9. Aiden
Nova Starling was coming over to my house.
Nova fucking Starling, her designer clothes and her sports car, all clean and sweet, was coming over to my neighborhood to stay in my house for a few hours so we could work together.
I was so in over my motherfucking head.
Mom and Bibi went to visit our aunt in Georgia for the weekend, Sammie was away at her prep school and Gabi was at her friend’s house where she would be spending the night. I spent the whole morning deep-cleaning the house, trying to make everything look brand-new. In all honesty, my mom was a clean freak so there wasn’t much work to do, I was just insecure that the disparity between our houses would be made super obvious and making Nova never want to set foot in mine again.
Now fresh out of the shower, I pushed a hand through my damp hair, looking at myself in the mirror. I had on gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt that clung to my chest. Exhaling a long breath, I cracked my neck and turned around to get back to my room. That’s when the doorbell rang, making me freeze.
Man, if Matt or Julian knew how fast my heart was beating right now, they would never let me live it down.
“Come on, dude. Get your shit together and stop acting like a pussy.” I breathed, talking to myself.
Gulping down my nervousness, I all but ran out of my room and down the stairs to open the door. Fully expecting to see Nova waiting on my doorstep, I tried acting as nonchalant as possible so that she wouldn’t see how nervous I really felt.
But, when I opened the door, she wasn’t alone. Oscar was right there with her and they seemed pretty engrossed in their conversation. Neither of them noticed me as Oscar was standing on the stairs leading to the porch and Nova had her back to me, blocking his view.
“Do you really know Gavin Barlow?”
I could see Nova’s head move up and down, making her long braids sway. She must have added some beads to the ends sometime between Friday and today—Saturday— because I hadn’t noticed those before. And I noticed everything about Nova. They clinked together as she moved her head and the sound was like music to my ears.
“Yeah, I do. He went to college with my uncle and my dad is his attorney.”
Gavin Barlow was one of the best NBA players of our generation and Oscar was obsessed with him. For his birthday, in a few months, I had planned to surprise him with tickets for his team’s next game in Atlanta. It was a whole affair, we’d be driving there and staying the night in a hotel after the game. I had been saving for nearly six months for that.
“Woah. Is he as cool in real life as he is on Instagram?”
“Cooler. He used to come over for Thanksgiving when we lived in the city, we always had fun with him.” I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was smiling and it made my heart a little warmer knowing she didn’t mind this conversation with Oscar.
“Could you… I mean, maybe, could you get me an autograph or something?” Oscar sounded embarrassed to even ask, probably scared of being annoying. But if she was annoyed, Nova never let it show.
“Of course! I’ll tell my dad to get one for you the next time they meet. Gavin will be happy to do it. What’s your name?”
“Oscar! I’m Aiden’s best friend.”
“Nice to meet you, Oscar. I’m Nova.”
“Oh, I know who you are. Aiden’s always ta—” And that was my cue to cut in.
“Okay, I think that’s enough conversation for today.”
Clearly startled, they both turned to look at me, Nova’s eyes widening while Oscar’s narrowed and took on a mischievous glint. I glared at him, knowing full well he was going to blow my cover.
“Why don’t you go home, Oscar? Play video games or something.”
“What’s wrong, Aiden? Scared Nova will like me more than you if I stayed with y’all?” He smirked, the little shit.
“Go home, you hooligan.”
He chuckled and looked at Nova who had been following the exchange with curious eyes.
“It was nice to meet you, Nova. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”
“I would love that.” She gave him her smile, not the one she gave everyone at school, but the smile she reserved for her close friends only.
I never once thought I’d be jealous of a thirteen year old. Oscar gave me one last gloating look before turning around and running back to his house. I watched until I was sure he was inside and safe.
“Hey.” Nova turned fully towards me, and gave me a shy smile, her slender fingers playing with the hem of her white mini skirt.
She wore it with a pink shirt, the colors contrasting with her brown skin perfectly. I don’t know what she used to make it that way, but her skin always seemed to be soft and glowing. It made me crazy for a taste.
“Hey. Come in.” I pushed myself away from the doorjamb and she stepped past me, her perfume nearly entrancing me.
