~Ava~
The sounds of my stomach growling woke me up the next day. And after I slowly stretched on the soft mattress and cool sheets, when I opened my eyes, I snapped into alertness. Where the hell am I? I looked around in distress. It was clearly a very masculine room with the king-sized bed, lack of frill and lace, and generally otherwise empty space. Besides an open closet revealing an array of clothes piled onto the floor and a desk sitting in the corner, the bed took up most of the space. This thing is huge!
I scrambled from the sheets and rushed to what I assumed was the bathroom. Instead, I found myself in a hallway. Walking down it briskly, it soon opened up to the living room and kitchen. It was smaller than my own place but tastefully decorated. Much more than the bedroom had been. But where the fuck am I? I could feel myself beginning to panic. Not only because my bladder was ready to burst like the Hoover Dam but because I was beginning to fear that I had gone home with a complete stranger from the club. Speaking of the club, I could hardly remember anything. Damn, it’s not like me to blackout like this! What the hell did I drink? Oh god! Was I roofied?
“Oh, no. No, no, no…What was I thinking?” I yelled to myself as I still struggled to find the toilet. Just as I was beginning to consider escaping through the front door before my captor came back, there was a commotion behind me.
A door opened, releasing a wave of steam. And, like out of a dream, Thor made an appearance, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair dripping. I held back the drool that immediately collected at the sight of his muscular chest and broad shoulders. Damn it, girl! Get it together!
On a mission, I approached him with my finger pointing threateningly, “Did you kidnap me?”
Thor gave me a weird look, his face scrunched in confusion, “No, I didn’t kidnap you. You were drunk off your ass so I brought you here.” He paused and then grinned slyly, “Welcome to my humble abode!”
“Oh, please. Nothing about you could ever be described as humble.”
Seeming to take that as a compliment, Thor’s grin only widened until his teeth were literally shining down at me. See what I mean? The very anti-thesis of humility.
“Don’t take that as a compliment. You’re a black hole of egocentrism.” I crossed my arms against my chest and looked around, trying to avoid eye contact with him. And also to distract myself from how much I wanted to lick the water dripping down his navel into the treasure hidden by his frustratingly placed towel.
Thor merely chuckled at my description and shrugged his shoulders, “Well, be that as it may, I was honestly just worried about you last night. You consumed a lot of alcohol, and I didn’t feel comfortable just dropping you off at your apartment. Plus, we need to talk.”
I groaned and pushed past him to make it into the bathroom. “We have nothing to talk about,” I yelled, slamming the door in his face.
After doing my business and finding some mouthwash, I tried to sneak out of his apartment. Tip-toeing my way to the living room, I was just reaching for the front door when I felt his familiar warmth behind me.
“Are you seriously doing this, Ava? Come on, can’t we be two mature adults for ten minutes?”
My brow twitched in irritation at his condescending tone. Who the hell was this man to chastise me on maturity? Am I in an alternate universe? Have I gone crazy?
“Listen to me, Thor. You made your bed; you told me exactly how you felt in not so many words. Why the hell would I be excited about spending more than a couple minutes in your presence? Do you think you’re just God’s gift to the world that even after insulting me the way you did, I would jump at the chance to be in your company? I’m done, you hear me? Just no more!”
I was breathing hard at the end of my tirade while Thor seemed to be momentarily tongue-tied. But, unfortunately, that didn’t last for long. Using his big body to box me in, he refused to move, and so my back stayed glued to the front door.
“Are you done?” he asked softly. Just as I opened my mouth to give him a smart-ass remark, he held a finger to my lips. “That was not said to come off as supercilious. I’m genuinely curious about whether you have anything else you wish to say to me. Because when you are done, it is my turn. Just as I stand here listening to you, you will listen to me.”
I huffed in exasperation, rolled my eyes, but stayed silent. Partially because I found his assertiveness disturbingly attractive. And I shouldn’t! Ugh, what’s wrong with me? Am I just a glutton for punishment or something?
“Okay, good. This may take a while, you’re sure you want to stand here at the door?”
“If you moved your ass, maybe I could sit down…” I muttered with hostility. I may be caving on the inside, but there was no way I was going to let him know that.
Thor didn’t remotely react to my snide remark. In glaring contrast to my behavior, he gently took my hand in his and led me to the oversized couch in the living room. I plopped my ass down and avoided making eye contact with him. We sat side-by-side for a while, long enough for him to realize yet again that I wasn’t going to make this any easier for him. So I would have no choice but to at least look in his general direction, Thor scooted around and sat on the edge of the coffee table in front of me.
“This isn’t easy for me, and what I’m going to say probably isn't going to change your mind about me, but it’s worth a try…because Ava, I may not show it very well but I…” he loudly cleared his throat. He seemed to scoff at his struggle to find the right words with a shake of his head. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered, but then continued, “Ava, I’m really attracted to you. And I don’t mean just sexually.”
Once again, my inner voice was squealing in glee but the look of exasperation and annoyance never fell from my face. To add insult to injury, I interrupted him. “Oh, you like like me? Whoop-de-freaking-do!”
At my scorn, his gorgeous green eyes narrowed, but he seemed to hold his tongue as he continued,
“I’m really sorry about the way I treated you yesterday. It really had nothing to do with you. I had just received some pretty bad news, and I took it out on you.”
