It hurts to know that you will never look at me the way I look at you.
-Unknown.
**********************
Chapter 6: Rookie Move
******************
'What do you want?' I ask.
'I'm sorry.' He apologizes.
'I punched you. We're even.' I reply.
'I was being a jerk and I'm sorry. I'm just not used to this you. I'm used to Gavin's little sister and you're not just that anymore. I guess I have to get used to that.' He says sheepishly.
'You better.' I say firmly with a smile to take the sting out of my words.
'I'm sorry though.' He reiterates, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
He looks so cute and contrite. I'm melting on the inside.
'You're forgiven.' I smile and reach for my purse when I notice it's missing.
'My purse.' I frown, looking at my hand as if it's going to magically materialize there.
'What?' Leo frowns.
'My purse. I think I left it at the party. My phone and house keys are in there.' I say, slapping my head.
'What am I going to do now?' I grimace.
We stand in silence for a while and my mind works double time.
I could hurry back to the party but the chances of me finding my purse in the dark house with all those writhing bodies are very slim.
I would have to search for at least an hour and the prospect of fighting a throng of drunk and dancing teenagers doesn't hold much appeal.
Sensing my reluctance, Leo says; 'You don't have to go back if you don't want to. Frankly I'm not too sold on the idea of you going back to some sketchy party by this time.'
'Leo, my house keys are in there. I have to go back or where am I going to sleep?' I ask.
My shoulders sag as I accept the inevitable. I have to go back to the party.
Awesome. Not.
'I'll see you when next I see you.' I say, forcing a smile for Leo's sake.
I feel like I'm going to a gaol rather than a party.
I'm such a rookie. No one forgets their purses at parties anymore.
I resist the impulse to slap my head.
'You can crash at my place.' He offers.
'You don't have to put up with me just because I was stupid enough to forget my purse at a party.' I reply. I turn around and start heading back to the elevator but Leo holds my arm and stops me. He turns me back to face him.
'You're anything but stupid and I want to you to stay at my place. I'm not comfortable with the idea of you going back there.' He states, his electric blue eyes boring into mine.
'Are you sure? I mean you're on your way out.' I point out.
'You're more important. Besides Gavin would kill me if he found out that I let you go out by this time of the night.' He answers.
Whatever joy I may have felt at his first statement is completely vanquished by his second.
Of course he's only doing this to fulfil some obligation to my brother.
Great. Not.
'I guess I should stay then.' I mutter.
'Why the sad pout?' He asks, a small smile tugging at his lips.
'Nothing.' I reply.
Can you stop being my surrogate brother for just one second?!
'Hey, I'm not that bad a roommate. And stereotype about boys being slobs isn't true in my case.' He says with a playful smirk.
'That's not what I was worried about.' I answer.
'Then wipe that frown off. Come on. Let's see a smile.' He says, nudging me with his shoulder.
I roll my eyes but can't help the smile that spreads across my face.
'Let's go.' He says.
The elevator ride to his floor is long and quiet. Turns out I was wrong and he does live in the same apartment complex as I.
His apartment is on the the topmost floor and unlike mine, it's furnished and lived in. And very masculine.
His apartment is done in rich brown tones that Brenda would approve of. The walls have a mahogany panelling to go with the black and white tiled floor. The sofa and all the chairs have soft leathery white and black throw pillows arranged haphazardly on it.
An extension if the foyer has been carved out. He has a video games set complete with an Xbox and a large TV as well as a surround-sound system.
'Your apartment is nice.' I compliment.
'Unfortunately I have just one furnished bedroom. I use the other for my other interests.' He shrugs.
'Sorry, what?' I gape.
He can't possibly have said what I heard him say. This can't be happening to me. I know fate hates me but it can't hate me this much.
'I'm sorry.' He says sheepishly.
What did I ever do to you, fate?
'It's not your fault. I'm the one who left my keys at a party.' I mutter, frowning.
'Hey, I can sleep on the couch if you want. You don't have to worry.' He offers.
