15. Ari
fifteen
Ari
God, I’m so fucked.
It’s barely been eight hours since I hooked up with Lucia, but I can’t stop thinking about it.
Why? Who the hell knows.
Maybe it’s because I’m used to only sleeping with people I don’t already know, and even if we aren’t friends, I’ve known Lucia for almost two years.
Or maybe it’s because we just really fucking clicked in the bedroom.
Well, supply closet, but still.
The sex was every bit as good as I thought it would be. Better even.
So good that my morning shower consists of me replaying the moment in my head as I jack myself off to the memory.
When I’m officially spent, I turn off the water and dry myself off. I throw on a pair of black sweatpants and a white T-shirt before I put my glasses back on—I honestly just hate contacts, usually only wearing them when I absolutely have to.
I smell coffee as soon as I hit the hallway, and I know I’m going to find Lucia in the kitchen, just like she is every morning.
Sure enough, she sits on a stool at the kitchen island, her favorite mug in hand. She must be heading to the gym soon because she’s dressed in a loose tank top with a tight sports bra on underneath and a pair of black athletic leggings.
I both love and hate when she wears those because they make her ass look so damn good.
I shake the thought from my head, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring myself a mug. “Morning,” I say, taking a sip.
“Good morning,” Lucia replies, a small smile on her face. “Sleep okay?”
“Yeah. Thankfully, not too hungover today.”
She chuckles. “You barely drank last night, Ari.”
I raise my brow at her. “You watching me, Spitfire?”
“I notice things,” she says lightly, a hint of playfulness to her tone. Apparently, sex will lighten her up. “Don’t act like you weren’t watching me, though.”
I shrug indifferently. “I notice things, too.”
Lucia rolls her eyes while laughing before pausing to take a breath, her tone more serious now. “Thank you for checking on me. I didn’t get a chance to say that last night.”
“No, you were too busy mauling me,” I smirk.
She gasps. “You kissed me first!”
“And then you dragged me to the supply closet.”
“Your dick didn’t seem to have any complaints.”
I bark out a laugh. “Not at all. Quite pleased with last night.”
She cocks her head to the side. “I’d say satisfactory.”
God, she loves to push my buttons.
I take a few steps closer to her. “If you think that was satisfactory, then you have no idea what good sex feels like.”
“Or have you only been with women who want to stroke the ego of the famous baseball player by telling him he’s good in the sack?”
I prevent myself from rolling my eyes at her words, afraid that doing so will give away what I keep solely to myself.
And Cole.
He’s the only one I trust enough to be honest with.
“Oh, they’re stroking something, but it’s not my ego, sweetheart.”
“You’re disgusting,” Lucia chides, no bite to her tone. Then she stands up, bringing her empty mug over to the sink. “I’m off to the gym, Casanova.”
Don’t think about her doing squats.
Don’t think about her doing squats.
Don’t think about her doing squats.
…
Well, it seems telling yourself not to think about something makes you think about it. Thank God she’s already walking down the hallway, so I can adjust myself without her noticing.
Traitorous dick.
I barely have the damn thing behaving when there’s a knock at my door.
Who the fuck is here unannounced first thing on New Year’s Day, and why aren’t they at home hungover like everyone else?
I grumble my way to the door before swinging it open, finding a smug-looking Cole Pierce on the other side.
“Good morning?” I say, letting him inside.
“Morning,” he smirks, making himself at home, grabbing a mug, and filling it with coffee. I will literally never understand how he’s such a morning person.
“You don’t live here, dick.”
He shrugs. “Consider it payback for all those times you stumbled into my apartment and stole my coffee when we were in Wichita.”
I sigh. “Not that I don’t enjoy seeing you, but what the hell are you doing here, Cole?”
“I’m here to find out that I won the bet.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Cole’s smile is devious. It’s creepy. “The bet I made with the guys when I said you’d fuck Lucia by New Year’s.”
I choke down a cough. I forgot they did that.
The fuckers think I can’t keep my dick in my pants.
I mean, they’re right, but must they always be right?
“Still don’t know why the four of you insisted on making that damn bet,” I grumble, hoping like hell I can play it off and not give myself away.
If it’s possible, I think Cole looks more smug now. “Cut the shit, Ari. I wasn’t as drunk as everyone else last night. I saw Lucia walk into that hallway, and you followed after her. Then you were both missing for a while. Little strange if you ask me.”
“I was just checking on her,” I reply quickly.
“You went to check on Lucia? Come on, I’m not that naive.”
I roll my eyes and cross my arms. “Matt was there last night. She went to talk to him, and I saw her stalk off into the hall after. The rest of you were drunk and didn’t notice, so I went over to make sure she was okay.”
“And then?” he prods.
“And then we… talked.”
Cole leans back against the counter, smirking like the bastard he is. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
“You’re only seven months older than me. And Lucia is actually older than you.”