Curiosity killed the cat. “What happened?”
Thor visibly hesitated and the torn look that came across his handsome features made me want to pull him into my arms. Only I am allowed to make him look like that.
“I’m not ready to talk about that yet.” He shook his head and continued in exasperation, “It’s unimportant. Just listen.”
Wait…was he really refusing to tell me what made him kick me out of his parlor and insult me?
“Are you fucking kidding me, Thor? I stood in front of you and poured my heart out and you’re still refusing to open up to me.” I looked away from him and bit my lip to hold back the unwanted tears. I was so angry. When I’m this angry, I can’t help but cry. It’s not my fault I’m fulfilling the stereotype of the overly emotional woman, okay? It's not wrong to have feelings.
“No, no…don’t do that.” There was a slight panic to his voice as he reached out a hand and gently caressed my cheek, wiping away a tear that had escaped despite my best efforts. “I just…Look, it’s hard to explain. All you need to know is that I didn’t mean any of the shit I said to you the other day. When it comes to women, I’m just a bit…overly-cautious.”
“What for?” I managed to get out.
“I think that’s a story for another time,” he laughed softly, but it felt stilted and forced. “Anyways, I was in a really bad place, and I didn’t handle it well at all. But everything you said to me, it made me realize a couple things. For one, what we have is becoming a lot more than just sex. I mean, baby, I literally held your hair for you while you threw up a gallon’s worth of alcohol in my toilet.”
At that, my tears completely disappeared. Instead, a heat rose to my cheeks in complete mortification. “…What? You’re joking, right?”
Thor laughed, showcasing his brilliantly white teeth and flawless, panty-dropping smile. Ugh, why does he have to be so darn perfect?
“Why do you think you’re not completely hungover, right now? Everything you drank last night wound up swimming in my toilet.”
“Ugh, don’t give me that visual.” But my protest only made him laugh harder.
“Needless to say, I’ve never even thought of doing something like that for someone who is just supposed to be a fuck buddy. But don't get me wrong; it’s not only that, Ava. I genuinely enjoy being with you. You’re so…much more than I ever expected. Still crazy, but…now I see it more as infectious and quirky. We actually complement each other. And after last night, I was really hoping that maybe we could do as you suggested.”
My brow raised questioningly, “Do what?” I needed to hear him say it. Maybe it was evil of me, but I wanted the satisfaction of knowing my feelings had been reciprocated. Even if it was a momentary feeling.
“Would you like to go out with me? And maybe we could even see that room I was telling you about earlier, huh?” he grinned wickedly at the suggestion. And waited for my response. Boy do I have one to give him…
~~~
I took a sip of the wine in my hand and settled into the cushions of my couch. My thoughts were momentarily distracted by the foot that kept hitting my hip. I turned and found Evie staring at me with a glare upon her face. She was settled on the other end, her legs and feet taking up the space between us. Girl has no home training. She held out her hands in front of her chest as if to say, “And?”
Oh, yeah. I guess I never finished the story.
“Well, go on. What did you say?” she finally verbalized her impatience.
I had finally gotten up the nerve to catch her up on the drama between Thor and me. Needless to say, she felt somewhat guilty over forcing me to come to the club that night. That wasn’t my intent, but I did hold some resentment over her guilt-trip about girl codes, especially when all I really wanted to do after Thor’s rejection was crawl into bed and cry my eyes out.
“What do you think I told him? That was the sorriest excuse for an apology I’ve ever heard. He’s incapable of acting like a decent fucking human being. I told him to go to hell and leave me alone. Ain’t no dick good enough to excuse his horrid behavior.”
Evie let out a peal of laughter. “Okay, that has to be the first time I’ve ever heard the word ‘ain’t’ and ‘horrid’ used in the same sentence.” She shook her head and continued thoughtfully, “But isn’t that what you wanted all along? He told you he felt the same way and wanted to be exclusive.”
“This isn’t high school! Being able to call someone my boyfriend doesn't outweigh decency and mutual respect. For one, he thought so little of me he implied I was a slut. And no matter how he justifies it, the initial thought alone is condemning. Two, he refused to be completely honest with me, despite how many times I’ve proved to him I’m not some soul-sucking succubus. Three, he kidnapped me! And he never apologized for ruining my shoes!”
Evie winced as my voice escalated to the point of yelling. “Okay, okay. Jesus, girl, calm the fuck down before your neighbors call the police for a noise complaint.”
I shrugged, “What does it matter? They’ve called before.”
She looked at me questioningly.
I replied simply, “Sex with Thor was just that good.”
Evie’s mouth opened to form a big “o” before she laughed so hard, she snorted. “Alright, well here’s what I got for you. One, if the sex is that good, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to let it go. Two, it’s not like you two have gotten to know each other enough for him to know that you’re not a deplorable. Three, I think he’s just jealous of you seeing anyone else. I’m sure he knows by now that you don’t just jump from one bed to the next. Four, he took you back to his place, where you’ve been dying to go, and nursed you back to help. That’s so romantic! And, lastly, you need to get over those damn shoes. You weren’t completely without fault yourself missy.”
Staring dryly at her, “Oh wow, I never knew you could count to five. Congratulations.”
Evie rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at my head. “Shut up, bitch! You know, I’m right.”
“Uh huh, keep telling yourself that.”