'It's your apartment and I can't ask you to do that anyway.' I reply.
'You're don't have to ask.' He says.
'I can't let you sleep on the couch in your own house. We'll demarcate the bed.' I say.
'Okay.' He nods.
'You have a big bed. Right? I mean big enough for two?' I ask.
'We'll manage.' He winks, leading the way to his room.
I have a mild heart attack and a major freak out moment. All in my head, of course.
He winked! At me!
Any sense of safety or security I may have felt suddenly flies out the window.
Why did he have to wink? And what was I thinking agreeing to this arrangement? This spells all kinds of trouble. What is wrong with me? I've read about this in so many romance novels and it never ends well.
Why did I agree to share his room? And worst of all, his bed?
But since my legs don't ever follow good advice from my brain, instead of hightailing it out of there, I follow him to his room with a smile plastered on my face, ignoring all the voices screaming at me to run while I still can.
I'll probably follow the devil to hell in a similar manner. It's not a very reassuring thought.
His room is painted midnight blue with the white bedsheets and furniture to contrast.
'Who decorated?' I ask, impressed.
'I did.' He beams proudly.
'Really?' I ask in surprise.
'Yeah.' He nods, boyish pride evident in the way his chest puffs out.
'You did a good job.' I say.
'Thanks.' He smiles at me.
I nod, incapable of stringing together two words much less an entire sentence.
'You know where the bathroom is. The layout is exactly the same as yours except mine is bigger.' He states.
I nod.
'There's a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet and you know you can help yourself to anything and if you need anything, just let me know.' He says, surveying the room.
My gaze lands on the big white bed that I've been trying to avoid looking at. The bed we're both going to sleep on.
I gulp and clear my throat.
'Uh-huh.' I say shakily.
'You okay? You look a little pale.' He says.
I shudder inwardly.
'I'm fine.' I squeak.
'Okay. I'll just get us something to eat from the kitchen. I'm assuming you haven't had anything to eat.' He says.
'I wasn't planning on eating.' I reply absentmindedly.
My attention is still on the bed. Can you blame me?
'I'll make us some sandwiches. You should eat. You're a lot thinner now.' He states.
That gets my attention. I stiffen.
'I'm not that thin.'
'No but you could do with some meat on your bones.' He replies, heading out of the room.
'I'm perfectly fine.' I grumble in the silent room.
Trying not to let the intimacy of it get to me, I quickly undress after locking the door of the bedroom.
I hurry into his bathroom using my hands to cover myself. Its stupid because I'm alone in the room but I can't help it.
'Wow.' I gasp as I enter the bathroom.
His bathroom is a million times better than mine. He has a Jacuzzi. A Jacuzzi! In addition to a shower. I don't have a Jacuzzi.
Why don't I have a Jacuzzi?
I reverently run my hands over the smooth ceramic wall of it before going to brush my teeth with the new toothbrush I find in the medicine cabinet.
I may or may not have creepily caressed his toothbrush. Don't give me that look. What was I supposed to do? Not caress his toothbrush? Come on.
After brushing my teeth, I step into his shower and let the hot water wash over me.
I squirt some of his bathwash onto my hands and lather my body, letting the hot spray wash it right off.
Enjoying the massaging spray of the shower, I let my mind drift.
*
A loud knocking brings me back to reality.
I turn off the shower and hear Leo bellowing my name at the top of his lungs.
Is there an emergency? A fire maybe? That guy is hopeless in the kitchen. I shouldn't have let him make sandwiches even though it has nothing to do with fire.
Barely pausing to wrap a towel around my body, I rush out of the bathroom and through the bedroom door. Water is still dripping down my body.
I feel a little guilty about the tiny puddles of water I'm leaving in my wake but the way he's knocking urgently makes me keep going.
I unlock the door and quickly move away as he pushes it open forcefully. It hits the wall with a loud thud.
'What's wrong?' I ask.
At the same time, he says;
'Are you okay?'
