Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
NOVA
I roll over in bed and slowly crack open my eyes. Aiden’s blurry face looks back at me, his expression gentle. The morning’s light spills through my curtains and highlights the sharp planes of his cheeks and nose.
“Morning, sleepyhead.”
“I had another night terror, didn’t I?”
“Yeah. You wanna talk about it?”
I shake my head and sit up. The sheets pool around my waist. “Nothing new to talk about since it’s the same nightmare.”
Aiden pulls me into his arms so that I’m straddling his lap. As he hugs me to him, we don’t say anything for a while, and like all the other times, he’s not bothered by comforting me.
How many times has he held me like this?
How many times has he comforted me after I’ve woken from a nightmare?
Too many times, and yet he shows no irritation for doing this small but thoughtful gesture.
I swallow around the lump in my throat and bury my face in the crook of his shoulder.
Aiden taps a finger on the back of my head, aware of my wandering thoughts. “Do you want me to lie with you so you can get more sleep, or do you want some breakfast?”
“I’m up. I’ll have breakfast.” If I try to fall asleep, I’ll end up where I left off before Aiden shook me awake. It sucks that it happens with that type of dream and never with anything good.
It takes every ounce of willpower not to ogle his body.
I’m not a creep, but it’s hard to ignore how good he looks with all his tattooed muscles on display.
He ditched wearing a shirt and opted for only basketball shorts that hang low on his lean waist. I glance at his Adonis belt and look away before he catches me staring.
Aiden turns his head in my direction, and if I wasn’t paying attention, I wouldn’t have caught his gaze dragging down my chest to my legs splayed over his lap.
He leans back and tips my chin up with two fingers.
I grip his bare shoulders, realizing how close our faces are.
There’s so little space between us. Our noses bump against each other, our lips a breath away from touching.
His eyes dip to my parted lips.
This is my brother. My best friend. He wouldn’t do anything with me outside of the terms of our deal. Aiden said he’d sleep with me, but only to teach me things in the bedroom. It’d be a job in his mind, not an act based on attraction.
So why is he looking at me with hooded eyelids like he’s about to kiss me?
Aiden’s eyes slowly drag up to meet mine again. He brushes his fingers over my cheek and tucks strands of hair behind my ear.
“I’ll stay home today, too,” he whispers. “I promised you lessons.”
“Lessons?” I mumble.
He tilts his head, his dark eyebrows pinching together. “You don’t remember?”
No, I don’t. It’s hard to think about anything when I’m straddling his lap and he’s invading my every sense. He consumes all my thoughts as I wonder what his next move is.
Noticing my confusion, Aiden lets out a dry laugh and drops his hand from my head. I stiffen when he grabs my waist beneath the oversized shirt and squeezes my side roll before tapping my thigh to let me know he wants up.
I move off of him and cross my legs. “What’s so funny?”
His gaze drops to my lap, and a flash of desire flares in his eyes before he looks away while rubbing his fingers over his mouth.
The corner of his lip kicks up in a smirk as he drops his hand, and then he saunters to the bedroom door.
“I said I’d teach you things that will have men like Brandon eating out of the palm of your hand. ”
What the hell was that look for?
Heat crawls up my neck, and I curl my finger around a lock of hair near the nape.
“What kind of lessons?” He never went into detail, and the unknown is what’s making me hesitate. For all I know, it could involve his hand down my pants again.
The look he gave me would indicate that’s what he plans.
Maybe I should let him. What’s the worst that can happen?
My stomach does the weird thing again, and I pluck a strand of hair.
Aiden pauses at the door and peeks at me, amusement shining in his eyes. “We’ll start small by working on your flirting skills.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I read your text messages. You even admitted that you thought you were flirting with Brandon, so don’t try to be cute about this.”
“There’s no trying. I am cute.” I stick my tongue out at him.
His grin widens. “I’ve spoiled you rotten. Get dressed and come downstairs. Then we’ll start the lesson after breakfast.”
I roll my eyes, but I don’t hold back the smile. Aiden exits and shuts the door behind him, leaving me with my loud thoughts in a suddenly silent room.
Why did he look at me like that, like he was thinking dirty thoughts about me? He wouldn’t think that way about me.
Right?
My phone chimes with a new text message.
I blink out of my thoughts and dive for my phone under my pillow. I grunt as I land face first with my ass in the air. My shirt pools around my waist, and cool air kisses my bottom.
My eyes widen as the answer to my questions slaps me in the face.
“Oh, crap.” I leap off the bed and look down at my chest and raise my shirt. Sure enough, I’m not wearing underwear.
Aiden smirked at me because I was sitting with my thighs open, flashing him my crotch.
“He didn’t say anything.” I slap my palm over my face and let out a fake sob.
Why didn’t he tell me to cover up?
It’s fine. It’ll be fine. He probably didn’t want to embarrass me by saying something, so he pretended like nothing was wrong.
I drop my arm to my side and check my new messages from Olivia and Brandon.
Olivia
Something came up and I can’t go to the fair with u today. I’m so sorry.
I wince, then type out a reply to let her know it’s okay.
I forgot we had plans to attend the fair today. It slipped my mind since I’ve been busy making Brandon jealous with Aiden.
I open Brandon’s messages with my heart fluttering.
Brandon
Are you okay? You didn’t get on last night.
Yeah, sorry about that.
Trouble in paradise? Or just too distracted with the new boy toy?
I tug at a strand of hair on the back of my neck.
Okay, so maybe Aiden was right about working on my flirting, because what the hell do I say back to that?
Scraping my upper teeth on my bottom lip, I type out a response to Brandon, delete it, then retype another one and tap send before I change my mind.
It’s hard to do anything when my boyfriend can’t keep his hands off me.
It’s subtle, but he can easily read between the lines. That’s something Aiden has been trying to tell me since I went to him for help. Maybe he’ll give me more pointers on how to flirt so that I won’t be so awkward about it. I don’t want to sound like a corny porn star with bad acting skills.
Bubbles appear on the screen as Brandon types out his message.
I don’t blame him.
Heat crawls up my neck.
Oh. It worked.
You’re not busy today, are you? I’d still like to hang out with you. Send me your address, and I can pick you up later to take you to the fair.
My knees wobble, and I sink onto the edge of the mattress so that I don’t fall flat on my face.
He just asked me out on a date.
Holy shit, the plan is working.
Play it cool. Don’t come off desperate.
I already planned on going with my boyfriend today, but we can still meet up there if you want?
Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe I can convince you to ditch the boy toy and we can have fun without him around ;) lol jk
I squeal and drop backward on the bed with a grin.
Finally. After waiting for what feels like ages, I’ll get to see Brandon in person. Now I just need to persuade Aiden to tag along with me to the fair.