly.

He rubbed his face in a helpless but adorable manner and went back to lifting weights.

Sasha tried not to feel sad when she left the gym and headed back to the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost two hours later, there was a soft tap on her leg. She started in surprise and nearly dropped the brush and palette in her hands.

She had been on the step ladder at the corner of the room, beginning the painting. Music had been blasting into her ears from the ear pieces connected to her iPod.
She hadn't noticed him walk into the room and stand at the foot of the ladder for nearly ten minutes.

"Jeremy!" Her heart thudded heavily in her chest.

He half smiled at her and she removed the ear pieces from her ears.

"It's getting pretty late. Let me drop you off at home."

"Okay." She said, trying to not let her disappointment show. She didn't really know what she had expected. An apology?

"Lemme just round off this area." She said, turning away and rapidly applying touches here and there. She had only covered a small portion of the ceiling but she was exhausted. She tried not to let it show, though her muscles quivered slightly from standing and straining for so long.

He waited patiently for her till she finished.

"M'lady," he said, helping her down the ladder.

"Thanks," she smiled at his goofiness.

He started helping her pull of the smock, but she stopped him, looking at him quizzically.

"What? Did you think I'd let you go home looking like you've been through a paintball battle?" He asked, blue eyes gleaming with mirth. So he was in a good mood now...

"Well then what do you suggest?" Sasha asked, smiling slowly.
His arms went round her and she let him pull the smock off slowly. The motion sent shivers down her spine.

"Let's get you cleaned up." His voice was low and husky. Sasha felt herself melting into his charms.

"One shower isn't going to do much good against the paint, you know?" She was barely able to form the words, since she was too aware of how close they were standing. His lips looked very inviting at that moment and she fought to focus on his eyes.

"Well it'll make me feel better." He tugged a lock of hair loose from her ponytail and curled it around his finger. She noticed a slight tremor run through him.

His shaky fingers began to massage her neck in smooth delicious movements. Sasha was amazed to find that she was fully energized and not in the least drained of energy. She was losing her freaking mind.

He pulled her closer to him, pressing her against him. Then he kissed her neck, light flowery kisses that left blossoms of heat and fire in their path. He trailed the kisses all the way to her cheek, getting dangerously close to the lips.

"I love it when you smell like paint," he murmured against the corner of her mouth.

She was frozen. His touch had warmed her up and frozen her at the same time. How??

"Uh ... well ... thanks?"

He chuckled and moved her smoothly towards the bathroom.
When he made to take off her tank top, she stopped him.

"I don't need you to undress me. And I Don't need you to help me shower." She said firmly. His touch drove her crazy but not THAT crazy.

"But I want to..." he pouted slightly. She felt her will threaten to crumble so she gave him the finger and walked quickly into the bathroom.

His laughter followed her all the way in.