Clearing my throat to stop myself from reaching out to her and burrowing my nose in the crook of her neck, I closed the door after her.
I still barely believed she was there, standing in my living room and taking it in. A small smile played in the corner of her lips as she observed the furniture, the pictures on the walls and Bibi’s little corner with her small table where she liked to have her tea parties.
“I like your house. It’s cozy.”
That surprised me a bit. Well, maybe even a lot. Because I had seen Nova’s house and, believe me, she didn’t have any vintage furniture, the paint on her walls wasn’t chipping away and her floors didn’t look like hundreds of people stomped on them every day.
Still, she said she liked my house.
And I knew she wasn’t lying or saying that to be polite. Because as nice as she was, Nova was no liar, that I knew for sure.
“Thanks.” I cleared my throat. “My mom will be happy to hear that.”
At the mention of my mother, Nova’s smile dimmed down a notch but it was still beautiful nonetheless.
“Maybe we should go up to my room, though. The internet connection isn’t the best down here.”
The way my heart was beating so fast against my ribcage as I said that was downright ridiculous. I didn’t want her to think I was just trying to get her alone in my room, but at the same time I knew everything would take a shit ton more time to load down here.
She looked surprised that I would suggest that and for a second, I stopped breathing. I knew from locker room talk that Nova was one of those girls at school that all the boys wanted but really few could have. She had gone on dates with a few Southie pricks but never went further than a kiss on the cheek which seemed to make them angry— how dare a girl accept a date with them and not put out, right?—
What a bunch of cocksuckers, all of them.
So I fully expected her to say she’d rather stay downstairs despite the slow Internet, but she surprised me.
“Okay. Lead the way.” She breathed.
I waited for a beat before turning around and ascending the stairs, Nova following close behind me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw her hand wrapping around the banister, perfectly manicured fingers that I wanted to kiss and wrap around my own.
Fuck, the things this girl was making me feel.
Once in my room, I started to feel a little self-conscious about its size. It wasn’t much more than a glorified closet, only enough space for a single bed and a desk. It was easier to keep it clean though, which was a good thing I guess.
“I know it’s small so you can sit on the desk chair and I’ll stay on the bed. Or you can take the bed— whatever you prefer.”
“Either works great for me.” Her soft voice made me turn towards her and again, her eyes were everywhere.
I had a few pictures of my friends and family on the wall in front of my desk and she seemed drawn to them. A small smile played in the corner of her lips as she took in one photo in particular. I must have been around five or something and Sammie and I were going trick or treating. I looked fucking ridiculous in that costume and wanted to choke myself for not thinking about taking it down before she came.
“Is that you?” Nova asked with a little laugh. Then her eyes found mine again and grinned. “You make an adorable squirrel.”
“Ha, ha.” I deadpanned but couldn’t help but smile. “The girl next to me? She’s my older sister. For some reason, she was obsessed with that show about a princess and her pet squirrel. She insisted we had to match so we did. I wanted to be Superman.”
Her smile grew. “Who would’ve known Aiden Walker was such a softie?”
“Don’t go around telling people that. I have a reputation to maintain.” That earned me a chuckle from her and this time, I couldn’t hold my smile back.
How someone could be so effortlessly beautiful, I didn’t know.
I sat at the end of my bed and she took it as her clue to sit on the chair.
“So, I did some research yesterday and found a few different college theses that defended both of our opinions regarding classics, I think they could be super useful for us. All we’d have to do is take those arguments and rewrite them in our style, then the debate would go pretty easily…” and so for the next couple of hours we went through every document she had found, occasionally debating on some of the points they made.
Somehow, she ended up on the bed with me, sitting next to one another with our back against the wall. I had Sammie’s old laptop on my knees and since I had been using it for the last two hours, it was starting to sound a little like a plane getting ready for take off. And it was hot as hell.
“You never watched Pride and Prejudice?” Her head snapped towards me and her plump lips parted in indignation.
“Hell no, reading the book was enough.”
“Are you kidding me? The movie is so good. I watch it at least once every few month.” I took note of that and stored that information in a corner of my brain with all the other facts about Nova that I had gathered over the years.
“My sisters do too, sometimes. I guess it’s a girls thing.”
