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He stood from the bed. “I’ll wait out there.”
She wasn’t sure what that was about. Her feet hurt. Nothing wrong with giving herself a foot rub. It wasn’t like they didn’t have all night to watch the movie.
Sighing, she put her sandals in the closet and walked into the living room.
The sky had darkened to almost night while she was on the phone with her ma. She felt exposed by the big bay window. The feeling would only get worse once night fell.
Moving to the window, she jerked the curtains closed. If she was going to sit in the living room, she wouldn’t give some creep in the bushes a front-row seat to her leisure time.
“I’m gonna grab some drinks. Want anything specific? There’s beer, mixers, coolers…”
She wasn’t twenty-one yet, but her parents allowed her to drink at home with them. She didn’t do it outside of that except for the time she went on vacation with Aiden and their friends. Her parents wouldn’t care if she had something as long as she stayed home.
“I’ll take a beer.”
He normally had liquor, from what she learned when they went to the beach, but her ma kept the hard liquor in a cabinet in her parents’ bedroom, and she didn’t want to invade their private space. They respected her personal space, she would respect theirs.
Grabbing a few beers and fruity drinks in a bottle, she brought them back to the living room and placed them on the table.
“Thanks,” he said, grabbing a bottle and twisting off the cap.
“Can you open one of the fruit ones for me?” She never mastered popping off caps. She either had to use a bottle opener or have her mothers do it.
She moved around the sectional and crouched down to open the bottom cabinets of the entertainment center. She scanned the few options on hand then shook her head. “Nope. Let’s see if Netflix has something.”
When she turned around and grabbed the remote, she paused, gaze darting from where Aiden sat in the middle of the main couch to the sectional on one side that was shorter and had the attached ottoman. That was probably the better option, but she didn’t want to make things awkward, either. She wanted to shift their relationship back to where it used to be. Distancing herself wouldn’t do that.
“Gonna sit?” He looked up at her and cocked his head to the side.
“Oh, yeah, um.” She’d been standing there longer than intended. Moving around the coffee table, she flopped down on the main couch, leaving a cushion between them. She picked up her bottle and took a drink. “What kind of movie do you wanna watch?”
“Horror?”
“I mean, as long as it’s not about a stalking killer, sure. Oh, or vampires.”
His brow rose, and he chuckled. “Alright. No stalking killers or vampires. What about zombies?”
“Zombies aren’t good horror.”
“Fine. You have a point,” he conceded. “What about weird demonic possession?”
“Oh! I bet I know the one you’re talking about.” She flipped on the TV and loaded up the streaming service, navigating to the search bar.
“How do you know? There’s a lot that fit that description.”
“No. But. I saw the newest recently offered. I figure you’re talking about that one. It’s about the possessed hand, right? With the stupid kids who have to hold it and tell the spirits to talk to them, and then let them in and they become possessed? It came out a couple years ago, but just popped up for streaming.”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
She flipped her curls off her shoulder and gave him a smug smile. “Told you I knew the one you were thinking of.”
“Alright, smartass.” He leaned back and spread his knees wide, crossing his arms over his chest. “What am I thinking now?”
She set the remote down and turned to him. “That you’re glad Riley didn’t know you were coming over or she would turn this into a slumber party with a ton of candy and junk food and keep us up all night?”
“That’s… oddly specific. I wasn’t thinking that, but I am now.”
“So what were you thinking?”
