Chapter 27: Yours Are Warm
"So, my friends, how are y’all planning to rest? We need some people to stay awake and keep watch, no? I don’t trust those guys." Jacob spoke eloquently.
He was clearly looking forward to merging his larger but weaker group with Fredrinn’s.
But Fredrinn didn’t want to do so this early.
In his mind, keeping his group separate from others would give him a better chance in getting close to all the girls in his group before trying for other girls.
He only had 3 thrall slots at the moment anyway, and he liked his current three teammates.
Jenny was a close contender but he didn’t yet know what would happen if he gave a system to a person who was already awakened.
It could either be very good or very bad.
"I have trust issues as well." Fredrinn smiled politely, gazing at Leon, Toby and the others.
And Jacob, being well versed in human affairs, could already catch on to Fredrinn’s intentions.
He had also received the requirements lists from Max, Jenny and Aadav, but he was prioritizing only two.
Max and Fredrinn.
Both of them were of Epic rarity and although difficult, Jacob believed that his efforts would be more than worth it if he succeeds.
Thus remembering Fredrinn’s fake requirement list, Jacob backed off and didn’t try to push his buttons.
"I have to agree with him though, I don’t trust the guys over there either." Andrea spoke after Jacob had distanced himself. Her head was turned in the direction where the unchosen guys were laying down on the tiled floors.
Some appeared to be asleep or crying, while others sat looking in their directions.
They gave off creepy vibes which made even Andrea uncomfortable.
"I know." Fredrinn smiled, leaning back on the makeshift mattress as he looked at her, "I am going to keep watch tonight."
Andrea blinked. "Tonight? As in the whole night? You don’t want to sleep?"
Rhea and Naomi also sat nearby on their own cardboards, feeling slightly awkward about laying down beside a man who they didn’t know much about.
With Rhea’s shyness and introvertedness, only god knows how much she was overthinking the current situation.
"I am fine without sleep." Fredrinn chuckled, "Awakener perks, I guess?"
Of course, those weren’t actually awakener perks but the perks of meditating for decades.
Andrea moved closer as she hummed, her bare knee gently brushing against Fredrinn’s jeans, "It’s cold, you know? I didn’t even get to pick out decent clothes before leaving. Now I am stuck in... this."
She looked down at her tank top and shorts.
[ <LUST> feels that host might get lucky tonight. ]
’I doubt it.’ Fredrinn shook his head in his mind, ’There’s no private space here and Andrea may be bold but not that much. In addition, if she’s going to be my permanent partner, then I would rather not... show her off like that, you know?’
[ <LUST> understands the emotions. It says it would pluck off the eyes of anyone who sees its partners in that way. ]
’Exactly.’
"Cold? Is it really?" Fredrinn hummed as he held her hand without any warning, making Andrea’s eyes widen.
She looked down at his hand, which was wrapped around her smaller hand by comparison. It was warm, the roughness of his skin reigniting the same unholy thoughts she was trying to forget under the chaos.
But this time, it wasn’t just those unholy thoughts. Along with the dirty ones, some sweeter, slightly romantic ones bloomed as well.
She remained silent as he held her hand, which was unlike her, but she really didn’t have anything to speak.
She would rather stay in the moment for a long time, away from the apocalypse outside and the chaos that just ensued within the storage area.
"Your hands really do feel cold." Fredrinn said quietly when Andrea didn’t speak, while Rhea and Naomi sat on the sidelines watching with blank looks in their eyes.
No one liked PDA, but they didn’t even have a good excuse to stop the couple in making.
For Rhea she convinced herself by thinking that her sister’s happiness is her happiness, while Naomi still hadn’t completely forgiven Fredrinn for his earlier lies.
"Yeah. Yours are warm." Andrea replied softly.
While in her mind, she was shouting at herself.
’YOURS ARE WARM? What sort of reply is that?! What happened to all the flirty replies you keep in your mind, Andrea! Where are they when you need them!?
And for fuck’s sake, why do I like holding hands with him so much?! What am I, 9???’
Fredrinn didn’t know what she was thinking, but he liked seeing her at a loss.
Her oval, small face appeared cute when she pouted unconsciously, berating herself in her mind.
But the cuteness of the scene went to shit when Fredrinn’s eyes fell from her face towards her greatest assets.
Her chest was rising and falling in a slow rhythm, the cleavage between her dress revealing enough to keep Fredrinn’s attention but also hiding enough to keep him guessing.
The milky white skin under the top, the slim waist that was revealed by the crop top and those thigh lengthened shorts made Fredrinn question everything he had just said to Lust.
Unconsciously his hand that was holding hers tightened, feeling her soft skin as Andrea gasped very slowly, pulled out of her thoughts and looking up into his eyes while blinking.
’Fuck.’ Fredrinn’s blood rushed in the lower part of his body and his hormones raged, something he didn’t expect from himself after turning 100+.
He thought his control over himself was good and he was only doing it for the system, but the woman in front of him was slowly but surely proving him wrong.
Maybe he didn’t give Jacob fake requirements after all.
He really did have a lustful nature within him.
"Andrea." Fredrinn whispered as he leaned closer to her.
Andrea stiffened in response as her eyes widened. Her heartbeats began to race and her other hand flew to grab his hand that was already holding her other hand.
So in a way, his hand was now sandwiched between both her hands.
"I don’t think I got the chance to show what I learned earlier from you, did I?" Fredrinn whispered.