Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Grad students could teach an Intro to Creative Writing Class at the undergraduate school for some extra credits and cash. Aiden taught one in the evening and often read his students’ work—muttering to himself and shaking his head—while we sat together on the couch.
We had plans after his class tonight so I thought I would surprise him outside his classroom door. He taught in the Silver Arts and Science building in the world’s tiniest classroom. The classrooms in that building could hold maybe fifteen people max . I imagined Aiden as a strict, no-nonsense kind of teacher. He’d be strict on grammar and formatting, his critiques harsh as always. I feared for any romance writer in that class.
I was waiting in the lounge right outside the classroom, reading a romance novel on one of the couches, a little nervous to see his students walk out of the classroom. It’d be any minute now, and I expected to see a few tears.
When the door creaked open, I braced myself for the sobs, but heard … laughter instead. My brows furrowed in confusion. Just as I was about to check to make sure I had the right room, Aiden’s voice floated out into the lounge.
“Jake, you’d better write the next chapter for next week now that you’ve left us on a cliffhanger.” Aiden’s voice had joy in it? He was being kind ? “I’ll see you all next week, have a nice weekend. Do something fun out in the city, don’t stress so much.”
Each student walked out with a smile on their face, looking through their papers happily. There must’ve been some sort of mix up; there was no way Aiden was nice to these undergrads.
I couldn’t take it anymore and walked into his classroom. He was sitting behind a small desk at the front of the room, a student standing next to him.
“I think your dialogue is great, Henry, but I really would love to see you dig deeper.” Henry was hanging onto Aiden’s every word, scribbling down notes. “You know this is a safe space to experiment with your writing, so don’t be afraid to get vulnerable. Write what you really feel, and if you hate it, scrap it. There’s no pressure here from anyone in workshop, okay?”
“Thanks so much.” Henry looked up at me, and I gave him a small smile and wave. “I think you have another student waiting for office hours.”
Aiden turned to look at me, his face lighting up. He smiled kindly and said, “She’s my next appointment, but if you have any questions email, okay?”
Once Henry walked past me, I closed the door and turned to Aiden.
“Ms. Maxwell, are you here for your appointment?” he said teasingly, walking over to gather me into a hug. “I missed you today.”
I looked up at him, not able to keep the confusion off my face and out of my voice. “Since when are you so nice ? Those kids were practically glowing .”
His chest rumbled with laughter. “And?”
I pulled back. “And the man I know is ruthless. I expected those kids to have nightmares about workshop. Not for it to be their favorite class.”
Aiden’s eyes were full of amusement. His hands ran down my arms until his fingers intertwined with mine. “They’re undergrads, Rosie. They’re just learning how to write, and they’re figuring out if they love it or not. It’s where I got the courage to write. Their writing isn’t supposed to be good or perfect, they aren’t grad students. My job right now is just to get them to take another creative writing class.”
I had hearts in my eyes as I beamed up at him. He took one look at me and rolled his eyes before moving back to grab his bag. “Are we going or—”
“Aiden, that may be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Okay, so are we—”
“Aiden.” I stepped forward, grabbed his hands, and got on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I never knew you had such a soft side.”
He was frowning now, all amusement gone from his eyes. But over these past few months, I’d learned enough about him to know he was just embarrassed. He waved me off and said, “Let’s never talk about this again. Are we going to your place or what?”
“Fine. But I want to see your staff picture first. Are you smiling in it?”
He gave me a withering glare and walked out of the classroom with me trailing behind.
Aiden hadn’t been to my apartment since Christmas. I never invited him over because he had the comfiest bed in the entire world with the softest blankets in the entire world in the nicest home in the entire world. And my place was … a little embarrassing.
Sure, sure, I was proud that I was paying for it all on my own blah blah blah, but I couldn’t help but be a little self-conscious, especially when my boyfriend lived in a fucking brownstone. But when I’d mentioned to Aiden that I wished I knew how to make alfajores, he suggested that we try tonight to make up for our failed Christmas cookies. I told him I could grab the dulce de leche from my place then come over to his, but he frowned.
“Let’s go to yours,” he said, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. “Can I?”
I reluctantly agreed, but I knew I’d made the right decision when his eyes lit up with excitement.
New York winter had finally ended. My puffer coat was stored away and sadly so was Aiden’s peacoat. But it made the walk home much nicer now that flowers had started to bloom and color spotted the gray streets of the city. As we approached my apartment building, Aiden’s grip on my hand tightened. I looked up at him and his jaw was clenched.
“Uh-oh, angry Aiden’s back. What’s wrong?”
He looked between my front door and me before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Rosalinda, what will it take for you to move out of this building? Whenever you don’t stay with me, I’m up for half the night worried sick.”
