Maddox sighed, and I heard him murmuring to Ren. They conversed back and forth quietly until finally Ren spoke up.
“We’ll go,” he said. “I haven’t been to a party since last year, so it might be fun,” he tacked on.
Once we’d all agreed to attend the party Arie had insisted on, the topic of conversation shifted to current events and mutual friends and we all relaxed for a while, just talking. When it started getting late and everyone agreed it was time to start dispersing, Arie and Che stood up along with Aspen. The three of them, along with Ren, lived in the dorms on campus. Ren didn’t always spend the night at our house with Maddox, but on the weekends he would usually cozy up here, so it was just the three of them leaving.
“I think I left my house key in your cup holder,” I announced to Aspen, standing up to follow him out. “I need to grab it before you leave.”
“Why’d you do that?” He wondered, giving me an odd look.
I’d done it so that I would have an excuse to be alone with him one more time before he drove back to his dorm. I’d forgotten Arie and Che would be hanging around too.
“I just took them out of my pocket and forgot,” I lied, walking out of the front door behind him and following him to his car. He slipped into the driver’s seat and grabbed them, holding them out for me. I nudged my way between his open door and the body of the car, so he couldn’t close it and drive away quite yet.
Resting my forearm on the top part of his sedan, I stared down at him as I pocketed my keys. It was too dark to make out the details of his eyes, but the colors were basically burned into my brain, even though he never let me look into them for too long without turning away. They were bright and mossy, with a burst of brown around the pupil, melting into the green like honey.
“Thanks.”
“No problem,” he answered. I knew I had a window of approximately one second before he’d tell me to move so he could leave, so I quickly rushed into my next sentence.
“You know, I heard that Preston guy, like, drowns puppies on the weekends.”
He looked shocked for a split second, before his expression relaxed. The corner of his mouth perked up briefly as he willed himself not to laugh, but he snorted a bit as he shook his head.
“Where’d you hear that?” He asked, sarcasm dripping from his words. I loved making him smile, even when it was just a tiny one he couldn’t quite keep from showing up on his face. I loved making him laugh even more, but thus far that had proved itself to be a pretty difficult feat.
“Everyone knows,” I said seriously. “It’s basically common knowledge. I also heard he pours the milk into his bowl before he pours the cereal in.”
“You seem to know a lot about him,” Aspen observed, one of his dark eyebrows quirked up like he was appraising me. “Maybe you should worry about yourself.”
“Yeah, well, when someone exhibits that many terrible, horrible traits, it’s kind of hard to forget.” I said, giving a dramatic shiver.
“He doesn’t sound so bad,” Aspen reasoned, but I could tell by the amused look on his face he was only saying it to bust my balls about the whole thing. He knew I was bothered.
“Don’t come crying to me if you go out with him and he chews with his mouth open or leaves you at the altar or something.”
He snorted again, before inhaling deeply. “I really can’t stand you.”
“Fine line,” I reiterated, blinking my lashes at him, hoping I looked approachable and cute and completely non-threatening. “I’m just trying to look out for you.”
He stared up at me for a few long moments, looking thoughtful, before giving a tiny nod.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Encouraged by his reaction, I leaned into the car a little more, shrinking the gap of space between us, but before I could say anything else, Arie sighed from the passenger seat.
“Are you guys going to make out or what?” He complained. “God, it’s like watching feral cats circle each other before they pounce.”
Huffing out an annoyed breath, Aspen turned toward him. “Do you want to walk home, princess?”
“I would probably get there faster,” he retorted. “Do you two need some alone time or what?” I couldn’t decide whether I was grateful to him for even suggesting it, or if I wanted to lean the rest of the way into the car and strangle him for interrupting us.
Aspen rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He glanced back over to me, before reaching out toward my torso. The palm of his hand flattened against my abs, the warmth of his skin searing through my shirt. It was brief, just light pressure against my muscles as he gently but firmly nudged me a few steps back.
“Night, Cupcake,” I managed to get the words out just before his car door smacked closed. He lifted a hand, giving me a careless wave through the glass before backing out of the driveway and onto the street. I watched the red hue of his tail lights fade off before heading back inside and straight to my bedroom. Ren and Maddox had already retreated into his room, and the last thing I wanted was to hear them moaning each other’s name through the door. I was starting to feel like a monk, I’d been celibate for so long.I needed itbad, but… There was only one person I wanted it from. And he was not yet willing to provide.
Rubbing my hand over my stomach, where it was still warm and tingly from Aspen’s touch, I tugged off my jeans and flopped onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling until I fell asleep.
ASPEN
