Caelyx #2
It was weird how he was like that with me. As far as I could tell from seeing him interact with other people, he wasn’t insecure, and didn’t suffer from self esteem issues. So why was he so hesitant to take me seriously when I was trying to give him a compliment? Was I that much of a jerkoff?
As he continued to stare at me with those slightly cautious eyes, I wondered how to make my feelings clear.
I didn’t want him to think I was being facetious about how attractive I found him, but I also didn’t want to freak him out with the depth of just how into him I was.
My instincts told me that Aspen Davis, while fearless in other aspects of life, could definitely be skittish about that kind of thing.
But what was I supposed to do? Not try to get with him?
I liked him too much to just ignore my feelings.
I opted for something safe and casual, and hoped he would believe me. It was true I was always joking around about the sexual tension between us, and saying flirty things to annoy him. But I’d never considered that he actually thought I was kidding.
“You look really good, you know.”
“What, you like this shirt or something?” He asked, glancing down at himself again.
“No, I meant, like… All the time. You look good all the time.”
He tilted his head at me, before pursing out his lips. “Are you in a weird mood or something tonight?” He asked. Jesus, he was really making it hard. What the fuck did I have to do, get down on one knee and propose?
Inhaling deeply, I sighed and decided to cut my losses and try again after chipping his defenses down a bit more.
“I think what you meant to say was, thank you so much for the compliment, BB. I’m sooo glad I can look good for you.” Shifting my voice into the one I used to imitate him, I blinked my eyelashes at him as I spoke.
He snorted, obviously pressing his lips together to avoid a full laugh, before shaking his head.
“Thank you,” he finally said. “For the compliment.”
It wasn’t romantic poetry, but it made my heart speed up in my chest. For once, it was as if he wasn’t thinking about all the things about me that he didn’t like, or how different our lives had been, or how he could never see himself with someone like me.
It was like the world around us, the noise and lights and everything else, was fading out and melting away until it was just us.
“Do you have anything you want to say to me?” I wondered, leaning in close to him so our faces were just inches apart. “Like maybe that I look really good? Or what a pleasure it is to spend so much time in my company?”
Smirking, he reached out and gently nudged my face a few inches back from his, though his pretty hazel eyes were still dancing with amusement.
It didn’t matter, I’d already gotten close enough to breathe in the clean, woodsy scent of his shampoo, so my pulse was pounding inside me.
The way he smelled always made me imagine rolling around with him in some deep, dark forest.
When he opened his mouth to say something, the anticipation of what he might say to me, while looking so gorgeously relaxed and without an ounce of tension in his lithe body, had me practically drooling. I’d been hooked before, but this carefree version of him had me sinking in even deeper.
But then my precious little world, the one where Aspen actually liked me and was having a good time joking around with me, came crumbling down.
“Hey! Aspen, right?”
Preston whatever-his-last-name-was jogged up to us, looking boring and out of place in all the colorful chaos.
Sure, he was good looking and had a pretty decent body, but his khaki chinos and shiny patent leather loafers screamed I don’t know how to have fun.
Even though he’d allegedly helped to plan the whole party, all I could see was gay Mr. Rogers.
Guys like that were a dime a dozen. Why was someone like him even interested in Aspen, anyway?
Like he’d even know what to do with him.
“That’s me,” Aspen confirmed, raising his palm slightly in a light wave.
“I’m Preston Beaumont.” Beaumont. I nearly scoffed. It might have sounded like some aristocratic family from old money name, but I was pretty sure his sweater was from Target.
“Right,” Aspen acknowledged, nodding a bit. “Arie told me you wanted me to come.” He was blunt, I could always count on him for that.
Preston coughed a little, at least having the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “I, ah, didn’t realize he was going to tell you that part.”
Aspen laughed. “That’s Arie for you.”
“Yeah. He’s great,” Preston tacked on. “He and Che do a lot for the club.”
There was a split second lull in conversation, so I seized my opportunity.
“I’m Caelyx.” Anything to divide his attention so it wasn’t laser-focused on Aspen.
“Oh, yeah,” Preston said. “I’ve seen you around. You’re in my statistics class.”
“Yep,” I said, not sure what else to say. It was a boring class, so Mr. Perfect probably loved it. He probably had a 4.0 GPA, even though he ran the GSA club and helped organize events and stuff on top of that. But if he noticed my disdain, he didn’t show it.