I guffawed. “This again? You’re so melodramatic. C’mon.”
He sighed after a few moments, relenting, and gestured for me to lead the way.
I unlocked my apartment door, making an effort to show Aiden the multiple locks that kept me secure. I pushed in and immediately I could hear Alexa rummaging around in her room.
“Retreat,” I whispered frantically. I pushed his chest toward the door. “We’ll come back later.”
“What? Why?” An amused smile played along his lips. I kept pushing, but I wasn’t strong enough to move him.
“Alexa’s home.” I decided to switch tactics and tried to pull his hands rather than push his chest. He stumbled a bit, but I was too late. Alexa’s bedroom door creaked open and she came out in her Hideout uniform. “Oh Lord.”
“There’s that country accent.” Aiden grinned, pleased. He claimed my accent came out whenever I was worried or overly happy. He loved when it happened so much that sometimes I faked it just to see his eyes light up.
Alexa paused at the entrance to our tiny living room, her gaze shifting between me and Aiden. I had managed to keep the two of them from meeting for the past three and a half months, but I hadn’t checked her schedule carefully enough today. Alexa didn’t have much of a filter and I had no clue what she would say to Aiden. I loved her chaotic energy, but I wanted to hold some of my cards close to the chest. I wouldn’t be surprised if she relayed all the details of my initial crush on him the minute they got a second alone.
“Pues, qu é es esto?” She crossed her arms over her chest, a smile spread across her face.
I huffed, annoyed. “Alexa, you know Aiden. Aiden, this is Alexa.”
She stepped forward, holding out her hand. When he took it, she pumped his hand enthusiastically. “I have heard a mix of wonderful and horrible things about you.”
Aiden looked at me mildly. “Is that so?”
“Oh yeah. It was either the infamous peacoat or how she was going to make you regret ever writing—”
“ Okay , Alexa, you don’t want to be late for your shift, do you?” I gestured toward the door.
She nodded sweetly. “Of course. Aiden, I assume I will be seeing more of you.”
“If Rosie Posie decides to keep me around.” He smiled down at me.
Alexa stepped past us. She paused in the doorway and turned toward us with a mischievous grin. “I also heard you’re a riot in bed. Have fun, Rosie!”
I slipped my shoe off and chucked it at the door. “Leave!”
We could hear her laughter through the door.
It took us almost an hour of pure grit and focus to make the alfajores (mostly because I kept getting distracted by Aiden rolling the dough with rolled up sleeves) but we finally finished them. We placed them on a plate and doused them in powdered sugar.
I watched eagerly as Aiden took his first bite.
“Well?” I asked expectantly. “Has your life changed forever? Has every other cookie been ruined for you?”
Aiden grimaced, obviously trying to swallow. He nodded once. “So good.”
My heart sank. “You don’t like them?”
“I think we missed an ingredient,” he said, coughing a little. “Are you sure we made these right? They’re a little,” he coughed again, “dry.”
I frowned, picking up the cookie and stuffing the whole thing in my mouth. Immediately I blanched. I grabbed a paper towel and spit it out. “Fuck, that’s bad. My tía’s never tasted like that. You put the egg yolks in, right?”
He frowned. “No, you said you were going to do that. You said, and I quote, ‘It’s a precise science, and you just wouldn’t get it.’ ”
“No,” I dragged out. “I said that as a joke, obviously, then I said, ‘Never mind, I don’t want to get my dress dirty, pretty please do it for me.’”
“You have never said pretty please a day in your life.” Aiden laughed. “Especially to me. If you want me to do something, it comes with a death threat.”
“I am dainty ,” I said, shocked. “I am divinely feminine.”
“And you have a slight temper.” He shrugged. “But don’t worry, I’m into it.”
I rolled my eyes. “This was not how I planned for your introduction to alfajores to go. I’ll coerce my t í a into sending us some. Hers are like magic.” He was leaning against my kitchen counter, watching me with such fond eyes that my pulse quickened without my permission. “Now what are we going to do for a movie snack?”
“Why don’t I run to the bodega and grab us something? Oreos sound good?”
“You’re speaking my language.”
“I’ll be back soon.” He kissed me quickly before slipping out of my apartment.
While Aiden was gone, I went to my room to set up for our movie night, then checked my email for the millionth time today. There was no exact timeline for when we’d find out about the fellowship, only that it would be before the spring semester ended. Aiden kept telling me not to worry about it, but I couldn’t help refreshing my email any chance I got.
A few minutes later, he knocked on my front door. “Luckily the brick was there so I didn’t have to buzz up.”
