A/N:
You guys really liked the Viking in his sports gear, huh? Your reviews were so great and I love each and every one of them đ
Have you read all the amazing stories Suki59 has posted? I had the honor of being her beta (which basically meant reading her story and saying “I love it” because it was perfect when I got it) on her entry to the Halloween contest, Samhain. The story put a smile on my face and melted my heart.
Thank you so much to Rascalthemutant at the Alexander SkarsgÄrd library forum for being such a great set of extra eyes. No Rascal = no story, it`s as easy as that.
This chapter is a bit on the short side (sorry), but I had to slice up the chapters here. Next chapter will be set in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Eric came into the living room with a huge smile on his face, which soon stiffened when he saw Alcide. He leaned against the wall and made no motions to go further into the room.
Eric and Alcide were both big men and the room seemed crowded all of the sudden. Maybe their egos were using up all the oxygen. Since none of them said anything, the silence was deafening. After some awkward minutes, I knew I was the one who had to break the ice.
“Alcide bought me a new wrap. Wasn`t that sweet of him?” I could have bit of my tongue hearing how silly I sounded.
“Yes, that was very sweet of Alcide.” Eric didn`t find it sweet at all, but his statement put a smile on Alcide`s face. He stood up and went to shake hands with Eric.
“I`m Alcide. I met Sookie and your sister the other day,” he said. I mentally kicked myself for not having introduced them.
“Eric,” was all Eric offered as an answer.
There was an awkward silence and finally Alcide looked at his watch.
“It seems I need to get back to work. Maybe I could invite you out some day, Sookie,” he said looking at me.
Eric stared holes in me and I felt like sticking my tongue out at him. I did it in a way by smiling at Alcide.
“That would be nice, Alcide. I`m going to Denmark the next couple of days, but we could go out next week, perhaps.”
Alcide smiled, said his goodbyes and was out the door. Eric was still looking at me and he didn`t look pleased.
“I thought you were staying away from men until you had sorted out your relationship with Bill,” he asked with an acid voice.
“Now don`t you go all judgmental on me, Mr. I`m-dating-everything-in-a-skirt.” I was pissed. Who was he to bring in Bill?
“At least I`m not dating two men at the same time.” He had a grim look on his face.
“It`s not like you have been too concerned about Bill these last couple of days. You have tried to bed me from the moment I walked into your house.”
That got Eric to act. But he didn`t walk out the door, slamming it after him, as I would have expected (or as I would have done). He came over to the couch and sat next to me.
“Of course I have tried to bed you. I do that to good-looking women⊔
“Oh, that`s a great excuse. You just go after anyone no matter if they are married, single or have 12 kids, but I cannot go out with anyone?”
Eric looked at me with serious eyes.
“I can honestly say that I have never had sex with anyone who had 12 kids.” He tried to stay serious, but I could see the smile in his eyes. Then he blinked and it was gone. “Sookie, I`m not proud of everything I`ve done in my past and I do realize that you and I met at a bad time, but I like you. That`s just how it is. I like you.” He took my hand. “And I`m not going to stop asking you to yield to me until you actually do.” He flashed me his trademark smile.
I pulled my hand away. I wanted to ask him why he wanted me when he apparently could have any girl in Norway, but I just couldn`t.
“I`m flattered, Eric,” I started to say. “But you got me, well you actually tricked me, over here to Norway to help you find Bill and that`s what I`m going to do. I`m also going to make sure Viking Games has excellent PR.” I looked at Eric. “And that`s about all I can handle right now.”
This was not the answer Eric was looking for.
“You say no to me, but yes to Alcide?” To say he looked surprised would be an understatement. Geez Louise, what was eating him?
“I can`t remember saying yes to marrying Alcide and moving into his little house with the white picket fence. I said yes to going out with him and there is nothing wrong with that. I don`t have many friends around here and I can`t hang on to yours and Pam`s apron tails forever.”
That statement brought a smile to Eric`s face. “So you are only going out with him as friends?”
