Aaron could only laugh and followed her to the buffet, coming back with two plates piled high with black forest cake, baklava, rice pudding, and ice cream. They engaged in a rather odd competition of who could finish their plates first, garnering a few bewildered yet amused onlookers. Some kids stopped by as they watched the competition unfold, and they became divided against each other as they cheered for the either. The married couple watched from afar, Heidi face palming herself and Dave laughing at the scene.
“They’re adults, for God’s sake!” Heidi cried, “When will she ever grow up?”
“I wouldn’t want her to change one bit,” Dave admitted cheekily, “She such a joy.”
Heidi could only smile to hide the sadness. It took Mina so much work to be who she was now. And when she had fixed her battered heart, she came to her mother’s rescue that was so shattered by her previous husband. She’d forced her to divorce him at 46, but Sean East had caught on and filed for the divorce himself. He felt threatened by Mina. His own daughter, his own blood and flesh. And he felt threatened by the one thing he was never mean to control in the first place. Mina’s existence was phenomenal to Heidi and she thanked God a million times every day that she had not given into the pressure of aborting her upon her husband’s request. Her birth was not an easy one and she almost lost Mina then again, but her baby persevered through the ordeal. There was not a time where Mina was not hurt in one way or the other, but she wore her heart on her sleeve and was not afraid of embracing her emotions. She was not afraid to change. She was never afraid to fight. And she was never afraid to learn and own up to things.
Mina looked at Aaron trying to stuff his face with ice cream and choked at the sight.
“Aaron,” she cackled, “you have cake all over your face.”
“I shall sacrifice her dignity if it means to win!” he cried out. Her sides hurt as the laughed bubbled larger in her stomach.
“A-Aaron, stop, please,” she begged.
“No.”
Mina could only try to get a grip on herself as her laugh rang through the place along with the loud chatter and crying children. She gulped in large breaths and inhaled water for composure as she grabbed at a few tissues to wipe her face with. She then proceeded to pick at more and pinched at his cheek, making him turn to face her.
“Such a baby,” she scolded him playfully. “Your beard is an absolute mess.”
“I can always wash her face, Mina,” he grumbled. She made a voice of dismissal as she wiped away cream from his beard and lips. She had to hold herself from gazing at his thin pink lips for too long. She reached for his nose with the tissue, and met his gaze quite by accident.
It was burning. The good kind where her insides turned to mush and set a small flame in her lower belly. His hazel eyes were intense, and so beautiful, reflecting off light and switching between green and honey.
She gulped as his hand came up to hold hers. He pulled it away from his face and set it at his knee, rubbing the back of her hand, “You’re really warm, Mina.”
“I-it’s June, Aaron.”
“No, it’s Mina,” he smirked, “Mina’s blushing. Why?”
Mina grew flustered, unable to form a coherent sentence. She stumbled on her words, forming syllables that made no sense. It grew worse as his large hand completely engulfed her small one, bringing with it a foreign sense of absolute security that flabbergasted her.
She pulled her hand away and stood up abruptly, “I need to pee!”
His face contorted into disgust, “Did you have to say that out loud?”
“And take a shit!”
“Should I escort you?”
“No!” She cried and scurried off to the bathrooms, wondering how on Earth she was going to calm herself down and face him after that little event.
Sure, he was good looking, had matching interests with her, and was an absolute sweetheart and gentleman. He was sensitive and extremely honest, something she didn’t see in a lot of people. But she didn’t have the time to entertain romances. And she was so unromantic, it made her own mother throw up when she tried being cute and cheesy in that way when in a playful banter with her. It didn’t help for a fact that she’d prefer being taken to a wrestling match for Valentine’s Day instead of a nice candle lit dinner. Her mother was on the phone the whole time as Mina roared with the crowd next to her in support of plundering an old soul.
She’d been on dates, all right. With guys from her university, from her workplace, and with friends outside the category. But no one really made the cut and it was better to stay friends. Plus, most of the men she had met felt more intimidated by her character than respecting her. She never really felt truly appreciated.
