Bend It Like Becker
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Chapter 9 - LADEN LOOKS
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Becker barely slept a wink all night, and it wasn't just because he was lying on his couch.
He still was shocked that Jess had ultimately opted for the bed. Not that he minded - he felt better knowing she was sleeping soundly in his bedroom. But she'd seemed so insistent earlier that he shouldn't be put out. So what had changed her mind, he wondered. It had seemingly come out of the blue. He'd been just about to head for bed himself when she'd up and asked, "Do you mind, after all, if I do sleep in your bed tonight?"
Of course he couldn't help where his mind instantly went, and he scolded himself for such thoughts. "Of course, Jess. Not a problem," he quickly affirmed, but he couldn't help but notice Jess staring intensely at him, as if she were trying to figure something out. He swallowed nervously under such scrutiny before mumbling, "I'll go get the sheets."
She followed him into the bedroom and helped him strip the bed. He was thankful he was no longer a 14-year-old boy or else it would've been obvious what he'd been dreaming of these past few nights. Standing at the foot of the bed, he neatly spread out the bottom flat sheet. Jess watched him for a moment with a curious expression before nodding, as if she'd figured something out. She then approached the bottom corner of the bed, but Becker quickly stopped her.
"I'll do it," he insisted. After years of making his bed in the military, he didn't really trust others to do it correctly.
But Jess serenely replied, "I know how to make proper hospital corners - I was a Girl Guide, you know."
Becker hadn't known, but it made sense. And she DID know how to do them quite adequately, though her technique wasn't quite up to his standards. Of course, she probably hadn't been forced to do 50 pushups if a quarter didn't bounce off her bed.
Though the image of Jess and bouncing beds was really not what Becker needed in his head right now! So he quickly blurted out, "A Girl Guide, yeah? That must've been fun. What did you get badges in? Girl Guides have badges, yeah? Like in Scouts? I gained several challenge awards myself - led a few expeditions into the woods when I was 14 or so. My father thought it'd be good training for the military."
Jess nodded placidly as she helped him spread out the top sheet. "Flannel," she observed.
Becker nodded. "I hope flannel's okay - they were on top."
"Yes, I like flannel sheets. I tend to get cold when I sleep."
It was, in fact, something Becker had noticed the past two nights, though now his mind couldn't help but imagine much better ways of keeping her warm.
Damn it! Why couldn't he just stop thinking about Jess like that?
But it was no use. And now he'd been awake all night thinking about her, despite his best efforts to concentrate on other things, such as falling asleep, or football, or even how uncomfortable the couch was.
Finally, around 5, he decided to simply get up and go for a run. Clearly he wasn't going to get any more sleep, and the brisk morning air might do his libido some good. He got up and folded the blankets neatly before heading for his bedroom to get some running clothes. But as he reached the door, he suddenly stopped. Jess was inside, asleep in his bed - isn't that why he couldn't sleep in the first place? It was so early, he didn't want to wake her by knocking, yet he felt guilty at the prospect of walking in uninvited.
He was still standing there, trying to decide what to do, when the door suddenly flew up. Becker jumped, and Jess let out a yelp.
"Sorry, Jess! Sorry! It's just me. I just need to get my running clothes - I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No. I'm just off to the loo."
Becker took a wary step back. "You're not sick, are you?" He wouldn't be surprised if she was, considering how much whiskey she'd imbibed last night. And of course, if she was sick, he simply wouldn't be able to leave her alone in the flat.
But he saw Jess shake her head in the dim light. "No. I just had a LOT to drink last night. Way more water than whiskey, thankfully. Though now it's catching up to me, and I am a bit desperate." He noticed for the first time that she was doing an impatient dance in the doorway.
"Oh, of course! Sorry," Becker said, quickly stepping aside to let her by. Yet Jess paused for a moment, studying his face, before hurrying off to the loo.
Once she was safely inside, Becker went on into his bedroom and grabbed up some running clothes. Without thinking, he almost started changing into them before remembering that Jess would be back any second. He picked up his trainers and headed for the toilet, figuring he could change in there.
He reached the door right as Jess opened it, and once again their unexpected presence startled each other.
"Sorry, Jess," Becker apologised yet again - it seemed like that's all he did these days.
Jess, however, laughed. "We've simply got to stop meeting like this," she teased. "Of course, that wouldn't be an issue if I wasn't always sleeping over. Not that I've been "sleeping over" sleeping over. I mean, I simply couldn't drive home last night, and I didn't mean to fall asleep on you the night before...or the night before that, either. You just have a warm chest, and as I said, I tend to get cold in my sleep. Not that it's your responsibility to keep me warm when I sleep! I was perfectly warm last night under the flannel...sheets..."
One thing was for certain - the old, talkative Jess was back. So why was she now staring intensely at him the way she'd done last night? It made him nervous, especially as she'd practically been reading his very thoughts just now! He looked away, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Luckily he didn't have to say anything, because Jess was once again Jess.
"Oh, you need to change into your running kit, don't you? Sorry. You'd probably like me to get out of your way so you can get in, yeah? Please, be my guest," she said, stepping out and exaggeratedly gesturing for him to enter. "Of course, it's your toilet, so I suppose you're already welcome to use it, yeah? I guess I'm not really awake yet. Which reminds me, what time is it?"
