Chapter 6

Leigh's trip down memory lane left her tired. She did not realize that she had gone off to sleep. 

By the time she came through, it was nighttime. 

She slowly opened her eyes, feeling a weight on her waist.  She was laying on her side, facing the window.  She realized it was already nighttime when she saw darkness spread through the skies, mottled with splotches of orange and red. 

She checked her watch and noted that she had slept for hours!

She tried to get up from the bed, but the weight on her waist stopped her. She groped around her waist to check what was keeping her down and almost cried in horror seeing a man’s large hands.

Alarmed, she threw the hand that was nestling comfortably on her waist and bolted from the bed. Then she twisted her body around to glare at the man sleeping beside her. 

“What the h*ll, Rocky!”  She lashed out.

The noise she created did not bother Rocky, who was still sleeping soundly on his side of the bed.  A chagrined look crossed her face when she remembered about this particular Rocky quirk.   Since they were young, Rocky has been a heavy sleeper. It was hard to wake him up. 

So Leigh did what she used to do when Aunt Evelyn asked her to wake Rocky up back in Somerset. She took the pillow she used to sleep in and pounded his head hard with it. 

She hit him hard with the pillow twice before he opened his eyes, his eyes bleary from sleep.

“What’s wrong?” Rocky had no idea why Leigh was kicking up a fuss and eyed her in confusion. 

He was so clueless, his face devoid of its usual smirk. To Leigh, he looked cute with his hair all messed up. 

Leigh blinked.  Did she just think Rocky’s messy black hair was cute? 

Realizing instantly where her addled brain was heading and not wanting to venture any further, she grabbed the pillow once more and threw it on Rocky, hitting him in the face while she lashed out at him. 

“What are you doing in my room?” 

She was so vented at finding him sleeping beside her, and her adrenaline was kicking. 

The pillow landed on Rocky’s face without inflicting pain, while Leigh longingly watched it as it fell into the corner. 

She swiftly grabbed the pillow, saving it from falling off the bed, before flinging it back to Rocky’s face in her frustration. 

By this time, the haze of sleep had left Rocky’s eyes and he was quick to ward off the blow by shoving the pillow and it rolled to the side before he glared at Leigh, who was still standing by the bed, unperturbed at the annoyance she saw on his face. 

“What do you mean your room?” Rocky asked, the corners of his lips turning up mischievously.   

Leigh tensed when she felt her body react.  Even Rocky’s hoarse voice sounded sexy to her ears. 

Realizing where her wayward thoughts are taking her, Leigh marched up to Rocky full of aversion on her face, grabbed a fistful of his hair, and yanked hard. 

Rocky cried in surprise.  He did not expect Leigh to become this physical.

“Ouch!”  

Acting on reflex, his hands grabbed Leigh’s wrist, pulling it away.  But she won’t let go.  Instead of loosening her hold, she pulled harder at his hair.

By this time, Leigh had been so worked up.  The frustrations of the day took their toll on her, making her patience snap out of control. She did not think. She just reacted in a way she knows how. 

She tugged on Rocky’s hair.  

When Leigh’s hand pulled on his hair, Rocky felt a sharp pain run along his scalp causing his eyes to tear up. At first, he did not react, apart from the cry of pain.  He had no clue as to why Leigh was kicking up a fuss.  

But when Leigh appeared unstoppable, Rocky felt his patience growing thin before it totally snapped, leaving him angry and frustrated at the same time. 

In one swift move, he grabbed her hips and pulled her to sit on his lap. 

Leigh gasped at the contact. She was not expecting Rocky’s move and it caught her unawares.  It distracted her, causing the hands gripping Rocky’s hair to slacken. 

Rocky used the distraction to gain the upper hand.  He swiftly grabbed both her wrists before tumbling them both onto the bed. 

Leigh was so surprised to see Rocky’s triumphant gaze while she laid on her back and Rocky was hovering above her, their heads so close that if she moved a notch, their lips and nose would bump into each other.  

Surprised at how quickly their positions had changed, Leigh looked flustered.  She did not know how it happened.  One moment, she was attacking him and the next moment, Rocky successfully pinned her on the bed with his body pressed into her.  When she got back from her seeming trance, she instantly attacked him.  She clawed at his face, but his large hands restraining her wrists flicked and her hands were thrown back above her head. 

He had her trapped!

Leigh did not know what to do. Her head moved from side to side, afraid to meet Rocky’s gaze, but Rocky forced her.  He clamped her chin with his other hand to steady her head, their eyes meeting accidentally in the process.   

That was when Leigh saw the angry glints in his irises and realized she had gone overboard. 

Panic rose inside her.  But there’s also a certain kind of excitement, making her body tremble. 

She tried to get up, but Rocky was controlling her movements with his weight.  

“W-what are you doing?”  Fear with a curious mix of excitement gripped her eyes. Her face grew stiff trying to control the emotions inside her lest they showed on her face.

That would be so humiliating!

Leigh concentrated on her breathing. She was trying to catch her breath.  A quick look at Rocky told her that he was also controlling his breath.  Apart from panting, their chest rising and falling at the same time, no one moved between them. 

It felt like minutes before Leigh realized what was happening!  She was being affected by their closeness. 

She had to break free!  

In one deft move, Leigh pulled her legs up to rest her feet on the bed and gave a hard push to get Rocky’s body off her. Undaunted, Rocky braced his free hand to her other side creating a trap for her. 

Now, there was no way she could escape him. 

“Get off me, Rocky!” She hissed as she wiggled out of his embrace.  Her chest rose and fell while she panted. 

Rocky cocked a brow while he hovered over her.  “Why?  You started it. Are you afraid of me, hmmm, Tiny!”  He mocked, using the pet name he used to call her back in Somerset. 

Reminded about Somerset and their fake relationship back then, something snapped out of Leigh. 

“If you don’t get off me, I will scream.  Let’s see how our parents would react.”  she taunted, knowing that like her Rocky would not want to add up to their complicated relationship as it is. 

But she did not bank on him calling off her dare.  “Be my guest. Scream.” 

He taunted back, putting both of them in a stalemate. 

For a while, they stared at each other, their eyes carrying a contest of wills. 

Leigh’s hands itch to smash into Rocky’s face. She wanted to hit him so hard for being so cocky.  

Her mind went back to his dare and before they both knew it, Leigh let out an ear-shattering squeal that shocked them both. 

Rocky’s eyes grew wide.  He looked flustered while she let out an ear-splitting scream.  He looked stricken at first, but then he quickly moved toward her to cover her mouth with his palm.

Without his imprisoning hands, Leigh pushed her body off her, and in their scuffle, they both rolled off the bed and onto the floor with a loud thud. 

Leigh closed her eyes, bracing her mind for the fall, but she did not feel any pain because Rocky took the fall from her. He switched their bodies quickly so he was the one who bore the brunt of their fall. 

“Ooomp!”  Rocky grunted. 

He laid on his back, his breath going out of him for a moment because of the impact.  He could not move while Leigh lay on his chest, her face close to his neck. 

At exactly that moment, the door to his room opened to show their mothers. Both wore worried faces that changed quickly into shock when the two saw them on the floor.

Their parents' appearance caught both Leigh and Rocky by surprise.  They were caught off-guard in the most awkward situations.  

Rocky and Leigh froze on the spot as horror flashed on their faces while their mothers gaped at them.