Not until now. Here was a man who let her be who she was and was in complete awe of it. Not intimidated, but accepting, not needing her to drop herself down anywhere, but only raising himself to her instead, and raising her graciously to him where she needed it. They connected in ways she never connected with her own mother. It was new, it was different. It felt like it would last.
But he was taken. And he was her brother now so that would serve an awkward reminder of why it would never really work out too well for the whole family should any conflicts arise. Sure, her mother had teased her a lot about Aaron and encouraged her to shoot her shot, but she didn’t have the time yet. Her heart was still healing. It needed more love from her own self right now than it did from a man at the moment.
It would take some time. And maybe then she could come across someone better.
But who could be better than Aaron? she questioned herself. She would need a miracle to come across another like him.
She breathed deeply to calm her racing heart and looked in the mirror, fixing her navy blue dress and touching up her make-up. She then placed her hands on the marble top and gave herself a fixed gaze.
You’re going to go out there and pretend it was all in good fun. It was just a joke, nothing else. You hold no concrete feelings for him, and you will not give yourself false hope. Also, he’s, like, six years older than you. You’re a baby! Alright, then, you got this.
Heaving yet another breath, she nodded to herself and headed out with a confident stride, opening the door and slamming right into a hard chest.
“I was thinking you’d died in there,” rumbled Aaron’s deep chuckle as he held her by the waist to set her upright.
“Oh, puh-leez,” she said haughtily as she looked up at him with a snap of her fingers, “it takes more than getting hit by a car to kill me.”
“It killed your sense of humor, though, didn’t it?”
“Hey!” she cried and pinched his face as he laughed, “Don’t insult her dark humor.”
“Your reactions are funnier than your punchlines, admit it.”
Mina had to admit, she was a horrible comedian. But her facial reactions to memes and videos were priceless and Aaron recorded and saved enough to embarrass her for a few lifetimes. Aaron let go of her and held her by the elbow, “I have memes to show you.”
“Please, no,” she dramatically whined as he dragged her away. And she was grateful for the way it had all played out. He made it easier for her. He must’ve been one of the very few men who actually made anything easier for anyone, really, and she was thankful.
From a distance, Greta watched the two communicate. She was absolutely livid, green with envy.
He’s cheating on me with that bitch, whispered the devil to her, I need to get rid of her.
She reached into her purse, producing a phone she kept to contact only those others had no knowledge of. She didn’t think they would come in handy for such purposes, but jealousy was a bitch she could never control.
This is unfair, she thought spitefully as tears pricked her eyes, He’s the one good thing that ever happened in her life and she has the audacity to try and make moves on him!
Somewhere deep inside she knew it wasn’t Mina doing anything at all. She knew Aaron liked her. She was forcing herself to wa
tch him fall in love with her. And that couldn’t happen. He couldn’t be with anyone else. He couldn’t love anyone else. Not while she was around. Not on her watch.
Chapter Four
Aaron had wanted to head back home and fall asleep, but Mina had to insist he stay over at hers. Both of them lived with their parents due to how attached they were, but it seemed that Aaron had forgotten what a wedding night was. Sure, Dave and Heidi would be flying off elsewhere to some island on a helicopter, but she did not trust them to avoid anything eventful before they left.
“Minaaa,” he whined, almost half asleep, “just please take me home.”
“I am,” she smirked at him giving a sly look sideways. Aaron poked her side and she screeched with a jump against her seatbelt, “Aaron! You know I’m ticklish!”
“You were being dirtyyy,” he whined.
“Wait, dude, are you really that drunk?” she asked cautiously and he hiccupped loudly. She sighed and murmured to herself, “Well, nothing I’ve never dealt with before. This should be interesting, though.”
She figured Aaron was pretty innocent when drunk, which was downright strange because most guys became absolutely hormonal beasts from her experience. Aaron was being an absolute child. It was really adorable.