“Interesting that you’re including Lucia in this.”
“You’re the one insinuating I fucked her!” I say louder than I intended. Thank fuck she always wears earbuds in the gym.
“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m saying it happened.”
I try to come up with a response, but I fall flat. It’s not like he’s believing a word I say right now, anyway.
“Goddammit, I hate you sometimes,” I groan.
Cole laughs with a giant smile. “Oh my God, you did sleep with her!”
“It wasn’t planned,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “But… yeah.”
He claps his hands together in excitement. “I fucking knew you would! And you actually hooked up at the club!”
I scrub my hands down my face. “Like I said, none of it was planned. I did go to check on her, as I said. That was all true. Then she was complaining about Matt and how he didn’t show up last year. Next thing I know, we’re kissing in the hallway, and she’s dragging me into a supply closet.”
“You gonna sleep with her again?” he asks, cocking his eyebrow.
“I don’t fuck anyone twice.”
“And you also said you wouldn’t fuck Lucia once,” he chuckles. “I’m not buying that it won’t happen again, especially when you’ve already let her take the jewelry for a ride.”
“I’m done telling you anything,” I mumble. “But plenty of people have taken the jewelry for a ride, man. It’s not like I wanna fuck any of them again.”
“You also didn’t live with them,” he smirks. “You’re so fucking again.”
“We’re not fucking again,” I chide. “Last night scratched an itch. I’m good now. I don’t need her again.”
Cole shakes his head and chuckles in disbelief. “Whatever you say, man.”
I don’t understand why he’s so certain of this.
Sure, he was right about us sleeping together once, but that doesn’t mean he’s right again.
I’m not actually into Lucia.
I tolerate her now, and the sex was great last night, but it’s not like I haven’t had good sex with other people.
Though I’m sure as hell not going to forget our night together anytime soon…
After she finishes in the gym, Lucia takes a shower and then joins me out in the living room, where I’m on my millionth rewatch of Modern Family.
“I didn’t realize you watched this,” she says, taking a seat on the opposite end of the sofa.
“My favorite show,” I reply. “I’m pretty sure I can quote every episode in my sleep by now.”
“It’s actually one of my favorites, too. Though I don’t think I can quote it in my sleep.”
I chuckle before remembering what happened while she was at the gym. “I feel like I should probably tell you that Cole stopped by earlier.”
Lucia looks at me, confused. “Why would you need to tell me that?”
I sigh. “Because he and the guys took bets weeks ago on when the two of us would sleep together.”
She rolls her eyes. “Of fucking course they did.”
“Bastards,” I chuckle. “Cole was demanding to find out if he won, though.”
“How long did Cole give for his part of the bet?”
“New Year’s.”
“I hate him,” she laughs. “We slept together once. It’s not like we’re going to do it again.”
“That’s exactly what I told him,” I shrug.
“I just wanted sex, and you happened to be there.”
I smirk at her. “Mhmm. You certainly screamed my name last night only because I was the one available to fuck you.”
“I screamed your name because I liked what you did with your tongue, Casanova,” Lucia replies.
“Knew it was better than mediocre.”
Lucia lets out a breathy laugh. “You’re annoying.”
“So you’ve been telling me.”
We sit in silence now, watching the Dunphy and Pritchett families create chaos on the screen. Lucia turns to me again, though, after a moment.
“You know, you told me on Christmas that you haven’t hooked up with anyone since November. I know we obviously hooked up last night, but why was there no one in between? I’ve always known you to go out and find someone to take to bed.”
I mull it over because I truly don’t know. Sure, I was in Korea for a couple of weeks of that time, but the rest of it, I’ve been here.
“I guess I just don’t know the protocol for having a roommate after college,” I shrug. “I probably shouldn’t be sneaking out every night to fuck someone.”
Lucia nods, apparently accepting that answer.
Though I’m really not sure why she asked the question in the first place.
We focus on the TV again without speaking, just watching a couple of episodes together in silence.
But then Lucia’s phone vibrates, and when she looks at the screen, she just sighs and shoves it under a throw pillow.
“What’s that about?” I ask.
“Nothing,” she replies curtly. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s Matt, isn’t it?”
Lucia sighs and nods. “Yes. He’s decided to make it his mission to get me to move in with him.”
“Fucking prick,” I mutter under my breath, but she hears me and starts laughing.
“Biggest fucking prick. God, I don’t know what I saw in him.”
I could tell her that I don’t know what she saw in him either, but I know that would only piss her off. We’re being friendly to each other now, and I don’t want to ruin that.
“Say the word, and I’ll deck him.”
Lucia starts laughing harder. “I appreciate you threatening battery for me, Ari, but I’m good.”
I smile and lean back against the sofa. Talking with her is getting easier.
I think I’m starting to like having her here, and that’s something I never expected.
Lucia isn’t at all as bad as I thought she was.