26. Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Six
Jacob
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Noah asks as I pad around my kitchen with an oversized cup of coffee.
I slept like shit. All night, all I could think about was what happened. Garrett threatening me, spilling the fucking beans. Aaron’s look of utter heartbreak when I betrayed him and told the truth. How my perfect week of fantasy turned into a nightmare in the blink of an eye.
“I’m fine, really.” I tell him as I head for my couch. Noah sighs in defeat.
“All I’ve got on my schedule today is—” I look around at the utter disarray my apartment’s been left in.
The couch is a mess with blankets and pillows everywhere, books and games spread out all over the coffee table, and there’s groceries all over the counter that I am not entirely sure haven’t been opened or not.
“Clean up this mess, email Foxy, and maybe watch some movies and read some fucking books.”
Noah crosses his arms. “You should call him.”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “No, not after what I did. I’m sure he doesn’t want to hear from me.”
“I mean, he does owe you forty-grand. Forty grand is a lot of money…”
“And you’re the one who told me I don’t have to take it, remember?” I bite.
Noah purses his lips. “I know, I’m just saying… you wouldn’t let a random client off the hook like that, so you shouldn’t let Mr. Millionaire off the hook, either.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s not a random client, Noah. He’s—”
“I know. Mr. Perfect.” Noah relents. “Still, I think you should at least tell him how you feel.”
“What good would that do at this point? I’ve already cost him the job he wanted, and ruined his entire vacation.
The jig is up. There’s nothing else I could possibly say to fix this.
I’ll just have to chalk it up to experience and never take a private gig again.
” I narrow my gaze at him. “And never listen to you again where clients are concerned.”
Noah dismisses me with a wave.
“Seriously, I appreciate you wanting to stay and help, but—”
I set my coffee down on the coffee table as I try to collect the books and games and organize them into piles. Looks like Noah’s been on quite the reading binge while I was gone.
Though I’m surprised most of the titles seem to be of the gay romance or reverse harem genre.
I don’t judge, but I can say I never thought I’d seen the day he read a book of mine, let alone some of the dirtiest ones I have.
Seriously, Ariel Dawn’s Monsters of Ashwood and Beatrix Hollow’s Hide & Seek are not exactly what I’d recommend for a newbie dipping their toe in romance, but I guess some people like to jump in head first.
“I think the best thing for me is to get things as back to normal as I possibly can.”
So that I can forget about Mr. Perfect and the happiest week of my life. Well, most of the week, anyway…
I shoo him towards the door. “I’ll call you if I need you.”
Noah sighs in defeat once more. “Fine. But if I don’t hear from you by, like, two, I’m stopping over unannounced to do a welfare check.”
“Fine.” I practically shove him out the door, shutting it as he keeps going on about texting him, all too glad to get him out of my space.
I spend most of my morning cleaning up and organizing my space to resemble my space once more, while I let Netflix run through a bunch of movies, just because listening to Taylor right now feels too depressing, because it reminds me of him.
It also doesn’t help that I can’t open TikTok on my phone without seeing that Taylor Swift trend Lola and I did, which makes me think of her.
It even came across my feed last night when I was doomscrolling, and I had to scroll past it without a like because you can hear Aaron open the door, and the reminder is too much for my damn heart at the moment.
I know it was a job, and I rationed I could handle it, but clearly I couldn’t. I let myself fall for Aaron and his perfect world. His family. The hot summer nights. The look in his eyes when he asked if I would have chosen him if he were just a regular guy.
I think I would have chosen him in any genre, in any reality.
Because Aaron Everett is everything I’ve ever wanted in a man. He’s hot as fuck, he’s witty, successfull and ambitious and he’s got a wicked sense of humor. He knows how to push my buttons, how to light up the parts of me I forgot existed. He knows how to push me, but also how to hold me.
How to give me what I need without asking. And he knows how to make me beg for it, too.
How does one just forget someone like that? I may be the professional, but Aaron… Aaron was the perfect man all around. It was like he was made from my literal wildest dreams and every wish I’ve ever made.
I suspect I’ll never really be able to forget him. Which is why I have to do the best I can to get back to my normal life.
