Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Danika
The rest of the week is a blur of studying, note taking and angry book throwing. Don’t worry, no people or books were harmed in the process. But I feel so overwhelmed by these classes that by the time Friday night comes, I want to bury my head in the sand and give up altogether.
Arden has been great all week. Keeping me fed and hydrated. He even washed a load of my laundry for me. I seriously don’t know what I’d do without him.
Even though I’ve been insanely busy all week, it hasn’t stopped me from falling into bed with Arden every night, the only sure way to get me to relax these days.
I still leave right after and sleep in my own bed, but he doesn’t seem to mind.
At least, he hasn’t said anything. Not even an offer, not since Tuesday night.
As much as I want to have a repeat of every other night this week, I’m seriously so exhausted I think I could fall asleep right where I’m standing. Arden orders us a pizza and I’m picking a movie that I’m pretty sure I’m only going to watch the first ten minutes of when there’s a knock on the door.
“Delivery already?”
“No way,” Arden says, walking to the door. “I only ordered it five minutes ago.” He peeks in the peephole and lets out a laugh. “Oh boy.”
“Who is it?” I’m starting to get worried, we don’t usually get visitors. Or never, we never get visitors. Who could it be?
He opens the door and a tornado of brown and blonde crashes into the apartment.
Margot hands Arden a huge brown paper bag probably full of food and Sydney kicks off her shoes, putting her reusable water bottle down on the counter.
“Danika!” Sydney shouts and I’m off the couch instantly, the blanket I had on my lap getting all tangled in my legs but I don’t let it stop me.
“Syd! Mars!” Running over to them, I stop just shy of their figures and they look at me like I’ve lost my mind. Immediately, I burst into tears.
“Oh my god.”
“I missed you guys so much,” I cry, grabbing them both and pulling them closer to me. “I’m so happy you’re here.” I’m crying into both their shoulders and they’re rubbing my back simultaneously.
“Did you tell them to come?” I ask Arden.
He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “I wish I did, but I had nothing to do with it. Can’t take any credit.”
I don’t want to let the girls go but we are crowded in the dining room and I’m sure they want to come relax after traveling to get here.
“I’ll get out of your hair, ladies. Enjoy your evening,” Arden says, backing away toward his room.
“Not just yet, I came to see my big brother, too.” Margot stops him and I finally release my best friends.
“Yeah, Ard, stay a while. We got enough pizza for all of us.”
“If you insist.”
Margot produces a bottle of wine from her bag and after commanding her brother to get us glasses and a bottle opener, we crash on the couch in the living room.
“How long are you guys staying for?”
“Just the night. I’ve got a meeting with someone at the campus newspaper tomorrow afternoon,” Margot says, pouring us each a healthy glass of red.
“Yeah, I need to get back home tomorrow night.”
I’m sad the visit is so short but I can’t wait to stay up all night talking with my friends, just like old times. I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve been together like this. Absolutely unacceptable.
“I’m so happy you’re here! Should we go out or something? You came all this way…”
The thought of going out tonight makes my eyelids hurt but for them, I’d do anything. Although, I would be shocked if they wanted to go to a party or bar. I was always the one dragging us to unsanctioned school events on the weekends.
“Dani, we’re here to spend time with you, not go to the frat house,” Sweet Sydney says and I grip her hand.
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with the frat house,” Margot pouts. She’s only saying that because her boyfriend used to be president of the KA house and even though she hated it at first, she grew to appreciate the brotherhood and familial ties that come with being a member of a fraternity.
But there’s still no way she’d want to go there.
“We’re not going anywhere, Danimal. Let’s drink up and you can tell us all about med school.”
For two hours, I yap and yap about my classes, my study groups, my exams. I even tell them more details about Nico.
I conveniently leave out the part about Arden and I turning our fake relationship into a quasi real one.
But I did promise him that I would tell Margot so I guess now’s as good a time as any.
Especially since Arden left the apartment about an hour ago, using “meeting a friend for a drink” as an excuse. I’m sure he just wanted to give us some privacy for girl chat, especially since he knows that chat is more than likely about him.
“This place is really nice, Dani. You guys have made a great home here,” Sydney says, curling up in the blanket.
We had blown up the air mattress I kept in my closet and pushed it up to the couch to create a mega bed for the girls to sleep in tonight.
I wish I could join them in the slumber party, but we don’t all fit and I’ve got a perfectly good bed just steps away.
Or an even better one with better company even closer.
I can’t believe my devil brain is even thinking about having sex with Arden while I’m sitting right next to his sister. I really need to come clean so my conscience can relax.
“Yeah, it’s been so great living here. I can’t say I thought it would be a winning idea when he pitched it to me but he really saved my life with that spare bedroom.”