She drove silently, turning on some pop music on the radio. She got to a traffic light and stopped at the red glare. But she was sure it wasn’t the red glare burning into her. She didn’t want to turn around to catch Aaron staring at her. She already knew he was. It wasn’t something she wanted to confront, but it was turning her into a nervous mess. Her heart had acted up, tap dancing in her chest as goosebumps rose on her arms.
She felt his fingers trace her bare arms. She looked over, startled. He was only studying the tattoo she had on her bicep. She breathed a sigh of relief, and he met her gaze.
“What does it say?” he said softly
“Kun kuyyan la jalak,” she read it out, “It’s translates to stay strong for yourself.”
“Why not in English?”
“Those who don’t deserve to know” she said with a sarcastic smile, “would never ask.”
He seemed to understand her reason and grinned, “Fear is a powerful weapon.”
She loved it. She loved this. He got her, she got him. And it hurt that they would never be nothing more than what they were in this moment. Siblings, best friends. But maybe romance is not what she needs. Maybe this friendship is more than what she’s looking for. Cracking dirty jokes, discussing philosophy and art, and quite unashamedly bitching about Greta now and then.
Maybe she’d thought it too soon, because as soon as she’d closed the door, she found herself trapped between it and Aaron’s hard chest, his face buried in her neck.
HOLY FRICKIN’ SHIT!, she screeched in her head, MINA CALM DOWN, HE’S DRUNK BUT damn he smells goo– MINA NO HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND!
“So…tired,” he breathed, “and lonely.”
Mina took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around his neck, spreading a hand of reassurance across the back of his head, “You’re not alone. You have me and mom now.”
He sighed softly and wrapped his hand around her back, pulling her to him. Mina squeaked lightly as she felt herself against his hard muscles. She unconsciously counted his abs against her stomach. Eight.
Mina, could you not?!, She mentally scolded herself. She felt hypocritical judging guys for being horny when drunk. She was completely sober and her body was begging to pounce on him. But he was drunk, and now her brother. He was her best friend. She would never do that to him. Not ever. He needed to get over his drunken state with sleep, and she needed to prepare stuff to deal with his hangover to come.
“A’right, then,” she breathed, “Aaron, bedtime.”
His head abruptly rose to look at her, “I want hot chocolate.”
“Boy!” she huffed exasperated. His eyes were red, clothes crinkled and hair a mess. A hot mess falling over his hazel eyes that had darkened from the alcohol. His hands slid up her waist to her face, and she shuddered.
Could he NOT?, she wailed internally as his thumbs ran under her eyes.
“Your eyes are so big…”
Well, that was the most surprising thing she’d ever heard. Her female cousins would always tell her that she had the smallest eyes in the family whenever they did her make-up as a child. She had the mind to figure out that they could be lying, because theirs didn’t seem any bigger. She didn’t let it get to her much, but it did warp her perception of how she looked by a little bit and there were times she’d become insecure about them. The most part of her university were spent wearing circle lenses that helped make her eyes look bigger, but she got fed up with herself and stopped halfway through her time there.
He was still staring into them curiously, and she wondered how she hadn’t combusted into flames yet. But she didn’t want this to stop. His hands were so large and so warm, enveloping her jaw and cheeks. She wanted to rub her face into his hands. They brought so much comfort, and she felt so safe. It had been a while she’d felt so strongly for anyone.
She wanted to take care of him. She wanted to treat him better than Greta ever did, and she knew she could. If she could help it, she would shower him with all the affection she so badly wanted to, and the gifts she wanted him to have. She wanted to be the one who he turned to, could be vulnerable to, and be his absolute worst like most children were with their mothers. She wanted to be his safe space. Because God knew how much hurt he was carrying behind those eyes and how much he wanted to let it all go.
But understanding her boundaries, she took hold of his hands and moved away from them, dragging his arm over her shoulder to give him support as she pulled him to her bedroom to put him to sleep. He stumbled along, yawning. Reaching the door, she kicked it open and helped him inside the relatively small room. The difference in the size of the house and room was enough to sober him up a little.
