The scarf
When we were finished, Aaron carried me into the bathroom and insisted that I take a bath with him. I did climb into the tub with him, but I turned away so we wouldn’t end up having sex again.
He was oddly silent, and when I turned back around after cleaning myself up, I found that he’d fallen asleep with his head resting against the edge of the bathtub.
I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry. I gently shook his shoulder: “Aaron…? You need to get out now, you’ll catch a cold.”
He didn’t respond.
There was no way I could get him out on my own–he was around 6’3” at least–but I didn’t want to just leave him there. With a sigh, I sat back near the faucet and turned on the hot water every once in a while so he wouldn’t get too cold.
Thankfully, he woke up before long. His eyes blinked open and he smiled when he saw that I was still in the water with him. There was a tender expression on his face. “You can get out first.”
I stood with my back toward him and got out to slip into a robe. He followed almost immediately and crashed into me before I could get dressed, sending water splattering over the tiles. I was so startled that I nearly fell forward, and he took that opportunity to scoop me up in his arms and throw me back onto the bed.
“Hey!” I hissed.
Aaron hugged me from behind with his head buried in my
shoulder. Then he said in a hazy voice, “Sleep with me for a while.”
I patted his hand on his wet skin. “You need to dry off first.”
He hummed lazily, “I am…”
Immediately afterward, I heard his soft snoring. I didn’t move until his body fully relaxed and let go of me. Then I carefully got up and draped the comforter over him. His hand grabbed a fistful of the white sheets and he frowned, like a child
having a nightmare. I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out, and he immediately grabbed my hand. After everything that happened tonight, I didn’t think I’d sleep well, but I drifted off as soon as I shut my eyes…
When I woke up, I didn’t know what time it was. The heavy curtains didn’t let any light through, so I took out my phone to
check the clock.
It was eight in the morning.
Vincent definitely wasn’t up yet.
There was also an unread message from Daisy last night:
Dayzee: I won’t be up till 10 tomorrow.
Dayzee: Vince pissed me off. I don’t think he has the balls to bother me any earlier than that lol.
So that must’ve meant I could stay with Aaron until ten o’clock.
Behind me, I heard him shift into a more comfortable position. I pressed my back against his warm chest and enjoyed feeling
his slow heartbeat for a while. Then I put down the phone and turned around.
That was enough to wake him, and he looked down at me in a daze. When he saw that all I’d done was roll over, he simply patted my head, hugged me tighter, and fell back asleep.
When I woke up the second time, I heard the water running in the bathroom. The spot beside me was disappointingly empty, so I frowned in the direction of the bathroom, confused.
Aaron was back soon though, and when he saw my eyes open, he smiled and greeted me. Then he leaned over my side of the bed to give me a peck on the lips. “Did you sleep well?”
My lips tingled with the minty aftertaste of his mouthwash, and there were tiny drops of water that graced his long eyelashes, which made his eyes so much more enchanting.
“Yeah…” I nodded. I slept very well actually, aside from the soreness in my back.
He squeezed my face and said, “Vincent is up now. I’ll go take him downstairs for breakfast, then Daisy will come to get you.”
I nodded.
“Do you want anything to eat? I can bring something back. up.”
I shook my head. I didn’t have an appetite right now.
Putting on his coat, he went down without asking any more questions.
After I washed up, I waited for a while until Daisy knocked on the door and took me downstairs.
We chatted on the way, and that was when I learned that she, Aaron, and Vincent were all classmates at Columbia. The realization left me stunned. To be honest, I was too busy studying to get to know people from other departments. While we chatted, Daisy told me a lot about Aaron, and she had nothing but compliments for him.
It was like she saw him entirely differently than Vincent did. Vincent always said Aaron was a playboy who leeched off of his parents‘ success, but Daisy felt the exact opposite. To her, Aaron was nothing short of an entrepreneurial genius who rebelled against his parents to pursue his own dreams; he had every right to do whatever he wanted. Then there was also the version of him that Cinder told me about… Regardless, I figured that Daisy was the closest to him. She’d know him better than anyone, and so her admiration for him rubbed off
on me.
I couldn’t help but ask a stupid question: “So is it true that he met up with three different women in one night?”
I immediately regretted it! There were so many other things I could’ve asked, but that was the first thing I could think of?!
Daisy blinked at me as she processed my question, then she cackled. “Yes and no. We threw a wild party that night, and Aaron was the only one who didn’t drink. He brought those Tadies to their rooms.”
“So he’s sweet to everyone he sleeps with…?” I continued, uncertain.
And by ‘sweet,‘ I meant ‘infatuated.
I fully expected her to say yes–that Aaron’s kindness toward me was just how he treated all of his bed buddies–so I could hold him at a safe distance without truly hurting him.
But she shook her head.
“No. You’re the only one I’d say he’s been sweet with…”
As soon as she finished speaking, the elevator door opened on the first floor.
And there was Emily.
She hesitated for a second as she watched us step out of the
elevator.
I was so put off by being face–to–face with her that I didn’t stop to think about what Daisy had just said.
Daisy greeted her, and Emily gave her an apologetic smile.
“I was just heading back up to my room… I had breakfast already.”
Daisy laughed at her. “Who did you mess around with last night? Your eyebags are black.”
Emily glanced at me for a split second with an unreadable expression, then she said, “Who could I possibly have hooked up with? I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, that’s all.”
Then she stepped into the elevator and headed up to her
room.
72.68%
When we arrived at the hotel’s cafe, I took a seat next to Vincent. On my other side was Daisy, and on her other side was Aaron.
Vincent pushed over a plate as soon as I sat down: a slice of wheat bread, lightly marinated salmon, fresh fruit, and a glass of milk. It was exactly my kind of breakfast. I hated having overly greasy foods first thing in the morning.
After breakfast, Vincent and I went back to our room to pack our things. Daisy and the others happened to be stepping out of their rooms just as we finished, so we all got into the elevator together.
Vincent laughed and kept asking Aaron who he spent the night with, but in the next second, Vincent was stunned silent, and I felt his hand on my shoulder suddenly go stiff.
My soul nearly left my body when I looked up to see why, and my hand trailed up to my collar.
Aaron was wearing a deep red scarf around his neck.
The same one I’d left in his room last night.
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