by Sonya Jesus
He steps forward, backs me into the wall, and…
Whoa.
His lips are on mine. Holy effing Hell. They are soft, but his kiss is hard, urgent, as if he’s been waiting to do this for the longest time and finally acted on it.
Our lips speak only a conversation our bodies can hear: his, coax the tension out of my body as he takes control of it, while my lips convey my surrender. When his tongue brushes against the rim, insisting on entry, I moan, granting him the access he desires. Our tongues meet for the first time, and my body explodes with triumph.
Incomprehensible triumph. Because this is not what I want. Aiden is not who I should be kissing. Yet, I can’t bring myself to stop.
His lips are skillful and pure addiction and when they disconnect my whole body protests. He tilts his head to the side, and with seductive precision whispers, “Hi, Amelia.”
I allow myself to sink into the moment… into him, before I push him back and bolt for the door.
What the fuck just happened?
Chapter 18: Danger in the Memories
Lia
Oh, my Holy Zeus Almighty. I pause just inside the door and breathe. I did not just kiss Aiden Keys! Did I? What the hell was I thinking?
You weren’t, my Angel chimes in. I ignore her presence out of spite. Where was my slap-some-sense-into-me-bitch five minutes ago? I have no need for an Angel if she floats away when I need her to flap her wings and cool me the heck down, or cause enough wind to knock my Vixen on her ass. Alcohol should not dull the Angel and give the Vixen full reign!
Geez. My cheeks are still on fire and heating up at the memory of our lip-lock. I bow my head, avoiding eye contact with partygoers as I weave through the crowd and haul ass to the sanctuary of my room. I stumble inside, lock the door, grab a beer from the fridge and run into the closet, where it isn’t as noisy, so I can hide and work through the drunkenness before I make another stupid decision.
Stupid? I flop down to the floor, stretch my legs out on the fluffy white carpet and playback the kiss. Sipping my beer every time my body shivers at the replay, I hope drinking my body numb will negate the lingering effect of his touch. But the more I drink, the more I remember the way his warm breath tickled the tender spot on my neck, the way my name sounded rolling off his tongue. Oh, and the kiss. Hottest effing kiss of my life.
But, yeah! Stupid. Beyond stupid. Mortal girls like me stand no chance with gods like him. The power in his stance, the intimidation in his presence, the allure in his stare, and the compulsion in his kiss… each one a method he could use to pry the virgin out of me. I shouldn’t want him to do that, but the thought entices me. Imagine that: a virginal Amelia in the clutches of the almighty Soccer God?
Psh. I’m a realist. He’d have me down on my knees, praying for something wickedly sinful in minutes. I have a feeling that with Aiden: one rich kiss, one sensual touch, one moment of weakness and a glimpse of his human side- that’s all it would take to forget all his asshole gestures.
Thankfully, that will never happen. Catching a glimpse of a kinder, human Aiden is not possible. He’s conceited, entitled and a snarky asshole. What he needs is someone to knock him off his Mount Olympus high and remind him he needs to cohabitate with the rest of us mortals. He can’t just go around groping and kissing people because he feels like it. Pretentious dickwad. I did good telling him off like that. Well, until he shut me up.
I smile as the memory creeps its way back into my mind and warms me up. I chug the ice cold beer down, yet when I finish, I am more sober than when I started. I’m cursed. No amount of alcohol can ever obliterate the way his lips felt touching mine. I gaze at my empty beer bottle and contemplate another. I shouldn’t since I’ve been feeling terrible, but tonight my stomach is fine. It’s my heart that’s fucked up.
Needing to get comfy, I yank off my sexy top and push up bra. I switch my jeans for stretchy bike shorts and step out of the closet to grab my pajama shirt I left on my bed.
I nearly have a heart attack. Aiden Keys is sitting on my bed holding his phone in his hands. “What are you doing in here?” I scream, struggling to stabilize my breathing while doing so. “How did you get in here?” I swear I locked that door.
“Lia,” the warning connotation in his voice shakes me out of my shock.
