Aiden
“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”
I stop in my tracks, the bucket of popcorn almost spilling. There’s some seriously heavy breathing going on in there, and honestly, I don’t know what to do.
I mean, I don’t really want to go in there and walk in on… whatever the hell they’re doing, but I also want to fuck with them.
“Aiden’s here,” Rosie gasps. I shake my head, stifling a laugh.
“He’s in the bathroom,” I hear Grayson reply. “I just want to kiss you. It feels like I haven’t seen you in so long.”
Thank God. They’re just kissing. I push open the living room doors and hear shuffling, watching as Rosie almost jumps out of her skin when she hears the door open.
I settle myself in between them, placing the popcorn on the glass table in front of us and place my arms around each of their shoulders. I let out a sigh. “What we doing, roomies?” I say to both my roommates because it turns out Rosie is moving in with us.
Grayson throws my arm away from him, getting up from the couch. I’m unable to stop laughing when he scowls at me. “You couldn’t have given us ten more minutes?” he asks, throwing a throw pillow at me.
A snort escapes me as I catch the pillow. “Please. We both know it would have taken more than ten minutes.”
He shakes his head and laughs, sitting on the other side and pulling Rosie to his side. Those two have been glued to each other’s side since they got together. I’ve got to say, I like seeing Grayson happy. Dude didn’t even think he was capable of love a few months ago, and now look at him; he looks like a lovesick puppy.
“What are we watching?” I ask, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bucket.
Rosie smiles at me. “A walk to remember.”
Grayson snickers. “You staying for the movie?” he asks me.
I shrug. “Finished my workout, got nothing to do.”
He shakes his head. “Good luck, bro,” he says, humor coating his tone.
“For what?”
“It’s a chick flick about a girl who’s dying.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“They’re going to cry.”
He laughs. “As I said. Good luck.”
I came from a family of brothers. Two older brothers who definitely didn’t watch rom-coms. I have no idea how to deal with crying girls. I pick up another handful of popcorn and stuff it in my mouth when the door rings. Grayson glances at me, and I take that as my cue.
I head towards the door, reach for the door handle and pull it open. My eyebrows lift when I see the same girl from class last week. Her eyes round at the sight of me, and I don’t know what that means exactly. I smile at her, waiting for her to smile back, but she doesn’t. She narrows her eyes at me a little. Huh. Not the reaction I’m used to.
“Leila.” I note the way her eyes widen at the sound of her name coming from my mouth. “You stalking me?” I joke.
She lets out a breath. “Rosie invited me over.”
I find it funny how this girl seems unaffected by me. It’s strange. I like it. I lick my bottom lip to hide the grin I’m sporting. She acts like she doesn’t know who I am, but I know better. I know it’s bullshit. Everyone around here knows who I am.
Not only that, but I’ve got something on this girl. Rosie has let slip many times how obsessed with basketball Leila is. How she comes to all of my games, she never misses one, apparently.
She blinks, propping a hand on her hip. “Are you going to let me in or just stand guard at the door?”
A smile spreads across my face, turning into a laugh. “Are you that eager to come inside?” I tease her, loving how her warm complexion brightens, red coating her cheeks, even if her eyes burn with anger. It’s still cute as shit.
“If this is some little game you play, I’m not interested.”
Damn. She seems pissed. “Well, shit.” I fix my hat nervously. “This isn’t the exact reaction I’m used to.”
She shrugs. “Just not a fan of yours,” she says.
“Really?” A smirk paints my lips. “According to your friend, you come to all of my games.”
She closes her eyes, cursing under her breath. When she opens her eyes again, the regained fire is back in her eyes. “Don’t get an ego boost,” she says. “I don’t come for you.”
I laugh, letting out a low whistle. “Consider my ego boosted.” I shoot her a wink. “The more you talk, the more I can see how obsessed you are with me.”
There’s no reason I should let this one girl’s opinion of me affect me. So, she doesn’t like me; big fucking deal. A lot of people don’t like me. It shouldn’t hurt. It doesn’t.
