Chapter Eleven
Rolling around on the carpet was doing her no good, but she didn’t feel like doing anything else. A horror movie played on the large TV screen embedded into the wall, but it wasn’t as funny as she’d have liked it to be. Just plain boring. There was no one screaming, no jump scares, no element of surprise. Nothing to laugh at.
She ended up against the base of the couch, upside down and legs thrown over the seat.
She was bored.
Actually, she was just waiting for Aaron. There was plenty she could do and have fun but she didn’t want anything but Aaron at the moment. She missed him. It was an empty tug at her heartstrings pulling her body to him so far away.
Sighing, she ended up on her side, daydreaming. About cute dates, the memories, replaying the day she first met him, the cuddles from last night. A smile crept onto her face.
Then invaded the feel of his mouth and fingers against her body and she abruptly opened her eyes, making it all go poof into thin air.
Not now, she thought. She would start dripping wet just at the thought of Aaron’s magical lips and hands on her body. Sometimes she wondered if he ever expected her to do anything for him, but the image of the possibilities made her uncomfortable. She didn’t know if she was ready to give him that yet and it made her feel that it was unfair for Aaron to be doing this to her if she couldn’t return it.
She groaned and started rolling around again, remembering that she didn’t even want to go any further with him until she got answers to the things Greta had said about him. The curiosity was driving her insane, and pair that with her hormones begging to be quenched of their thirst, it did not bode well when it came to balancing her mind and body to work together.
The door creaked open and she immediately rolled onto her knees and stood up. Aaron walked in with paper bags of take-away. He looked absolutely exhausted. Mina felt bad for him, but that feeling aside she had the urge to walk up and take care of him. And so she did, holding his jacket as he shrugged it off and turning him around to loosen his tie.
“Thank you, Mina,” he breathed, genuinely grateful. But he looked tired and disheveled, and she wondered just what exactly had happened when he was out with Greta. An awful feeling of doubt settled onto her chest, fearing that he’d given in to her enticing form and he had been claimed.
“You won’t believe how crazy Greta can get,” he sighed in exasperation as a knife fell on Mina’s heart, “Like, I was driving and she was pissed off because I made it clear I dumped her ass for good, and she literally put me in a choke hold and pulled her hair off!”
“W-what?!”
“Yeah! See?” and he lifted his sleeves to show fresh red scratches running down his forearms, moving his face closer to show a few marks at his jaw. Mina had never been more appalled, and so…angry. She was angry beyond words and knew she would explode, destroying all in her path to get to Greta and let her have her signature body flip and forehead jab that had knocked every one of her opponents out cold.
Her hands trembled, but she realized Aaron needed someone to tend to him.
“God, she’s insane,” she breathed out the redness in her cheeks and dragged him into the kitchen where he guided her to where the first aid kit was. She grabbed it from within a cabinet under the sink and hopped onto the stool next to his, popping the lid open and getting to work.
“How’d you get her off of you?”
“Well,” he started as she reached up with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol, “I – ow – got out of the car and dragged her out from her side and carried her over to her porch and dumped her there. Ran back to the car and made a run for it. Never am I dealing with her ever again. She can forget me offering her any form of protection or assistance from now on.”
“She needs help, Aaron,” Mina said softly, an odd wave of sympathy overtaking her anger, “She needs to see a therapist or something. Serious anger issues.”
“Her whole family is that way,” he said, “and she’s already tried for therapy. This is still a lot better than before, but it doesn’t seem like she wants to go further beyond it.”
“I just hope things go right for all of us,” she finished, and dabbed away at his forearm.
“You seem a little down today,” he noted, “is everything okay?”
“Hmm?” her head shot up to meet his gaze, “Yeah! All’s good,” she went back to work, “I caught up with her work and set it aside earlier than I thought I would have. Gale showed me the studio you had cleaned up for me at the back and I’ve gotten everything in order there. It’s wonderful, really. You should see the little hammock I made there. I also strung up the place with fairy lights and it’s really relaxing to be there once it’s dark. Also, I-”
“Mina,” he said softly, lifting her face to meet his chin, “you’re rambling.”
“Oh, am I? I thought I was usually very talkative so this is kinda new to hear from y-”
“What happened?” he prodded gently, “Is everything okay?”
She nodded vigorously enough for him to let go of her face, and she started packing up the kit. She moved to put it away, “I’ll heat up the food for us.”
“It’s warm enough,” he claimed as his hand shot out to grab her from passing by him. He pulled her back and held her cheek, forcing her to look at him, “Now tell me what’s wrong.”
She stared into each of his eyes, trying to come up with anything to get away. She didn’t want to put him through this just yet. It had been a tiring day.
“Tell me,” he ordered. She sighed and settled her cheek into his palm, face contorting in disdain.
“Greta called me before you did,” she explained, “saying something about how you would never go far enough with anyone, or give into certain things because your biological mom was involved somehow and I kinda freaked out because we’ve already done certain things and I don’t wanna go on knowing that we won’t get anywhere with it-”
She was silenced by his soft lips molding against hers, his hand reaching out to her waist to pull her close and wrap her up in him. His kiss was slow and gentle, hand running into her hair, fingers lightly massaging her scalp. It was sweet, and very loving.
He pulled away slowly looking into her eyes, “There is definitely a lot you need to know. And I owe you that because I want to go to lengths even I haven’t gone yet, at whatever pace you decide. And all with you, no one else. You make me feel safe, Mina. I don’t know how to say it, but I know you won’t try to hurt me the way others have. And something tells me you know the pain…”
“I have to admit, there are a few things about me you should know, too,” she confessed, “Should we do this after eating?”
“Sure, whatever you feel best doing,” he smiled at her, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. She relaxed into his touch, leaning forward and nuzzling her head in his chest. He held her securely, knowing she felt how he did in her arms. As if nothing in the world could hurt them.
They took the food to the living room and got comfortable on the couch, slurping away at their noodles. It didn’t take long for them to unconsciously fall into a match of who could slurp the longest. Then the loudest. Then the most noodles in a slurp. Mina was surprised they even had enough noodles for it. It was a rather large portion with one box enough for two and Mina was not a light eater.
After they were done and satisfied, he opened his arms to her. She crawled into the carefully, and he held her as he leaned back against the arm of the couch, her fitting perfectly and comfortably between his legs. With her stomach full and her body wrapped up in warmth, she swore she would fall asleep.
“We could talk tomorrow,” he said with a yawn, “We’re both too sleepy to do anything.”
“Let’s head to bed right now,” she agreed, “Come on, we gotta wash up, too.”
Mina was up on her feet, wobbling a little from fatigue. Aaron stumbled and almost fell. They helped each other to the bathroom, brushed their teeth, and headed off to bed. Mina waited as she snuggled in the blankets while Aaron changed in his wardrobe. He came out in nothing but shorts, and turned the AC on as he got into bed with Mina. He knew the bed arranged for Mina in her new studio would go to waste, but he didn’t want Gale getting suspicious, or have anything to tease him of.
She was quick to note his presence and snuggled right up to his chest. He slithered his arm under her head and placed the other one over her waist, drawing her closer and placing his chin over her head. Aaron had never felt so much peace and comfort in his life, and neither had Mina.
It didn’t take long for the either of them to fall into a deep slumber. But something told them that it might be the last of peaceful nights they had.