Though, I had a bad feeling that I wasn't Ricky's favorite person at the moment. I didn't even know what I did wrong, but anyone with eyes could see that he was beyond upset. Some of that anger seemed directed toward me. Showing up to his house and burdening him with myself wouldn’t fix whatever issues we were having. I wouldn’t do that to him.
So, Ricky was out of the question. The only other logical and reasonable place for me to go was Javier's house…. again. If I was asked a month and a half ago if I wanted to step foot in Javier Cortez's house, I would have laughed as if that was the most outlandish option presented to me in the world. And now here I wasaskingto go over there.
"Javi?" I asked in a shaky whisper.
Javier watched me out of the corner of his eye. "What's wrong? Do you want me to pull over?"
"No," I said softly. "I just—I don't wanna go home."
Javier slowed to a red light and the car stalled. He faced me and his eyes that I noticed appeared bluer in this lighting met mine. His anger from previously had completely subsidedwithout a trace left behind. It was like it was never there in the first place. I relaxed into the seat, feeling seen under his calming gaze. I wanted to sit in the car with him forever.
His hand reached toward me to caress my chin. He didn't ask me why I didn't want to go home, and he didn't ask me if there was somewhere else I could go.
Instead, spoke softly. “I’ll never take you anywhere you don’t want to be.”
Then Javi drove us to his home without a second thought.
Nineteen
Eli
Iwoke up with a feeling I was way too familiar with. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a headache. I was just very nauseated. I always regretted my actions the morning after, though that never stopped me from doing it again. I groaned as I wrapped the covers tighter around myself and snuggled into the unusually comfortable bed. It felt like I was sleeping on a cloud.
I rubbed my eyes and opened them slightly. I looked around deliriously and tried to figure out where I was at. It normally took me a few seconds each morning to be able to fully process things, but right now it was taking longer than normal. I gasped when I finally realized that this was definitely not my bed.
"Holy shit, I've actually been kidnapped," I whispered to myself as my eyes widened.
That was when I registered the arm draped over my chest and the body pressed against me. No wonder I slept so comfortably, I had been wrapped up in the comfort of someone's arms all night. I began to silently panic in fear that I ended up in a random classmate’s bed after the party. That always made for an uncomfortable conversation in the morning.
I shakily sucked in a breath of air and began to smell the familiar scent of fresh vanilla. It was a comforting scent that only belonged to one person I knew. I turned my head over my shoulder and there was Javier sleeping peacefully while pressed against me. I let out the breath of relief I was holding.
But my air was stolen from me again when I realized I wascuddled upwith Javier.
I couldn't remember everything that had happened the night before. I recalled being with him for the majority of the party and then leaving with him, but I didn't remember him bringing me to his house. I didn’t remember climbing into his bed next to him.
Not knowing what else to do, I tried to squirm out of his embrace. I did not want to deal with the awkwardness that would come of us waking up hugging. Javi began to shift and his arm pressed against my stomach tighter, the hardness of his forearm keeping me in place.
That’s not the only thing that’s hard.
My heartbeat quickened when I felt something press against my ass. Javier’s freaking hard-on was pressed against me in his sleep, and it made my stomach do a flip. It was probably just morning wood, but it still made me feel more flustered than I had ever felt. Though, I had to admit, the idea of him being hard because of me sent a throb between my legs.
Then, much to my demise, he began to stir awake. His arm secured firmly around my stomach loosened as he let out a groan. I used that opportunity to escape from his embrace.
I tried to get out of the bed and stand on my feet, but when my leg got caught and wrapped in the sheets, I couldn’t stop my body from crashing to the floor. A loud thud sounded through the bedroom and I winced at the obnoxious noise.
I wanted to speed out of his room and then out of the front door. I wanted to spare myself of the conversation that was goingto be had when my rival fully awakened, but I couldn’t. First of all, I was shirtless. Walking through his house with his family lurking was a terrible idea. Second, Javier was already awake. Sneaking away wasn’t an option anymore.
So I decided to give up and lay there until he spoke first.
"It's too early in the morning for this," his groggy voice muttered after a few seconds.
It was too early indeed. I kept my head tilted down and my eyes focused on my lap because I didn’t want to see the look on his face. Instead, I got to see that not only was I shirtless, but I was also in my underwear.
Meanwhile, I listened to the rustling and shifting of the bed. Javier let out a light groan and muttered something to himself. I had no clue what he had said because he was speaking in Spanish, but the slight strain in his voice told me he wasn’t exactly thrilled.
"Good morning," Javier greeted me with a yawn. He was sitting upright with a lazy smile on his face as I was still sprawled out on the floor in front of him. Despite how tired he clearly was, he still found the situation amusing.
"Morning," I mumbled as I squeezed my eyes shut. My leg was still stuck between the sheets dangling off the bed while the rest of my body was on the floor, so I was lying at an awkward angle. I heard him chuckle as he moved to get a better look at me. Meanwhile, I was hoping that I’d miraculously discover the power of invisibility.