She scoffs. It’s the closest I’m getting to a laugh from her. “I just happen to like basketball; it has nothing to do with you.”
I hum, crossing my arms. At least she likes basketball. My kind of girl. “That’s too bad.” I smirk, continuing to tease her. “I’d love to look up at the bleachers, seeing you in a cute little outfit and some pom-poms, screaming my name.”
I see her cheeks flush and I resist the urge to laugh. She already doesn’t like me. I shouldn’t be giving her more incentive. She blinks, squaring her shoulders. “That will never happen.”
I shrug, but before I can say anything else, Rosie appears at my side. “Oh hey,” she says. “You came.”
I tut. “And here I thought you were here for me,” I joke, placing a hand on my chest, feigning hurt.
“What are you guys doing?” Rosie asks.
I turn my head to look down at her. She’s so tiny, it hurts my neck. “Having the time of my life talking to your friend here.” I smile down at her, but she doesn’t look convinced, turning to Leila for confirmation.
“He’s killing my will to live,” she says dryly.
The more she talks, the more I want to rally with her. I want to get to know her. I don’t know why she doesn’t seem to like me, don’t really care. Something about her intrigues me.
Rosie laughs, steps back inside the house and to the living room. I step inside, holding out my hand, allowing Leila to enter. She walks past me, her body brushing against mine as she walks in front of me. My lips twitch when she looks behind her shoulders, narrowing her eyes when I trail behind her.
“Did you get your stuff?” Rosie asks once they’re in the living room.
“Yes,” Leila says, sitting beside Rosie, fanning her long brown hair behind her back. “She wasn’t lying. My plants were all dead.”
“How long did you leave them?” Rosie asks her.
She shrugs. “A week?” Her face crinkles up with a wince. “I just couldn’t handle her anymore.”
“Bad roommate?” I ask, dropping down on the couch beside Grayson.
She eyes me warily for a second. “Yeah,” she says. “The worst.”
“Damn. That sucks.” I note how she spoke to me without a remark. Yet. “Is that why you’re celebrating?”
She smirks, the side of her lips lifting. That’s still a smile, right? That counts. “We’re celebrating because you’ve got a new roommate.”
I can’t help but grin. “Would that be you?”
She rolls her eyes. “I mean Rosalie.”
“Right,” I murmur. “And where will that leave you?”
“Far away from you,” she replies.
Grayson eyes me, noticing the way she’s ribbing me. “Have you two met before?”
“We’re in the same class.” I shrug. “I’m sure we’ll get acquainted soon.”
Her eyebrows lift. “Not if I have anything to do with it. You probably won’t show up anyway.”
I go still. “What does that mean?”
She sits upright, tilting her body forward to face me. “How you blatantly use your reputation as an excuse to slack off.”
“Slack off?” I repeat. “I work hard.”
“I’m sure,” she says with an eye roll. “So you didn’t lie about having practice that morning?” Her head tilts, thinking she’s got me.
I didn’t have practice. I worked late the night before, slept through my alarm. Can’t tell her that, though.
Grayson brings his knuckles to his mouth, hiding his laughter. I’m sure he’s loving this, seeing a girl who can’t stand me.
When I don’t answer, she shakes her head. “Who knows? Maybe you won’t even have to work.” She waves a hand to Grayson. “You’ll probably get him to do it for you.”
“Nah,” Grayson replies. “I don’t do that anymore.”
“About that.” I extend my legs, crossing them on the table. “Jordan has been hounding me to get you to do it. Why don’t you?”
He shrugs. “I don’t have a reason to anymore. I needed the money; I wanted to leave. I don’t want that anymore.” He looks to the side, down at Rosie, who’s looking up at him like he hung the moon. “I finally have a reason to stick around. Don’t want to do anything to risk it.”
A snicker leaves my lips. “That’s cute as shit. But unhelpful.”