Oh shit. I’m suddenly very aware of my shirtless top. I jolt my arms up to cover my ladies.
“Aiden!” I shout, quickly grabbing Connor’s T-shirt, which hangs over the side of the bed and turn my back to him. Sliding the shirt over my head, I ask, “How long have you been here?”
“A while.”
I swivel on my heel to face him and raise my eyebrows for him to elaborate. He says nothing. So far, I’ve gotten two-word sentences out of Aiden. He wasn’t exactly a man of many words. I sigh deeply and retreat, distancing myself from all his god powers. He needs to stop looking at me like he can see me. I prefer he go back to not noticing me. There was no risk there.
Now there’s lots of risks. He’s in my space, catching me off guard, and looking so damn beautiful that I’m tempted to close the distance. My fear holds me back. I liked our kiss too much to engage again.
He gets up, closes the gap I created between us and reaches down to grab the bottom of the T-shirt before I´m able to protest.
I swat his hands away and step to the side, needing air. I inhale, replenishing the oxygen to my brain before I lose any more brain cells. Taking full advantage of the boldness the alcohol in my system causes, I confront the god who is invading my privacy. “Well, why are you here, Aiden Keys? Accosting me outside wasn’t enough?” I yell, hoping he takes my rashness as a cue to exit.
“You can call me Aiden, you know?” he mocks.
I roll my eyes. “I could call you a lot of things. Your name is the nicest one I can think of at the moment.” I hit a nerve. He gets a tense look in his jaw. I groan internally, and my eyes bulge a little, daring him to challenge me. When he doesn’t, I open the fridge, get one of Mel’s beers and lean against it. I untwist the cap, take a few swigs to make sure I am intoxicated enough to have this conversation, then address him. “Really Aiden. Why are you in my room? And how did you get in here?”
“I opened the door,” his sarcasm irks me. He retreats, leaning back against my desk, mimicking me. “Lacey called. I needed a little privacy.”
Ugh. Stupid Soccer Sluts. Kiss me now, screw her later. Probably his thing.
I need to be the bitch to his asshole, that’s the only way this will work. I smile at him; he insults me. He steals my carrot cake, I accept his friend request. He embarrasses me at the auction, and I don’t slap him. I hit him in the head with a Frisbee, and he shows up at my party. I snap at him, and he kisses me. While our progress is fascinating, it’s also enervating. I correct him, “You mean, invaded my privacy.”
“Did I interrupt something private?” he snickers. “What were you doing in that closet? You were in there for a long time.”
Humph. Insinuating asshole. “I think we should be discussing why you are in my room.” I point to his phone. “If you were timing me, then you had plenty of time to call your fuck buddy.”
“I’m much more interested in what you were doing. You were full on blushing when you came out here. Must have been good?”
Was that a sexual innuendo?
“Like, really good, huh?” I don’t like the way he drawls out the real.
“Fucking fantastic! Until you interrupted,” I say cynically, then down the rest of my drink a little too quickly. I will myself not to blush, but his presence flusters me. His kiss stimulated the heat in my lady parts, and it rises straight to my cheeks.
“You’re blushing,” he coos, as if it’s the first time he has ever seen me do it.
“Well, aren’t you perceptive?” I retaliate, rolling my eyes. To conceal my burning face, I go to the mini fridge and pull out one of my waters and drink slowly to help put out the fire inside me.
“When it comes to you, very.�
�
Whoa! There is a fine line between creepy and hot, and I have a feeling we are treading that line right now.
“You know nothing about me, Aiden,” I object, pretending to be offended. Which I partially am, but only partially, because the other part is excited he knows things about me. That’s weird though. I guess we’ve come a long way from not interested.
“I know you’re a virgin.” He studies me, gauging my reaction.
I remain stoic on the exterior, but my insides jitter nervously. How did he know that? A smirk comes across my face, egging him on. “You seem certain about that.”
Keep it together Lia. He knows nothing unless you admit it, my Vixen insists.
“You are much too innocent to be anything but. It’s written all over you.” Was he insulting me? “Your blushing gives it all away.”