“I guess.” She shrugged, “I still believe you’re missing out. You should watch it at least once. You know, for science.”
That made me chuckle as I closed the noisy laptop and put it aside. Nova did the same but did nothing to move away or get up from my bed. Her scent had been intoxicating me for the last few hours and I already was looking forward to going to sleep tonight because I knew it would linger on my sheets.
Fuck, that sounded less creepy in my head.
Silence stretched the room for a few seconds, neither of us saying anything but I couldn’t take my eyes off her. As I was about to speak, asking her if she’d like to stay and order something to eat, she lifted one of her hands and her fingers softly brushed my cheek, right under my eye. I stilled, my heart missing a beat and my breath getting stuck inside my throat.
Nova stopped moving too, all too suddenly, her hand lingering next to my face, her eyes boring into mine.
“You had an eyelash. On your cheek. I just— sorry.”
She was obviously feeling flustered and honestly, so was I.
“It’s fine.” I barely recognized my own voice, I sounded out of breath.
But it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t fucking fine because just the feel of her skin on mine made my cock swell and my heart squeeze and I wanted a whole lot more of it. Fuck, I needed it.
She bit her lips and the movement brought my eyes there. And what a fucking mistake it was. Because once my gaze fell on those pink, rosy lips, I couldn’t help but wonder how they tasted. I couldn’t help but want to push mine against hers, invade her mouth with my tongue and find out whether she tasted as good as she looked.
“I think I should go.”
Her voice was a whisper and feeling her breath against my face made me realize how close we actually were to each other. Both of us had started to lean in without really realizing it.
“Yeah.” I agreed.
“Yeah.”
We were both breathing a little harder, and I noticed the way her eyes, too, moved between mine and my mouth. She was as drawn to me as I was to her and it made me dizzy.
I don’t know what happened exactly or who made the first move, all I know is that one second we were staring at each other in a room where the tension was almost palpable, and the next our lips were fused and that tension had broken into a thousand different pieces, leaving space for raw attraction instead.
My eyes widened at first, I was practically in shock and couldn’t believe that the one thing I had wanted for so long was finally happening. I was kissing Nova Starling. No, wait. She was kissing me. Yes, she had made the first move.
And she seemed to realize that almost at the same time as I did, pulling away from me, her eyes wide as her hand came up to clutch my white shirt.
“Oh my God. I- I’m so sorry, I- I never usually do this. I-” she bit her lip, at loss for words. She seemed truly nervous and surprised at her own reaction. Like she had never lost control before. And maybe she hadn’t.
She was always so put together, always calm and nice and polite and fuck, that had to be tiring. So I decided I liked her losing control sometimes.
Cupping her soft cheek with one rough hand, I brought her closer and she let me. “Shut up.” I whispered against her lips before crashing mine against them again. The movement brought her even closer to me and a moan of surprise escaped her.
She didn’t wait much longer before licking my lip. I eagerly opened my mouth, giving her tongue access to mine. She tasted just as good as I imagined. I fucking thrived with her taste on my tongue.
Her hands came up to clutch my shirt even as I pulled her closer to me, so close our chest heaved against one another. We were as close as we could get while being fully dressed but I couldn’t help but be greedy, I couldn’t help but want more from her.
When she moaned, I nearly lost it, ready to pull her towards me, make her straddle me and sneak my hand up her minuscule skirt, but then…
Her fucking phone rang and she froze, like it had brought her back to reality. She pulled away from me, the slightest bit so that our noses were still touching but our lips weren’t. My eyes opened —I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them— and dug deeply into hers. Both our breaths were coming out hard, but her eyes seemed crazed, like she just couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
“I-I’m sorry… I—” clearly at a loss for words, she clamped her mouth shut and I couldn’t help but lock my jaw too.
This was probably the best moment of my life and she was sorry.
Quickly and silently, she put some space between us to get up and grab her phone from the desk . My shoulders slumped in disappointment which in turn made me angry because fuck, she didn’t owe me anything. She didn’t owe me her sweet lips or her soft skin, and I had no right to feel fucking disappointed.
