Nova’s dark eyebrows pinch together. She looks away, breaking my heart—and my confidence right along with it.
I lean closer, putting my face in the direct path of her gaze so she’s looking at me again. “Is it weirding you out?”
Nova rolls her lips and stares at me with a blank expression for what feels like forever.
My heart bangs against my chest, and I stop breathing.
I fucked up. I made it weird, and she’s about to call it?—
“No.” Her soft answer drags me out of my spiral. “I don’t think it’s weird. It’s harmless, and I know you’d never actually sleep with me.”
My mind slams on the brakes.
“What do you mean, I’d never actually sleep with you?” My fingers tighten on her hip. Not wanting to hurt her or leave behind bruises, I loosen my hold.
Nova’s smile comes out forced, which adds to the raging fire burning in my chest. “You have a type, Aiden.” She shifts her attention to the bottle of polish. “Which is fine. Everyone has a type, and I’m just not it. Besides, I’m interested in Brandon. We don’t need to have sex for me to win him over.”
My teeth clench together, and I struggle to find the right words to make it clear that she’s my type. She has always been.
The women I’ve slept with may not share any similarities with Nova, but that was for a fucking reason.
Nova glances at me, likely waiting for me to say something. I’m stunned speechless, struggling to tell her how I feel about her. When I don’t say anything, her shoulders slump, and she returns the purple polish to the shelf with a sigh. Her disappointment is a bullet straight to the heart.
I’m a goddamn idiot.Why do I always fuck everything up?
I grab a bottle of thermal polish and hold it out for her. “This one.”
She eyes it and purses her lips. “Why this one?”
“Because I like these colors.”
Pink and purple always look good on her, but if I’m being honest with myself, this is my desperate attempt to tell her in so many words that I’m deeply attracted to her.
“And they’ll look good wrapped around my cock,” I add to really drive the point home.
Nova sucks in a shuddering breath, her gaze flicking to my face. Slowly, a nervous smile curves her full lips.
At least it’s better than her making fun of me or looking at me with disgust.
“They won’t be wrapped around your cock if you don’t behave yourself.” Her blush deepens, and she stumbles over her words. She spins on her heel and stumbles to the nail tech’s station.
I grin.
She’s adorable, even while nervous. There’s no way she would say something like that without feeling a smidge of attraction toward me. Now I have something to work with, and I can’t wait to make her understand that I’m not just saying these things for the fun of it.
FOURTEEN
NOVA
I rollover 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.”