I rolled my eyes. Then I couldn`t help myself, a giggle started to build up deep in my stomach and even if I tried to keep it down, it was on my lips before I was able to control myself. Eric looked at me and then he started laughing too.
“That`s what I like about you,” Eric said between laughs. “You can laugh even at an argument.”
Xxxx
Eric and I worked in silence on our laptops for a few hours, then he went to the kitchen and I could hear the sound of pots and pans. I went out to him and saw him slicing some chicken meat while boiling water was screaming for the fresh pasta he had on the counter. I silently pushed him away from the chicken, took the knife and continued the slicing.
Eric poured pasta and a little oil into the boiling water and started heating up a pan with oil. When I had finished slicing the chicken, the pan was hot and Eric put the chicken into it. Then he gave me two avocadoes and without him telling me to, I opened them, removed the stone and sliced the avocado meat into smaller pieces.
We worked together in silence like that, Eric pushing things my way and me cutting it, slicing it or stirring the pan. When the chicken was almost done, he put an almost a full glass of pesto on the meat and I chopped some lettuce.
After 20 minutes of silent, but very enjoyable cooperation, Eric and I could sit down at the table with the loveliest pesto-pasta-chicken-salad and a glass of white wine. We were still silent, but it didn`t feel awkward. We gave each other little smiles and I may also have expressed my opinion on the food by slight moaning.
Afterwards we put our plates in the dishwasher and went back to the couch. Eric picked up the remote control for his TV and looked at me. I nodded and he turned the TV on. I can`t really be sure what we were watching because I just enjoyed the feeling of being at home and no longer a guest. Of course Eric`s house was not my home, but it felt like it that evening.
Soon I fell asleep leaning onto Eric`s shoulder. I remember vaguely being carried into my bed, my jeans being pulled down and my bra being removed from under my t-shirt. Eric apparently knew how uncomfortable bras were and didn`t want me to fall asleep in mine.
I got a chaste kiss on my lips and fell into a deep sleep smiling.
Xxx
It was five in the morning when I woke up. It felt as if I had had sunlight in my face for hours and the birds had also been singing for quite some time. Usually I would never get up at that time of day, but I was awake and I also realized that I hadn`t packed for today`s trip.
I got up, had a quick shower and started packing my things. When I was done packing it was only six-thirty, but I was hungry and went to the kitchen to get something to eat.
Eric was apparently still asleep and the teasing side of me got a great idea. I made some coffee, poured it in a mug and went towards Eric`s bedroom. I slowly opened the door and gasped silently when I saw him lying there on his back in only a pair of boxer shorts. I had seen him naked and half dressed before, but this was the first time I was able to admire what I saw.
I had planned to snuggle with him as a pay-back for when he brought me coffee in bed some days ago, but when I saw him, I knew that I couldn`t crawl into his bed. It would only lead to actions I just wasn`t ready for.
I stood there indecisive with the mug in my hands and my eyes on his torso when I suddenly realized that Eric was awake. His blue eyes were on me and a smile was on his lips.
“Are you going to give me that cup of coffee or do you need a few more minutes to admire my body?” He laughed.
I felt my cheeks redden and cursed my great idea of getting back at Eric`s snuggling. I quickly gave Eric his coffee and almost ran back to the kitchen.
I heard water run in the pipes and soon after Eric was also in the kitchen, hair dripping-wet. I decided to pretend my coffee-mess never happened and asked Eric when our plane was leaving. Eric had a smug smile when he answered that we would leave in an hour. We sat quietly for some time when he coughed a little.
“Is there any more coffee?” His blue eyes were on me.
A/N:
You just can`t win over people without modesty, can you?
I hope you liked this chapter!
Ha en riktig god kveld! (Have a really nice evening!)
PS: Several of you have asked what Se&HĂžr (the gossip magazine) means. It means See&Hear – or rather Look&Listen. They manage to publish a magazine with gossip two times a week. It`s amazing that they can find celebrities enough to write about in this tiny country with only 4 million people.