“Sorry to put you out like this,” I say. “I guess I need to have my own little fanny pack next time I go out with Xena so this doesn’t happen again.” A nervous chuckle escapes my lips, but I refuse to look at Aiden.
“Don’t worry about it,” he says, waving his hand dismissively. “I’ve got lots of room.”
He walks up onto the porch and unlocks the door, throwing it open and standing back to let me go in first.
“Make yourself at home. Grab yourself some water from the fridge. I’ll be right back.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before he stomps upstairs. I wasn’t wrong. He has been getting more upset the closer we got to his place. What a grouch.
Well, this should be a fun sleepover.
Chapter 10
Aiden - I Was Wrong, Mario is Sexy
Shit, what the hell am I doing? How is this woman affecting me so much? I barely know her. It was hard enough when I was just supposed to drive her home safely. I could even deal with driving around trying to track down Xena and find her keys. But having her sleep here, in my house, for the entire night? Not a good idea.
I dig around in my dresser, looking for something she can sleep in. She already has my t-shirt on, from when we traded in the club, but I grab her a clean one, anyway. All I need now is a pair of joggers. When I finally find some in the back of a bottom drawer, I grab them and jog back downstairs.
“So you can wear that shirt you’ve got on if you want, or this clean one, and here are some joggers for you. Bathroom’s upstairs, first door on the right, and your room is across the hall from that. There’s a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet for you.” I give her the joggers and step aside to let her up the stairs.
“OK, yeah, thanks. Um, do you mind if I grab a shower? I hate to put you out any more, but the smell of tequila is oozing out of me and I can’t stand it.”
“Yeah, no problem. Towels are in the closet just beside the door to the bathroom. Here, let me show you.”Aiden, you dumb motherfucker. I chastise myself as I lead her up the stairs. It was bad enough when she was just sleeping here.Now she’s going to be naked, in your shower. Good luck keeping your mind off of that.
She follows me up the stairs, and I grab her towels and washcloths from the closet.
“Here you go,” I say, handing her the stack of towels. She takes them from me and when her hand brushes mine, tingles shoot up my arm. My arm jumps back of its own accord; I react like an electrical current runs through it, instead of just tingles. I look up just in time to see the frown on her face before she turns to go into the bathroom. She doesn’t even say anything before she closes the door in my face.
Fuck.
I may not be able to get involved with her, but I certainly don’t want to hurt her feelings.
I’m sure she’ll be fine by morning, though. She’s probably just reacting to the effects of the tequila, rather than actually being attracted to me. She’s way out of my league, anyway. Like, if she’s a ten, I’m a zero. Maybe even a negative five. Yeah, there’s no way she’s attracted to me. That would be crazy.
But I still can’t seem to stop thinking about her in my shower.
I stand in the hallway, staring off into the distance, and imagine what it would feel like to be massaging my fingers through her thick, sandy hair right now. What f I were to join her in the shower and take over washing her hair, and her body, while she relaxes completely beneath my hands? My cock strains against the zipper of my jeans just from imagining what her moans would sound like. Just from imagining the feel of sliding my hands over her skin.
I blink out of my daydream and go into the spare room to make sure it’s ready for Rhea. As much as I enjoy daydreaming about her, I know we can’t actually do anything about it. It’s better to get the bed ready for her to sleep in, alone, and then get myself away from here before she gets out of the shower.
I get her bedroom ready, pulling back the blankets, turning on the bedside lamp, and grabbing some water and painkillers in case she needs them. I don’t know exactly how much tequila she drank, and I don’t know her well enough to be able to tell based on her actions tonight, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate the water, regardless.
For some reason, I feel the need to see her again before I go to bed. To make sure she’s OK, or something, maybe? I don’t know, but I sit on the couch in front of the TV and turn on a video game, anyway. I don’t want her to think I’m sitting around waiting for her, even though that’s exactly what I’m doing, so I keep myself occupied with some of the Mario Kart that Devon and I were playing earlier.
Rhea showers faster than any woman I’ve ever known, and she’s back downstairs in about twenty minutes.
The sight of her barefoot in my joggers and shirt, with her damp hair hanging loose down her back, has me shifting uncomfortably in my chair. It seems that my dick didn’t get the memo about not being attracted to Rhea. I might have to have words with him later. Or a fucking cold-ass shower.
“What’s this?” she asks, pointing to the screen.
Is she serious? “Really?” I look from the screen to her and back.
“Well, I can see that it’s a video game of some sort.”
“It’s Mario Kart. Do you want to play?” I really should just go to bed and get away from her, but this can’t possibly do any harm. It’s Mario Kart. No offense to my man Mario, but he’s got to be one of the least sexy video game characters.
“Um, yeah. Sure. Why not? I have no idea how to do it though,” she says as she settles in next to me on the couch. “Put me in, Coach.” She laughs.
I laugh along with her while I grab her a controller and get her set up, showing which buttons she needs to push to get started. We’re playing on the Super Nintendo so it’s not too complicated; I’m sure she’ll figure it out quickly.