I’m not blushing any longer. Any red hue on my face is probably evidence of my anger. His condescending tone tests my patience. “Your ego says a lot about you.”
“Yeah. It says I know how good I am. You couldn’t handle me.” I am beginning to like the no talking Aiden a lot better than this one. Why do hot guys have to open their mouths and ruin everything? And why do they still look hot even though they speak? It’s not fair.
“Who says I want to handle you?” I probe, annoyed by his arrogance. “You are just pretty to look at.”
“I know you like what you see.” He comes closer.
Oh! Stay away from me. I like to admire my Aiden Keys from afar; this proximity isn’t good for me. Plus, he’s an ass, and the alcohol in my system is finding it attractive and yet repulsive all at the same time.
I drink some more water to clear the burn in my throat. “Yep, I do like what I see. Too bad I hate when it speaks.” I kick up the disdain. I need him to leave voluntarily because kicking him out hasn’t even crossed my mind yet. The closer he gets, the harder it is not to succumb to the alcoholic influence telling me to put out the fire with Aiden Keys’ lips.
“You’re feisty. That, I wasn’t expecting.” He steps closer, taking my insult as an invitation to stay rather than leave. “Answer my question,” the asshole god demands.
“You didn’t ask me a question, Aiden.” I have no intention of answering anything. It’s none of his business. It’s a private, intimate detail that I will not allow to be thrown in my face.
He steps closer.
Oh no! Go away. I hold tight to my bottle with one hand and use the other to hug my stomach, trapping my hand under my elbow so it doesn’t do something stupid. “I don’t see why that’s any of your business anyway.”
“I’m intrigued,” he says, too sexily.
“Well, I’m an intriguing person.” I ward off my Vixen, noting she and alcohol are not a good combination.
“You’re also elusive.” He stops maybe a foot from me.
“That would coincide with being intriguing.”
Oh! Drunk me had balls! Who knew all I needed to talk to Aiden Keys was a little alcohol.
He chuckles. “I know I’m right.” Of course, he is, but I am under no obligation to tell him the truth. “There’s just something about you that screams out ‘inexperienced’.”
And where back to the insulting.
“Look, I’ve filled my asshole quota for the night. So how about you get the fuck out?” I grab my phone, noticing more missed calls. Probably from the prankster weirdo.
“No. I don’t want to yet.”
Seriously? This is my room, and I want him to leave. Sort of.
“Answer,” he demands.
“You are unbelievable.” I scoff. “You realize, I’m not on your team, right? You can’t just waltz in here and order me around. Your teammates might scramble to follow your rules, but I don’t. It doesn’t work like that with me.”
He seems surprised by the comment. His head tilts to the side, and his eyebrows scrunch adorably in the center as he tries to figure me out.
Shaking my head, I sneer and steel my spine. “Guess you aren’t used to someone saying ‘no,' huh? It’s cute that you think I would answer, though.”
“So, now I know for sure.” He recovers quickly. He can think what he wants; there will be no confirming or denying anything tonight.
I hold his gaze. After a few minutes of silence, I decided to push him. “You say you know, yet you are still here waiting for an answer. Someone’s unsure of how sure he is.”
“It’s a simple question.” He’s fishing! He has no idea.
“It’s a simple answer.” I make him laugh. “Doesn’t mean I have any obligation to tell you.”
“You can be frustrating.”
So can he. “Well then, there’s the door,” I say, pointing to it. “Take your questions and leave.”
“I’m a patient guy, Amelia.” He gets right in my face. “I got all night.”
It’s dangerous being this close to him. Air gets lost between my lungs and brain. He chuckles softly while I regain semi-consciousness. I guess answering is the only way to get him out of here. I step back, putting some space between us. An action he finds amusing. “Why do you think that I’m a virgin?”
“I see it in your eyes. And I bet you blush when you think of someone sexually.”
Does he think I am thinking of him sexually?
He follows me, again introducing the proximity. His lips are inches from mine. His eyes linger on them.