Becker shrugged. "5ish."
Jess's eyes grew wide. "Then you have fun on your run. And wake me up when you get back, because I'm going back to bed!"
And Becker watched her calmly walk into his bedroom, clad in his shirt and jogging bottoms, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
He really hoped it was brisk out this morning because clearly he was going to need it!
...
"I think Becker likes me," Jess blurted out as Abby handed her the pile of clean clothes.
"Oh, really?" Abby smiled, cocking an eyebrow. "You know, Jess, much as I'd love to hear all the juicy details, I don't think the locker room is the best place for it. Tonight, yeah? And I do at least hope you were careful."
Jess gave Abby a "duh" look. "Of COURSE I was careful, Abby - that's why I didn't drive home."
At Abby's eye roll, Jess suddenly made the connection. "Oh! You mean 'careful'. Don't be silly - nothing like THAT happened last night."
The blonde girl's disappointment was evident on her face. "So then how do you know he likes you? Other than the fact that he hasn't balked at your pathetic excuses for 'sleeping over' the last two nights?"
"Because I'm doing an experiment," Jess stated matter-of-factly. "Two, actually, though I haven't really started on the one yet."
Abby looked stricken. "Please don't tell me you've been sleeping over at his house just to rifle through his drawers while he's sleeping!"
"Abby!" Jess was horrified that her friend would even think that of her. Of course, after the things she'd confessed to Abby of actually having done during the early days of her crush, she guessed it wasn't that much of a leap. "No, the first experiment - well, the first one that I thought of, though it's the one I haven't really started yet because I need to run some control studies first - has to do with whether Becker was really talkative last night because of the alcohol, or because I was being quiet, or a combination of both."
"Wait, wait, wait! Becker was talkative? And you were quiet? Man, Connor was right - we missed all the fun leaving early last night."
Having been reminded, Jess quickly asked, "Oh yes, how was your yoga class?"
But apparently Abby didn't want to discuss herself right now. "Jessica, focus!"
Jess's eyes narrowed. "Did you just call me 'Jessica'?"
Abby thought for a moment. "I guess I did." She shrugged. "Must be spending too much time around Becker."
"Exactly!" Jess said, frowning. "Becker's the only person allowed to call me Jessica. Other than my mum, of course. And for some reason my dad's always called me Jessi, which is so weird because he has a boy cousin named Jesse, so you'd think-"
"Jessica!"
"Abigail!"
"Just get to the point!" From her impatient tone, Jess sensed that Abby had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. "So what's this other experiment you're doing?"
"Oh, right. So I've come to the conclusion that Becker likes me."
"Isn't this where I came in?" Abby asked, throwing her hands up in despair. "Elaborate, Jess."
Jess nodded and took a steeling breath. Now that she was about to say it outloud, she suddenly felt silly, like she'd imagined the entire thing. Only she hadn't imagined it. She wasn't seeing things. And hopefully, when she explained it all, Abby wouldn't tell her the theory was rubbish.
"So...you know how I'm constantly blurting out things when I'm around Becker?"
"Gosh no, Jess, I have no idea what you're talking about," Abby teased good-naturedly.
Jess blushed as she swatted her friend. "Hey, be nice, or I'll continue keeping you in suspense."
That did the trick. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"So anyway, I tend to blurt out things when I'm with Becker, embarrassing things. It's totally Freudian, because I'm always saying things that I've thought about but I don't want HIM to know I've thought about. But then when I try to explain myself, I just dig myself in deeper and deeper. And he always just lets me - he just sits back and stares and makes me feel stupid, so I blurt out more stuff, and it's just a vicious cycle."
Abby nodded, an amused grin on her face. "Yes, I am familiar with the phenomenon."
Jess took a deep breath before concluding, "Well, I've determined that Becker does the same thing. Only he doesn't say things; he thinks them."
The blonde raised a doubtful eyebrow. "So you're a mindreader now?"
"No, but I can read his face. He has this look, Abby - this look like he feels guilty as if he's done something unchivalrous. Only in most cases, he HASN'T done anything unchivalrous. In fact, he's usually being a perfect gentleman at the time. Which can only mean one thing."
Abby looked confused. "That he likes you?" she asked, sounding unsure.
"No! Well yes, in a way. That look has to mean that he HAS done something unchivalrous, and since he hasn't, it can only mean that he's thought it."
Abby shook her head. "You've lost me."
"Okay, so for example, yesterday morning, when he gave me the toothbrush, he commented that I should simply keep it at his place 'for future use'. And then he got the Look."
"The guilty, 'I've-done-something-unchivalrous' look," Abby said, trying to keep up.
"Exactly! Now why would he do that? It was a perfectly innocent comment, considering I'd fallen asleep at his flat two nights in a row. In fact, it was a perfectly chivalrous comment - he wanted me to feel like I was welcome to stay if I needed to. So why would he look as if he'd done something wrong?"
"Because he'd been thinking?" Abby asked, finally starting to catch on.
"Exactly!" Jess said with a triumphant grin. "He'd THOUGHT about me staying over at his place before...and not just because I was knackered from practice. But then he felt guilty for having thought it, and thus the Look."
Abby smiled. "I think you might be onto something."
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it. Wait till I tell you about making the bed!"
...
to be continued
