5
CIARA
Aaron helps me rest my feet on the ground only when we get to my front doorstep, to allow me to search for the keys in my purse and open the door. We didn’t say a word the entire time.
We go inside and sit on the couch. He bends down in front of me to better assess the situation and confirms that my knees look pretty bad.
“Those cuts need to be disinfected. Where do you keep the emergency medical supply kit?” he asks me.
“In the upstairs bathroom.”
Without adding another word, he lifts me off the couch and brings me upstairs. He pushes my bedroom door open with his shoulder and sets me down on the bed.
“Don’t move,” he says, before disappearing.
And I don’t. Because I am completely in shock because of what just happened and I’m embarrassed about it because he’s here, in my room, and I’m feeling vulnerable and defenseless.
He comes back after a few minutes with the first-aid kit. He sets it down on the ground and opens it to look over its contents. Then, without looking me in the eyes, he unlaces my sneakers and slides them off my feet. He makes a gesture that I should stand up and touches my waist with his hands, making me shiver and causing my legs to wobble. Then he immediately withdraws them as if my skin had burned his hands.
“I’m sorry, I’ll leave you alone.”
I interrupt him by shaking my head before unbuttoning my jeans and letting them slide down my legs. He continues looking me in the eyes, even if his glance changes suddenly, becoming darker and more intense as I take my stockings off too until I’m left only in a pair of men’s boxer shorts. And yes, I know they’re not real attractive, but I like wearing them.
We remain standing in front of each other while I feel the air in this room becoming dense with electricity but before things can get embarrassing, he breaks the silence.
“Go on, sit down,” he orders with a hint of a smile. “It’s nothing I’m not used to seeing you know, I’ve got three women in our house.”
I do as he tells me as he lifts the first leg, placing it on his and begins cleaning the wound. It burns and I pull away but he holds it in place. “Stay put, I promise it’ll pass in a hurry,” he reassures me using a warm hoarse voice.
My knees are a disaster, because as I was trying to escape I took a bad fall. They are red, bruised and swelling with every passing moment. I will surely have some impressive bruises. Luckily, the bridesmaid’s dresses are long or Erin would have killed me if my ruined knees were going to be on view.
Aaron finishes cleaning my wounds and then disappears downstairs. I hear him moving around in the kitchen before coming back with two frozen gel packs in hand. He puts both of them on my knees and I shiver from the cold, jumping from my seat a little bit.
He smiles and shoots me a sweet gaze and if I hadn’t been sitting on my bed I probably would have fallen at his feet.
“How… what… were you doing there?” I ask, trying to regain my equilibrium.
“Patrick sent me. He forgot to go pick up the wedding rings, so…” He clears his throat before continuing in a strong reassuring voice: “Do you feel like telling me what happened?”
“There’s not much to say. Someone was following me.” The words die in my throat. In all of the confusion with what was happening and the initial shock, I still haven’t really digested what just really happened here.
I bite my lip to avoid avoid trembling and try to hold back the tears but Aaron notices the change in my mood right away. He gets up and sits next to me, pulling me to him, wrapping me in his big arms so that my entire body is covered.
I snuggle down into his warmth, immediately feeling at home there and allow myself to cry on his shoulder while he caresses my hair and reassures me, saying it’s all past now, that I’m safe here because he’s still with me.
“I just got scared, it was probably nobody.”
“You should not have been coming home by yourself at night.”
“I don’t need a bodyguard. I probably just freaked myself out and there was no one behind me.”
“There was someone behind you but he took off before I could get my hands on him,” he says very seriously, looking me in the eyes. “It could have been anyone and he could have hurt you and I would not have been able to tolerate it…”
He stops suddenly, setting his jaw.
My heart accelerates wildly with emotion.
“Patrick never would have forgiven me if something had happened to you.”