But I couldn’t help it. I had been waiting, no, dreaming of that moment for as long as I could remember and to have it snuffed out from under me so quickly, it was really fucking disappointing.
Looking back at her, she had the phone pressed to her ear and was nodding uselessly, since whoever was on the other end couldn’t see her. I stood up too, but almost instantly regretted it; the room was so small me standing up was enough to bring us closer. Nova wasn’t short by any means but I was still a whole head taller.
“Yes, we’re done, dad, I’m getting out of her house right now, be home in a few.”
I frowned, her?
“Of course. Love you too.” Nova ended the call before looking up at me awkwardly.
I rubbed my neck, feeling just as uncomfortable all of a sudden.
“Did you lie to your dad about coming to my house?” And most importantly, why the fuck was that bothering me?
“Yeah,” she confirmed sheepishly, “I told you he’s very… protective. I told him I had a school project to finish with Meileen.” I nodded, my jaw still ticking.
“I get it.”
Her eyes searched my face, clearly seeing through the lie but she simply bit her lip and nodded. None of us said anything for the longest time, we both stood there awkwardly, waiting for the other to say something.
Sighing, I decided to break the ice.
“This doesn’t have to be awkward.” Her shoulders sagged in relief as soon as the words left my mouth.
“I’m so sorry, I never did that before and it’s just… I’m sorry for making it weird.” A small smile threatened to pull at the corner of my mouth.
“Was I your first kiss, little star?”
Her eyes widened, “What? No. Don’t be ridiculous. But I never— not on a bed… alone and I felt like… I mean, there were tongues involved— Oh my God I should just stop talking.” It took all of me not to burst out laughing right then because damn was she cute.
Clearing her throat, she nodded to herself and squared up her shoulders a little bit. I had a feeling she was going to give me some of that ‘this shouldn’t have happened, we should forget it” bullshit speech so I spoke before she could.
“It was a damn good kiss though, wasn’t it?” My eyes drifted down to her pink lips, still shiny from our kiss.
She sucked in a breath before a shy smile took over her lips, “Yeah. It was a great kiss.”
A grin stretched my lips so much it almost hurt and my heart nearly gave out. She didn’t say it was good, she said it was great. I wanted to tell her we should speak about it, but she was faster.
“I really gotta go, though.” Her thumb jutted out toward the doorway and I nodded, letting her lead the way.
I followed close, exiting the house after her and walking her to her car. She turned around to say goodbye, making me realize that I might have been walking a little too fast because she bumped right onto my chest and my hands flew to her waist in order to stabilize her.
We both apologized at the same time, she had both palms on the top of my chest and looked up at me with doe eyes. I could feel my fucking cheeks warm up from the proximity of our bodies and the fact that she seemed just as flustered made me feel slightly better.
“T-thanks for today. We got a huge chunk of work done and it was mainly because of your research.”
“That thesis you found was—huh, super useful too.” I rubbed the back of my neck and she nodded, looking at me. It felt like we both didn’t want her to go but neither of us dared say anything.
“Okay.” She said, eventually. “I better get going.”
Before I could comprehend it, she got on the tip of her toes and pressed her lips to my cheek before quickly turning back around and hightailing it inside her car. I watched her drive away with the feeling of her lips burning my skin. And what a wonderful fucking feeling that was.
Once I couldn’t see her car anymore, I finally let the smile break loose on my face, pumping my fist in the air in a victorious manner. Because that’s what it felt like. A victory.
I turned to take a look at Oscar’s house to see if his mom’s car was in their driveway, but what I saw instead definitely brought the blush back to my fucking face.
Oscar was sat on the steps to his front porch and the little fucker was not alone. A bunch of guys from our neighborhood were there too and all were watching me with shit-eating grins. Those were guys from the gym, guys I sparred and fought with. Most were one or two years older than me but some were also younger.
Age disparity wasn’t unusual in neighborhoods like ours because at the end of the day, we all grew up together, and we were all family. So when Grayson, an old friend, put both hands around his mouth and yelled “Ayo, Aiden! Cute blush you got there!”, all I could do was laugh and flip him the finger.
I knew I probably would never live that down, but it was worth it. Let the whole fucking world know I was obsessed with Nova Starling.