But what is my normal life? Going through the days alone on my couch, reading about happily ever afters and binging nachos while I dance alone in the refrigerator light? Hopping from date to date until I become so busy I don’t have time to think or breathe?
Before last week, I was fine with all of that, but now…
Now I’m not sure what I want except to just get through this damn day without thinking about Aaron Everett and how I fucked up.
I should have never said yes to his offer. I should have never let him fuck me. And I should never have told him that I loved him…
Even if it was true.
I collapse on the couch and focus on the television, realizing all at once the movie playing is one I know very well. Pretty Woman.
Part of me wants to exit out, choose something else, because it’s too close to home.
But the minute I see Julia Roberts’s smile as Richard Gere drives up in his expensive car, I can’t take my eyes off the screen.
Their chemistry was so good, so believable.
I know that’s the job of an actor, but a part of me likes to think that maybe there was some truth there, too.
Their fondness for one another professionally lent itself to beautiful, on screen moments.
The trust it must have taken to film some of those scenes, speaks to their connection.
Or maybe I’m just a romantic, a dreamer. Someone who looks too much into things and sees things that aren’t there.
So I curl up on the couch with my oversized cup of coffee and I watch. I watch and smile as my heart breaks because everything reminds me of Aaron and I love that as much as I hate it.
A tear rolls down my face as I watch him smile at her like she’s the only one he sees in a room full of businessmen. How her smile puts everyone else at ease and makes them like him more.
And then I hear the knock on my door. I pause the movie, even though I know I should stop it all together and get back to what I should be doing—calling Foxy and getting my schedule set back up since I’m back early.
But part of me isn’t sure I’m ready to dive back into things so quickly. One glance at my phone tells me it’s nearing noon already, which means I’ve been camped out on my couch for a good three hours already. I note a few texts from Noah, but nothing major. Just memes and TikToks.
I groan, figuring my lack of response has prompted his welfare check and so
I take the moment to answer the door, not really in the mood to deal with Noah hovering, but when I open the door, my eyes widen in surprise.
“Hey,” Aaron says, his dark hair falling across his chocolate brown eyes. I can barely see him over the enormous arrangement of roses.
“Hey,” I say, nearly breathless, because holy fuck, he’s here.
I blink twice to make sure I’m not hallucinating, my heart rising steadily in pace because he’s here. On my doorstep. With flowers, looking better than I could have ever imagined.
“Can we—” He clears his throat. “Talk?”
I blink again, nodding, because words are hard right now. I step aside, letting him into my apartment.
Aaron Everett is in my apartment. He wants to talk.
Surely I can find the ability to speak…
I shut the door and take in the sight of him, standing in the foyer, dressed in nothing but dark jeans and a hot pink polo and some tennis shoes. He looks…
Hot, as usual, but he also looks… like a regular guy.
Because he is. Sure he might have more money than most, but I know there’s more to him than that. Aaron is so much more than just his last name, his legacy of wealth.
He’s everything.
He looks around my space and I realize it’s still quite messy because I got distracted and haven’t finished cleaning yet and my cheeks heat.
“Uh… sorry for the mess. My brother was staying here while I was—”
His gaze meets mine and I don’t finish my sentence.
“No, it’s not a mess, it’s…” He licks his lips. “It’s lived in.”
My heart races like a freight train as I hold his gaze, tears wanting to make themselves known.
“These are for you,” he says, thrusting the flowers at me like they will bite him.
I grasp them with ease, though my body feels like a live wire right now.
“Um…thanks. I think.” I say as I hurry to the kitchen to set them down if only so I can remember how to use my legs.
“So um… can I get you anything? Coffee? Soda?”
Aaron shakes his head as he walks into the living room, peering at the stacks of books and video games on the coffee table. He looks so good here. In my apartment. Like he fits in perfectly.
“No, thanks.” He picks up the book on top, my physical copy of Ice Breaker.
I know he and Bella went out while I was gone, if only because he took over my schedule .
Apparently Noah said Bella picked it up for me after their date and she got Penny to sign it, too.
I’ll have to tell her thank you, the next time I see her…
“Please, uh… make yourself at home,” I say awkwardly, running a hand through my hair.
He sits carefully on my couch, never taking his eyes off me.
“I won’t bite,” he says with a smirk. “Promise.”