His eyes were trained on his feet, brows pulled together in deep thought as he took another step closer before allowing his hand around her elbow to trail down further and wrap around her wrist.
“Did that…” He raised his head to meet her eyes, a small frown on his lips. And then, bringing a hand towards her face, he used the back of his knuckles to stroke her lower jaw. “I didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I?” He cocked his head to the side. “There, in the hallway? I wasn’t trying to make you uneasy. You just seemed to be spacing out and worrying, so I wanted to break the ice.”
A smile broke out on Carmen’s face, giddy that even after all this time, she still knew him. She’d been right when she’d assumed he was just trying to keep the atmosphere light-hearted for her benefit.
Her mind flashed back to the evening of their date, when he’d shown up on the steps of her front porch with that mischievous shimmer in his eyes and that devilish grin on his lips. He had made a sarcastic remark, though Carmen couldn’t remember what it was. And in return, she had asked him, “Were you born with that smooth tongue or did you have to pick up lessons along the years?”
He’d grinned at her then, and she’d known there was a witty response to her question already sitting at the tip of his tongue.
“Does it really matter?” Asa had smirked at her. “Because you weren’t complaining about my smooth tongue that night in the park.”
Carmen remembered the furious blushing she’d endured, the speechless state she’d been left in. And then she remembered him shedding off that cocky demeanour as his natural instincts had taken over, instincts that needed to ensure she was at ease, at comfort. “I’m sorry,” Asa had said, ever the embodiment of warmth. “I just wanted to tease you, but if those sorts of remarks make you uncomfortable, then tell me okay? And I won’t make them anymore.”
Looking at him now, standing right in front of her, that same hint of concern in his eyes and the same gentleness in his tone, Carmen knew any pain she’d caused him hadn’t taken away the beautiful person he was beneath all that flesh and bone.
And God, did she love him for it.
“I know you were only trying to make light of the situation,” she told him with a soft smile. “You don’t have to explain.”
He watched her for a moment, as if wanting to confirm for himself that she was at ease, and then released a small sigh. “Good,” he mumbled, a corner of his mouth lifting up slightly into something similar to a smile.
His gaze travelled upwards, landing on her hair which was still pretty damp since Carmen hadn’t got a chance to wipe it yet. Asa ran his fingers down a few locks and then pulled his hand back, looking down at the tiny water droplets he found there.
“You haven’t dried your hair yet,” he pointed out, rubbing his fingertips together. “You’re going to give yourself a really bad headache on top of that cold, you know.” Unwrapping his fingers from around Carmen’s wrist, he leaned forward and slipped his arm underneath hers, reaching for the towel she’d hung over the chair behind her and then walked over to the bed.
Carmen watched as he settled on the mattress, leaning back against the headboard with his legs crossed on the bed and patting the spot right in front of him. “Come on then,” he said, not taking his eyes off hers.
Bewildered, she walked towards Asa, stopping just as her knees brushed against the bedframe and looked at him curiously. “Asa, you don’t—I can dry my own hair, you know.”
Asa sighed deeply and stretched his hand out towards Carmen, the inside of his palm turned upwards, silently asking her to take it. “I want to take care of you right now,” he said quietly. “Please just let me.”
Carmen had taken care of herself for so long now, and she didn’t think Asa understood to the fullest extent what his words were making her feel.
She slipped her palm into his without blinking an eye, letting him pull her up onto the bed, and settled on the space in front of him, bringing her knees up to her chest and loosely wrapping her arms around them.
“Um,” Carmen started, her eyes trained on her intertwined fingers resting atop her knees, her voice beginning to tremble slightly, “So…I—I guess that tonight I wanted to—to…” She let out a frustrated breath, knowing that she had so much to say to him, but not knowing how to begin. There was really no way she could think of to start this conversation.
“We have all night,” Asa murmured from behind her, his hand taking a hold of a few locks of her hair and starting to dry it with the towel. “Just breathe for now.”
Carmen seemed to relax at that, her shoulders sagging forward slightly and her fingers loosening their painful grip around each other.
Asa continued to thread his fingers through her hair, separating it into portions and wiping each one thoroughly before letting it flow down her back along with rest of the dried strands. Carmen’s eyes fluttered shut, a small sigh of content escaping her lips at the soothing movements.
It was a few minutes later when Asa finally stopped. “There you go,” he mumbled under his breath, chucking the towel away and gathering her hair into a neat pile before pushing it to the side and letting it fall over her right shoulder. “All done.”
“Thanks,” Carmen whispered, eyes still closed.
Asa hummed in response, and Carmen felt the back of his fingertips trail down the length of her spine in one single feather-light stroke.
After a while,
