BECAUSE PURPLE - Introduction: Happy Birthday to Me
I don’t really sleep-in any more – after years of night-waking with babies, and then rising early to get kids ready for school, my internal alarm clock is permanently set for about 5:30 am. Also, I’m a brooder, a worrier, and I’m pretty sure I’m depressed. My best brooding, worrying, and grieving happen when I’m trying to sleep. Even on weekends, holidays, or vacations I rise early. Sometimes that sucks, but there are other times, when my mind isn’t on overdrive, that I relish the peace and quiet.
This morning? I’m not sure yet. It’s taken me a few seconds to shake out the cobwebs. My eyes are refusing to open. I think I’m hung-over. Plus it doesn’t feel like my own bed? Then I remember. Today is my birthday – Saturday December 19th. I’m 37 today. My mom took the kids for the weekend so I could have some long-overdue fun-time with my friends. I had booked a room at a downtown hotel for just myself so I wouldn’t have to worry about driving if I had too much to drink. Last night my 2 best friends and I went out for dinner, and then to a club – dancing! I hadn’t gone dancing in years. The rest is a bit fuzzy, but I’m sure it will come to me as I wake. I do have a vague sense of feeling happy, which is really nice for a change.
I slowly open my eyes, enjoying the sense of peace. Just as I start to smile at the thought that I could lay in bed all day if I wanted, something next to me moves in the bed. What the hell?!?! I practically fly off my side of the bed, as my head whips around to see what the hell is there.
It’s a “who”, not a “what” - a male “who”. There seems to be an extremely attractive, much younger MAN in my bed (I think it’s my bed – is this even my room???), sound asleep, and shirtless. I have no idea if the rest of him is clothed, since he has the bed covers pulled up past his waist.
Oh my god. What the ACTUAL fuck??
I quickly look down to inventory the state of my attire. OK. I’m in my panties and t-shirt. Soooo… I’m not naked, and I’m not sore in any places that would indicate THINGS occurred (and I’d most likely be a little sore since it’s been a WHILE). I am definitely hung-over. I’m not at all clear on how the hell I got into this situation, but I’m pretty sure I did not have sex with the softly-snoring, very colorful man who is asleep next to me.
I sit back down on my side of the bed and take a look at him. Red hair, short, scruffy beard, colorful tattoos all up and down both arms, and, wow, there’s a really huge lion tattoo covering his entire chest …huh. This guy looks like Ed Sheeran. Wait. There can’t be too many guys with this combination of looks and ink. I think it might really be him. Soooo, I wake up on my birthday and Ed Sheeran is in my bed?! Happy birthday to me, I guess?
I decide to allow myself the luxury of admiring the lovely, younger man who is asleep next to me. Just for a minute. It IS my damn birthday, after all. Then I’ll likely properly freak the hell out. He’s on his side, facing me. His hair is messy, just like in the pictures and videos I’ve seen. But I suppose it could be bed-head. It’s a stunning shade of bright orange, and it’s slightly wavy, and a little long, like he’s overdue for a haircut. His arms are over the bed covers, so I can see the tattoos. I’m fascinated, and study them for a few minutes. There must be over a hundred of them, spanning both arms from wrists to shoulders - so colorful against his very pale skin. The lion on his chest is spectacular. It spans the entire upper-half of his torso – chest, pecs, sternum… the mane reaches out almost to his shoulders. There is a light sprinkle of ginger hair across his chest. I almost missed it because of the bright colored ink of the lion. My eyes move up from his chest to his face. It’s quite beautiful, really. He must have shaved within the last few days, because the scruff is short enough that I can see a dimple in his chin. But his lips… I think they might be the most perfectly shaped lips I’ve ever seen. They are very full, and the top lip is shaped like a cupid’s bow. I’m just blatantly staring at his mouth now. Hmmm…I feel like I should stop staring, because, well, I don’t know. But then again this whole situation is probably the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me, so I’ll just go with it and stare away.
But now he’s opened his eyes, and all I see is blue, staring right back at me.
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