Leila
I never thought my heart could race so fast from just a knock at the door, but when I open the door and those bright blue eyes are looking down at me, it manages to beat even faster.
Aiden licks his lips, staring down at me. “Leila.” I smile at my name coming from his lips. He doesn’t say anything else, his head shaking slightly as he looks at every inch of my face, from my lips, to my eyes, to my cheeks; there isn’t a part of me that doesn’t feel the burn of his gaze.
The door opens wider when I take a step back, allowing him to come in. The moment he enters my apartment and I close the door behind us, it feels like he was never supposed to leave. “It’s weird,” I breathe out. “This place has felt so empty without you, and as soon as you come in, it feels like home again.”
He turns around to face me, his brows shooting up, the meaning of my words lingering between us. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, trying to avoid him. When I look up, his eyes aren’t on mine, they’re on my chest, or more specifically, on the gold necklace dangling around my neck. I watch as his Adam’s apple bobs with a gulp. “You’re still wearing the necklace.”
I haven’t been able to take it off. It’s the only thing I had of him, the one thing that meant the most to me. My head drops, a tear falling down my face. His hands are on me in a second, cupping my cheeks and lifting my head until I can see him. “Please don’t cry,” he pleads, running his thumb over my cheek. “It breaks my heart all over again.”
“I’m just so lost.” I drop my eyes again, the feel of his hands on me too much to think straight. “I don’t know what to think, Aiden.” I blow out a breath, and when I look back at him, the look in his eyes almost makes me break down again. “I have so many thoughts running around in my head,” I admit. “I feel like I’m five again, picking flower petals. He’s lying, he’s telling the truth. He loves me, he loves me not.”
“Loves you,” he says, staring into my eyes. “He loves you so fucking much.” He drops his eyes, grabbing my hand and brings it to his lips, pressing them softly against my skin. “I am so in love with you it hurts.”
I squeeze my eyes closed, stopping the tears pooling in my eyes. “I loved you too.”
I can feel his heart breaking as he drops my hand and takes a step back from me. “Loved?” he asks. “Past tense?”
I look to the side, avoiding eye contact. “I believe you,” I admit. “I believe you didn’t sleep with me for your benefit. But that doesn’t change the fact that you still played me. You flirted, asked for my number constantly until I gave in.”
“I gave him your number before we even slept together, Leila. It was before everything. Before you entered my life and twisted it upside down.” I force myself to look at him, my heart aching when I do. “Nothing has been the same since. And I don’t want it to be. My life had no meaning before you. Basketball, graduate, get drafted. That’s all I ever wanted.”
When I take a step closer, he shakes his head. “But now all I want is you,” he continues. “It’s you that makes me want to get up in the mornings, it’s you that makes me smile. It’s you that makes me happy.” He takes one step towards me, closing the distance between us and leans in, brushing my hair behind my ear. “It’s you I’m so desperately in love with.”
I let my eyes flutter closed, pressing my hands against his chest. He stiffens between me, not knowing whether I’m going to push him away, or tell him to leave, but I do something else. I raise my hands, feeling every ridge of his torso until I wrap my arms around his neck, finding my place at the crook of his neck. “Aiden,” I whisper, looking into his eyes.
He shivers under my touch. “Yeah, gorgeous?”
“Kiss me.”
He breathes hard, his lips parting as he looks at me. “Are you serious?”
I nod, the corner of my lips tilting in a smile as I lift myself onto my toes until our lips are stacked, less than an inch between us.
His hands drift down to hold on to my waist. “You need to be one hundred percent sure about this, Leila. I’m not letting you leave me ever again. Not a fucking chance.”
“I’m sure.”
“Thank fuck,” he murmurs before crashing his lips to mine. I let out a yelp when his hands grab onto my ass, tightening his hold on me. His touch lights me up inside, feeling him everywhere, on my body, on my lips, in my heart. When he pulls back, he grins. “This means what I think it means, right?” he asks.
I nod, smiling up at him. “It means you’re all mine.”
He laughs, shaking his head. “I’ve always been yours,” he says, brushing his lips against mine. “From that very first kiss, you marked yourself into my heart. It will always be you. Always, Leila.”
My heart races, my brain screaming three little words at me until I let them out. “I love you, Aiden.”
“You do?” His hands freeze on me, squeezing my hips.
“So much,” I admit. “I tried to hate you, I tried to push everything I felt for you deep down, but I couldn’t.” And I wouldn’t want to. “You’re the only person I have ever loved this much.” I let out a laugh, loving how he smiles at the sound. “It’s killing me. You’ve ruined me.”
He presses his lips to my forehead, chuckling. “You ruined me a long time ago, baby. Time you caught up.”
I roll my eyes, nudging him and he lets out a laugh. “I love you,” he says, whispering the words over and over again over my skin, kissing my cheek, my eyebrows, my lips.
When he pulls back though, his expression sombers. “Things are going to change, Leila,” he says with a sigh. “People might say some nasty shit to you for being with me. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
My stomach drops at the thought of Aiden thinking I don’t want to be with him because of what other people think of him. I didn’t fall for his reputation. I fell for him. I shrug, cupping the back of his neck. “I’ve heard every nasty thing I could have. It won’t bother me.”
He frowns, lifting my chin with his thumb. “You’re lying,” he says. “I know how much it bothers you.” He shakes his head, letting out a sigh. “I hate that people have hurt you.” His frown deepens, a line forming between his brows. “I hate that I was one of them.”
I let out a breath. “It’s inevitable, Aiden.” There are always going to be people who have hate inside of them, and there’s nothing I can do to stop them. I glance up at him, uncertainty building in my chest. “Are you sure you’re okay with being seen with me?”
His shoulders drop, cradling my face in his hands. “It breaks my fucking heart when you say that,” he admits. “I don’t want to keep you hidden; you’re not a dirty secret, Leila. You’re my girlfriend.” He leans in, pressing his lips against mine. “It would be my fucking privilege.”