“Shut up.” I guided him to my room where I had placed pillows, blankets, and my laptop on the bed.
My room felt so small in comparison to Aiden’s queen-sized bed and floor to ceiling windows. He had bookshelves and coasters; I had stacks of romance novels in the corner on the floor and used notebooks underneath my glasses.
“I didn’t get to see your room at Christmas,” he said, taking it all in. “I like it. It’s very Rosie Posie.” He leaned down and picked up one of my romances, humming as he flipped through the pages. He walked around my small room, occasionally smiling at pictures I had hung on my wall of the Peculiar Pub gang or my family.
It was surreal. Not only to be with someone like this, but for that someone to be Aiden. When people said opposites attract, I never would have thought my opposite would be someone so similar to me. Someone who understood me so well.
Once he felt like he’d sufficiently snooped, he joined me on the bed, reaching across me to snag a cookie off the nightstand. “Which rom com are we watching?”
I had been slowly introducing Aiden to romcoms, and we were working through the Nora Ephron classics. We had already watched Sleepless in Seattle, and tonight I decided we would watch When Harry Met Sally.
Aiden loved it. He laughed throughout the whole thing and even sighed, sighed, at the end. He turned to me once it finished and said, “Can we watch another?”
Halfway through You’ve Got Mail, I ran my hand up his chest. “I feel bad making you watch all these movies even though you don’t like romance.”
“Trust me, I like this.” When I pulled him on top of me, he raised his eyebrows, looking down at me. “Unless you have something else in mind?”
I shrugged. “Do you have something else in mind?”
“I always do with you, Rosie.” Hands resting on either side of my head, he pressed his lips to mine. He coaxed my mouth open with his, and I couldn’t help the whimper that escaped as he slowly dragged his hand up my thigh to my ass. He lifted me, pressing us against each other.
“Aiden,” I gasped. “I want—”
“Hmm?” he murmured against my neck. “Feeling needy, baby?”
My hands raked up and down his back, scratching lightly. “I want to taste you.”
His breath hitched as I slid my hand between us to grasp him firmly. He leaned back to give me just enough space to slowly unbutton his pants and slide his zipper down.
He rolled off me, and I moved down the bed until I was on my knees between his legs. I pulled his pants and briefs down and watched as his hardness lay against his stomach. For as shy as I’d been our first time, Aiden made me feel sexy and confident every single time we were together. When Aiden saw the stretch marks on my thighs or the curves of my hips, he viewed them with unrestrained desire.
Carefully, I ran my finger from the base to the tip. He sucked in a breath, his hands finding purchase in my hair, gently smoothing my hair away from my face with one of his hands. Holding his cock from the base, I slipped the tip into my mouth and swirled my tongue, sucking lightly. He grunted, still gently holding my head. I lowered my mouth, taking in more of him. I reached for his hand, telling him it was okay to guide me.
“Fuck,” he spit out when I did so, his actions growing rougher as he wrapped my hair around his fist. “Just like that, baby.” I looked at him through my lashes and he groaned, moving my head faster.
“You love this, don’t you?” he said through gritted teeth, his eye heavy lidded with desire. “Taking me in your mouth, acting like you have control.” He tugged on my hair, and I couldn’t help but moan around him. “We both know you like it when I take control. We both know your panties are soaked, but you won’t touch that sweet pussy until I give you permission. Isn’t that right, baby?”
I nodded, desperate for him to keep talking. He was right about how much I enjoyed his words; my thighs squeezed together to relieve the ache he created.
“What a good girl,” he gritted out as he began to thrust into my face. “You’re doing such a good job, baby, just like that.”
I swirled my tongue, knowing it would bring him closer to edge. He hissed as I did it, his grip in my hair tightening. “I’m close, baby.” I moved faster, sucking him in deeper until he hit the back of my throat. He groaned as he spilled into my mouth. He leaned down, cupping my jaw before taking his thumb and pressing down on my lip.
“Show me,” he whispered and I obeyed, opening my mouth with him still in it. His gaze darkened at the sight. “Swallow for me, baby.”
I did, opening my mouth again to show him. He reached for me, pulling me back up on the bed. His thumb and index finger grasped my chin. “Tell me what you want,” he whispered. “Do you want me on my knees, too?” I nodded, breathless. “Or do you want me to fuck you?”
I nodded to that too. “I just want you , Aiden.” I pressed a kiss to his mouth. “All I want is you.”
Three words I wished I could say but wasn’t ready to yet. Three words I thought every single time I saw her. Three words that repeated in my mind over and over and over again, as I tried to gather courage to repeat them out loud.
— Excerpt from Untitled by Aiden Huntington and Rosie Maxwell