'Me? Fine. Why?' I frown. His eyes skim over me, searching for obvious injuries.
'Leo, the bathroom monster doesn't exist.' I joke when he keeps at it.
It works and he snaps out of it.
'You were in there for over thirty minutes and the door was locked. I was scared something might have happened.' He finally says.
'Thirty minutes? Are you sure? It hardly felt like ten.' I reply.
'I'm positive.' He says, looking a little shaken up.
He rakes a hand through his hair that looks like he's already done it at least fifty times in the last five minutes.
I instantly feel apologetic.
'Sorry. I didn't realize I was in there that long.' I say, gesturing to the bathroom behind me.
The small movement makes the towel slip lower around my breasts. Leo's eyes follow it's movement and I quickly hitch the towel up, clutching at the it.
'Uhm...' I trail off, a light blush colouring my cheeks when he doesn't look up from my almost nonexistent cleavage.
'Leo.' I say softly.
'Hmm.' He says, a little disoriented. His pupils are darker and dilated.
'I should get dressed.' I gulp.
'You should.' His voice comes out gruff and husky.
I turn to retreat to the bathroom and then I realize how short the towel is. All my legs are on display.
I guess that's what I get for using a guy's towel. They tie it around their waist so I guess it doesn't need to be long.
'What are you doing?' I ask apprehensively when he follows me into the room.
'You have nothing to change into. I was going to get you one of my shirts.' He says.
'Oh.' I mouth. 'Right. Okay then.'
He nods and goes to his closet. He hands me an old navy shirt that he used to wear when he was in high school -yes, I remember the shirts,it was one of my favourite shirts on him- and small ash boxer shorts.
I frown and stare pointedly at the boxers.
'Don't worry. It's new. I never wore because its too small.' He explains.
Too small? If the boxer shorts are too small, then how big is it?
My cheeks flush.
'Oh. T-t-thanks.' I stutter and collect the clothes from him.
I return to the bathroom and dress up.
As expected, the shirt mimics a nightgown as it falls to a few inches above my knee. It feels reassuring because I always use Gavin's old t-shirts as my nightgown.
I know it's creepy and I tell myself not to but I don't listen. I inhale his woodsy scent and smile like a goof.
The boxer shorts are a loose around the waist so I fold it until it's more my size. The boxers is completely hidden by the T-shirt and I'd have to stretch my hands over my head for it to show which I definitely won't be doing.
'You done in there?!' Leo yells from the kitchen.
'Almost!' I yell back.
I wring out the water in my hair and quickly twist it into bun that is nowhere close to neat.
I go to meet him in the kitchen.
I sniff the air. The smell tells me we're not having sandwiches for dinner.
One thing about college students is that we eat anything at any time. Doesn't matter if its toast for dinner or pasta for breakfast.
'What's for dinner?' I smile.
'Microwaved pizza.' He replies, sliding a plate with three slices over to me.
'Sounds good. Where's yours?' I ask.
'I had mine while you were moulting your skin in the bathroom.' He teases.
'Right.' I giggle.
'I'll go take a bath. When you're done, you can head back to the room.' He states.
'Okay. Thanks for dinner.' I say.
I wolf down two slices after he leaves. I don't realize how hungry I am until there's only half a slice left on the plate.
I eat what's left of it and wash the plate before heading back to the room.
I sit rigidly at the of the bed.
So I'm really going to do this. This is really happening.
I'm going to share a bed with the guy I've crushed on for basically all my life.
My heart rate spikes and blood rushes to my head. I'm freaking out.
Suddenly, the bathroom door opens, and he steps out in just pajama pants. His toned muscular chest is on display.
I drink him in. From his deliciously defined chest to the slim tapered waist to his six abs with the additional two extras to the v of his waist.
"Must not look lower." I chant the mantra in my head.
"Must not look lower."
"Must not look lower."
"Must not look low--"
'You ready for bed?' He smirks.
And I look lower. Shit!
****
Vote. Comment. Share. <3
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top