“So you’re the mastermind behind all… This,” Aspen observed, gesturing to the party around us.
Preston laughed, before pushing his dark hair back off his forehead.
“No, I can’t take all the credit for that.
Everyone in the club worked very hard planning everything.
Especially Lazaro, although he ended up not being able to come and enjoy it,” he added, sighing a bit. “I feel pretty bad about that.”
Lazaro… Where did I know that from? It wasn’t exactly a common name, so I was pretty sure I must have known who that was, somewhere deep in the back of my mind.
“Why isn’t Lazaro here?” Aspen wondered. I guessed maybe he knew him, too.
“Appendicitis,” Preston responded wryly. “They took it out, but he doesn’t get released until tomorrow.”
“Damn,” Aspen said, raising his eyebrows. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Preston assured us. “It didn’t rupture or anything. He’s more aggravated than anything. We might have to throw another one of these, or he’s going to be real salty.”
“Well, it kinda looks like it was a success, so…” Aspen trailed off, shrugging. “Might be a good idea either way.”
“Oh, totally,” Preston agreed. “Our profit margins are sky high.”
“Oh!” I finally realized. “Lazaro. Yeah, I hooked up with him last year.”
They both paused, slowly turning to stare at me. I felt like a moron, until Preston flicked up an eyebrow, grinning a little bit.
“Me too,” he said. Aspen snorted.
“Me too,” he repeated, before taking a sip of the soda I’d brought him.
“Small world,” I finally said, after a stretch of silence.
“Small enough,” Preston agreed.
They chatted a bit more, about the club and their classes and mutual acquaintances, while I mostly hung back and let them. I couldn’t tell if Aspen was feeling him or not. I was relieved when a girl I didn’t recognize called for Preston from a little distance away.
“Duty calls,” he said, sighing a little, before tilting his head, his eyes locked in Aspen’s direction.
I might have been unsure about Aspen’s feelings, but there was no ambiguity about Preston’s.
The way Mr. Perfect was looking at him was full of obvious interest. “I have to take care of some stuff, but… We should talk more, Aspen. Later,” he tacked on.
“Yeah, okay,” Aspen responded. He was smiling, relaxed again. Fuck. I only wanted him to look that way for me.
Before I could try and snare his full attention back on me, the way it’d been before we’d been so rudely interrupted, Aspen dug into the pocket of his dark jeans, forcing my eyes to flicker down there.
He had such a cute, tight body. Firm and toned in all the right places, with a slim waist, and a perfectly sculpted butt.
There was no fucking way I was letting Preston Beaumont get to him.
I’d burn down the whole damn stupid cornfield before I allowed that.
“Ah, I have to take this,” he said, after pulling out his phone and looking at the brightly lit screen.
“Go ahead,” I said, and he gave a little nod before walking off in the direction of the barn. He raised his phone to his ear, but he was already too far away once he’d answered for me to hear any part of the conversation.
I stood around for a bit, trying to enjoy the catchy beats of the techno music playing from the dance floor. I looked around to see if there was anyone I was interested in talking to, but nothing felt appealing. All I wanted was Aspen.
Deciding there was no avoiding it, I shrugged at myself, and headed off toward him.
When I got to the barn, I noticed there was still a handful of people loitering inside, seated on hay bales or stools, but he’d gone around the side.
I quietly followed the path he’d taken, and peeked around the corner to watch him.
“Yeah, Mom. I know. I know. I sent it, okay?” There was a pause, where he took in a deep breath and stared up at the sky, but his back was to me, so he didn’t notice me watching. “Yeah, I… Yes. No, I know.”
My fingers curled around the worn wood of the barn wall, my brows furrowing together.
He sounded unhappy and stressed, but I was sure that was only because he thought he was alone.
He was the type of guy to say he was okay no matter what was going on, because complaining would feel like a weakness. Even I could tell that.
“It’s okay… It’s fine.” Another pause. “Yeah, Mom, I need to go. I’m… Studying. Yeah. Okay, I love you too, bye.”
Once he’d shoved his phone back in his pocket, he let out a frustrated groan, before dragging his palms down his face, during which time he also turned around. When he lifted his hands from his eyes and spotted me, he jumped back, startled. Apparently, I had a knack for scaring the shit out of him.
“Jesus, Caelyx!” He griped. “Give me a fucking heart attack, why don’t you?”