“He’s just going to have to do it himself,” Leila says. “As will you.”
I tip my body forward, glancing at her. “Wanna be study partners?”
The craziest thing happens. She laughs. Like an actual laugh. Sure, she’s laughing at the idea of working with me, but fuck, it’s a pretty sight. Might be the only time I get her to laugh around me, so I eat it up, watching how the corner of her eyes wrinkle, and her pink lips tip up in a cute smile. She’s pretty, that’s for damn sure. “I work alone.”
I tut. “Not very social of you.”
“I have no problem being social,” she replies. “Just with dealing with arrogant assholes.”
I rub my chest. “Ouch.” I let out a laugh, knowing how wrong she is. At least I have her fooled, right?
“Oh, please.” She rolls her eyes. “We both know nothing I say is going to hurt you. You don’t care what I think.”
“I don’t?”
She shrugs. “Would you care if I said last week’s game was way out of character from you?”
Fuck. My smile is completely wiped away. My teammates, Coach, and now her? I have never lost before. Not once. And the one time I do, it’s completely obvious. Whoever texted me telling me to throw the game must have gotten what they wanted because they haven’t texted back.
I avoid looking at this girl who seems to enjoy laying it on me and shrug. “So you really do watch my games,” I tease her. Can’t really disagree with her. It was out of character.
I hear a sigh from her that makes my eyes flash to hers. “Cocky as usual. Even when I’m criticizing you, you seem to hear a compliment.”
I can’t help but grin when I glance at her. “You seem to enjoy it, who am I to stop you?”
I don’t even notice that there’s no one between us when I shift closer to her. Her eyes widen, looking around the room for her best friend, who just left with my best friend. She groans, tipping her head back. “They just left to hook up, didn’t they?”
My shoulder lifts. “Seems like it.”
“Great.” A soft sigh escapes her lips.
I lean forward, grabbing another handful of popcorn. “Well, I’m not letting these go to waste,” I say before stuffing them in my mouth. I try to keep my eyes on the tv, scrolling through the movie categories, but the way Leila is looking at me, tracking my every movement, is distracting me. I turn to face her, making her eyes snap to mine.
They’re green. Never noticed that before, but my god, they’re so green. Like freshly cut limes and just as bittersweet, so big and round, with long lashes framing them. She blinks, snapping me out of checking her out, and I hold out the bucket to her, shaking it. “You want some?”
She shakes her head, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it.
“Calling for reinforcements?”
She glances at me. “Seeing as my best friend is off celebrating with her boyfriend, I guess there’s no reason for me to stick around.”
“You don’t need to leave,” I tell her. I kind of like having her around. “We can watch a movie,” I suggest.
She blows out a breath, moving to the edge of the couch. “I should go,” she says instead, which blows. She holds up her phone. “Madi texted, and she wants to go shopping for the party tomorrow.”
She’s lying. I know damn well she didn’t get a text, and that Madeline is currently studying, according to Rosie, which means she’s lying to me. The girl doesn’t even know me, but if she really doesn’t want to be around me, who am I to stop her? I nod, leaning back on the couch. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
“Shit.” She exhales, squeezing her eyes shut. “I forgot the party was here.”
I let out a laugh, seeing her fists bunch up beside her. I’m not really one for parties, especially when everyone’s mood is down from last week’s loss, but seeing as I’m captain and I have to keep up morale, it’s kind of my obligation. But knowing she’s going to be there tomorrow? This is going to be fun.
“Sure is. So why don’t you answer that fake text and go shopping?” Her eyes widen when the words come out of my mouth, making the green of her eyes that much more prominent. I smirk at her reaction. “Buy something pretty for me, baby.”
Those bright green eyes narrow, scowling at me, and she picks up her bag, throwing it over her shoulder. I keep my eyes on her until she’s out of the room and I hear the door close.
I run a hand down my face, laughing to myself. Who the hell is this girl? And why do I want to get to know her?