“And you guys have been…getting along?” Sydney is the one asking me these questions and I wonder if it’s because Margot is afraid too. Although, I’ve never known her to be afraid to speak her mind about anything.
“We have been.” I don’t really want to elaborate but when Margot looks at me I know I owe her the truth. “We actually have been…seeing each other.”
“Seeing?”
I sigh. “Fucking.”
Margot covers her ears with her hands and starts a chorus of lalala’s. Sydney’s mouth is agape, and they’re creating a wonderful tableau. I take a mental image of the insanity before I pull Margot’s arms down.
“I’m sorry, that was crass.”
“Well, you are a crassy bitch,” Margot admits, and I shrug in agreement. She’s not wrong. “So, you decided to go through with it, then?”
“It was less of a decision and more of an impulse but yeah, we’ve been…dancing for a couple weeks now.”
“Dancing?”
“I’m trying to be less colorful. Unless you’d prefer I–”
“No no,” Margot shakes her head. “Please, dancing is fine.”
It’s taken this long for Sydney’s jaw to close again. “Wait,” she whispers. “What!” she yells and I realize that with everything going on with her at home, I’ve barely had time to tell her any of these details, including the fact that Arden and I have been fake dating all semester long.
After an apology for lack of information, I spill out everything. She squeals in shock a few times and claps happily at other times. But she mostly gaps the entire conversation. Damn, I missed these guys.
After another hour or so of chatting about their lives, Margot updating us about Alex and her new job and Sydney giving some vague details about her family—that I decide not to press her on at the moment but will later on—we settle deeper on the couch and I finally press play on the movie I paused when they burst into the apartment earlier.
I can’t believe I’m still awake. I was bone tired hours ago but now, for some reason, I’m as alive as can be. I glance over to the girls to make a joke about the movie but find them both asleep, Sydney snoring lightly.
I lower the volume on the TV but don’t turn it off, knowing the silence might wake them. Grabbing our glasses and empty pizza plates, I put them in the sink to wash in the morning. As I walk out of the kitchen toward my bedroom, the front door opens and Arden walks in quietly.
He startles when he sees me standing directly next to the door and I put my free hand over his mouth to quiet him. His eyes are wide and I push him into my bedroom so we can talk in peace.
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you’d all be asleep.”
“Sorry,” I comment as I close the door behind us, not wanting our voices to carry. “They passed out, but for some reason I’m wired. I think I got an adrenaline rush from their surprise visit. I feel like I could run a marathon right now.”
Arden deadpans. “A marathon?”
“Okay, maybe more like a 5k but still.”
“I’ve got a better way to expel all this energy,” he says, stalking toward me like a lion hunting its prey.
Now it’s my turn to widen my eyes. “Arden Davis. I cannot have sex with you while your sister is in the next room!”
“Why not?” He continues walking forward until he’s got me boxed up against the door. His palms rest on either side of my head and he looks down at me like he wants to devour me on the spot. God, I want him to. But this is beyond, even for me. “It’s not like it would be the first time.”
“That was different and you know it,” I reply, slightly shocked. We’ve never even mentioned what happened between us last year. For all I knew, he had forgotten about it entirely. I guess not.
Arden leans down and places gentle kisses to my neck.
I hold back my moan but tilt my head to give him more access.
“Doesn’t seem like you’re really all that concerned, brat.
” I can feel the whisper of a smile as he kisses me.
“But I’ll respect your wishes.” His tongue travels up my jaw to my lips. “If you really want me to.”
He kisses me lightly. “All you have to do is tell me to stop.” He kisses me again, not as lightly. Not lightly at all. His tongue teases mine and I open to let him all the way in. “Brat,” he warns, moving his arms to grip my hips tightly. “Tell me to stop.”
Yeah, tell him to stop. The devil grins at me. Well, since I’m already going to hell…
I use both my hands to grab his neck and pull his face to mine. “If you stop, I’ll scream and that’ll ruin all the fun.” I bite his lower lip between my teeth and pull. “So, you better shut me up.”
Arden’s grin is breathtaking as he sweeps me into the air with one arm around my waist. He palms my face with the other and pushes our foreheads together. “Baby, I’ll silence you just this once but next time, you better be twice as loud for me, agreed?”
I’m nodding and he’s kissing me and we’re on my bed and our clothes are gone and I’m gone and he’s gone and there’s nothing left but whispered passion and heated stares.
We spiral into each other and I can’t find where I end and he begins.
We explode, gripping each other tightly instead of loudly and together we collapse, completely spent.
I close my eyes, not worrying about the morning but entirely pleased with the events of tonight.