Oh my God! Aiden Keys is going to kiss me. Again. I take a sharp breath in to regain my composure, then exhale slowly.
“You try to hide it, the playfulness, the flirting...” His hand starts caressing my cheek, and I am so turned on that I’m not thinking straight. “The innocence is exciting, Lia.” His other hand caresses my other cheek, then cups my face. He’s intoxicating my already intoxicated self with his lubricious words and actions. “It’s sexy.”
I gently place my hand on top of his, caressing it. I choose to ignore his soft moans and remove his hand from my face, placing it down at his side. “I’m not that innocent, Aiden.” I catch him off guard. Presumptuous prick expected something more just because he’s showing interest after all this time. “Leave!”
“I like the whole defiance and denial thing.” He takes a step back. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Not interested.” I shoot back with his own words. Hah, take that!
He laughs and takes another step away from me. “You still remember that?”
How could I forget? “Vaguely.”
“I still remember the look in your eyes when I said it. You didn’t take it very well.”
He remembers? I think the whiskey sours, absinthe, beer and water mix are making me delusional… And very nauseous.
“I know you remember.” He smiles with an irritatingly perfect smile. “You were wearing a black leather jacket over a green halter top. I saw you coming a mile away; your fire red hair had caught my attention days before. Actually, your fire red hair caught everyone’s attention. We called you the girl on fire. ‘Fiery red hair for a smoking hot body.’ If I recall some of my teammate’s comments.”
Did I note a tinge of jealousy in those last words? Now a days, my hair wasn´t so vibrant.
“And the not interested? That was because you aren’t into redheads?”
“Maybe I wanted to make you remember me?”
“By being a dick?”
He cocks his head to the side, diverting his gaze and dropping the arrogance down a notch. “Maybe you intimidated me. You are undeniably beautiful, Lia.”
“I intimidated you? Because you think I am pretty?” I’m obviously tripping on a figment of my imagination because no way is this actually happening. I drank way too many alcoholic beverages in the width of an hour. Maybe I passed out somewhere, hit my head and this cockamamie occurrence is a result of the reduction in dopamine and serotonin. Either that, or Aiden Keys has some kind of bet going on with his soccer buddies.
“Amelia,” he hesitates, making me regret the question. “That
’s a given.” He pauses a moment, and I start laughing hysterically at myself.
“What’s your angle here Aiden?” I shake my head and stumble as I approach him. He catches me, holding me up.
“What?” he asks, confused, almost sincere enough that I buy it. “Lia, I’ve meant to talk to you for a while. I just never got around to it.”
Then he obviously didn’t want to talk to me. I shrug out of his grasp. I will not fall for this. “You have meant to talk to me for a while?” I can’t believe this is happening. “Why haven’t you? There have been a few times where you could have said ‘hi’?” I pause and take a seat on the corner of my desk, feeling dizzy. I rub at the corners of my eyes; too much alcohol is starting to affect my vision. Luckily, it fuels my irritability. “Should I start naming a few of the recent events where you could have talked to me, rather than at me or about me?”
He groans and comes closer to where I am propping myself up. I shake my head, grab another gulp of water and swish it around, letting it rest under my tongue. He waits until I swallow.
“Well?” I ask him. “You could have spoken to me. I mean we’re Facebook friends now. So, I am still trying to find out how ‘not interested’ was the best you could come up within three years.”
He laughs at me. “You’re still hung up on that? There’s more to that story, Amelia. Maybe one day,” he pauses and glances up at me, “when you tell me your secrets, I’ll tell you mine.”
I nod over-enthusiastically, channeling my best impression of this one-time-at-band-camp. “Sure, we can sit and have a pow-wow while chomping on some Period Box chocolate. Won’t that be so much fun?”
“Are you being sarcastic or are you inviting me on a date?”
I shake my head, “You know I’m sort of dating Connor, right?”
“Oh yeah,” he picks up the teddy bear Connor gave me and jiggles it in the air. “I know all about your relationship with Connor…” He lowers the stuffed animal and flashes me a seductive smirk, “and Robins.”