Even he notices, she thought with a chuckle. He said nothing, though, and soon flopped onto her bed face down. Mina laughed and pushed his body until he was on his back. She took off his shoes and socks, gagging at the smell of sweat that rose from it. Turning on her air freshening humidifier, she returned back to Aaron to remove his tie and empty his pockets. He watched her through his sleepy gaze, head tilting as he observed her fussing over him, fluffing the pillow around his head and unfolding her comforter over him.
“This feels nice,” he whispered.
“What does?”
“Being taken care of,” he replied in a way that broke her heart, “I don’t remember being tucked into bed or anything. I rarely get drunk because I know I won’t be looked after.”
This was not a side of him she saw. She knew his mother had died in a horrible case of conviction and suicide, but how bad was she to make someone as grateful as Aaron feel so neglected? She didn’t pity him, but it took a lot of mental strength to live through something like neglect. She understood how bad kids vied for their parents’ approval, and she had none of that from her lazy father while her mother was too busy working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Maybe they were all happy now, but there were scars from the past that needed healing.
She reached a hand out to his forehead, delicately moving away a few strands of hair that were falling into his eyes. Her fingers slid forward to lightly massage his scalp.
“We’re here now,” she reminded him, “Ma and I will take good care of you, okay? That’s what we’re here for, because that’s what we want to do for you.”
He smiled faintly, and she knew her fingers were doing a job against his skin to bring him some peace. She felt his tense muscles visibly relax under her touch. His breathing deepened, chest rising higher with each breath to come until it was slow and constant. A light snore resonated in the back of his throat, and Mina was sure he had fallen asleep. Running an affectionate thumb over his cheek, she rose from the bed to wash up and change into something more comfortable.
She left the bathroo
m with a fresh face, cotton shorts and a loose tee. She headed over to her wide grey couch dragging a spare blanket and pillow along, but before she could get in and get comfortable, Aaron’s personal phone rang. She immediately attended to it, but hesitated before accepting the call.
It was Greta.
“Aaron? Is the wedding over yet?” Greta started hurriedly, “We can talk it over at her place and you could stay the night if you want to this once.”
It surprised Mina that Aaron had never spent the night at Greta’s before. Just how bad was she for Aaron to refuse letting her take care of him.
A mischievous smile took over Mina’s lips as she realized how upset Greta would be to hear all that was to come from her mouth. Her voice especially.
You’re awful, her rational part deadpanned.
What?, she retorted innocently, This will be funny, okay?
“Oh, Aaron’s asleep right now at her place, Greta,” Mina spoke into the phone softly, “Mina here. Anything you’d want me to tell him when he wakes up?”
Silence. It was so quiet that she almost heard static, and she tried not to laugh.
“Um, what is he doing at your place?” Greta demanded, trying her best to keep her composure. Mina only smirked. God, she hated Greta’s petty ass.
“Sleeping,” she stated as a matter-of-factly, “He needed someone to take care of him tonight.”
“Well, excuse me, but you’re well aware he has a girlfriend.”
“That he didn’t want to go to,” she shot back, “Call him in the morning and you can ask him everything for himself, but he needs rest. And proper care, so maybe you could-”
“Mina?” came from a sleepy Aaron. Mina froze and turned around slowly, almost guiltily. He was squinting at her, as if disturbed from his slumber, “Who is it?”
Mina pulled the phone away slowly, “Erm…Greta.”
He huffed in annoyance and gestured for him to hand the phone to her, and she did as he wanted. He pressed the phone to his ear, “Hello?”
There was a pause from his as incessant chatter poured out from the other end. He sat upright and held the bridge of his nose in absolute despair, “Shut the fuck up for a second… No, listen, I’m breaking up with you right here, right now… We’re over, Greta. I can’t put up with your racist and ungrateful shit anymore. We’ll talk more tomorrow, but please leave me and her family alone for tonight for fuck’s sake.”
Unwrap Me Daddy_A Holiday Romance Page 50