Page 17 of Stuck with You

Thankfully, the pasta started to boil over, and I broke our stare-off to turn the burner down. I wasn’t sure why he had me so flustered. I didn’t like him, and I certainly didn’t want him. His little flirtations were just a part of his game, and he only wanted to get under my skin. He’d done a pretty good job of it tonight, because I was suddenly planning on eating dinner in my room to get some space from him.

I just had to be grateful that this arrangement wouldn’t be for long. My parents would be back home before I knew it, and life would return to normal. I could survive a few days with the stupid, sexy jerk. I hoped.

5

Clary

My parents didn’t get in contact that night, and I couldn’t sleep because of it. Anxiety gripped me as I worried about when they would get back home, and every time I shut my eyes, I seemed to picture the worst. The virus was more dangerous for older people, and while my parents weren’t ancient, they were in their late forties and could get really sick. The thought of them becoming ill in a foreign country was enough to give me nightmares.

I’d seen footage of how the pandemic had spread across other countries, and it was terrifying how quickly the virus had moved and how lethal it was. It had attacked with such speed that in some places there weren’t enough hospital beds for the sick, and so many people couldn’t get the treatment they desperately needed. What if my parents got really sick and couldn’t get help? What if I couldn’t be there for them?

I must have dozed off at some point because I woke to the soft sound of grunting in my room. I stretched in bed and rubbed my face as I sat up. My eyes slowly blinked open, and I gasped. Aiden was lying on the weight bench in the corner of my room, and he was completely shirtless as he pushed a pair of weights above his head.

“Aiden! What the hell!” I grabbed my quilt and yanked it up to cover myself. I’d been sweating with worry during the night and had kicked off my pajama bottoms to cool off. He must have seen my bare legs.

“Oh, morning, Clary.” Aiden lowered his weights to the side of the bench and sat upright. There was a bright, innocent smile on his face.

“Aiden, what are you doing in here?”

“Uh, working out…” He said it slowly, like he was talking to a child.

“I can see that,” I growled. “Didn’t you think that perhaps you should wait until I was out of the room or, at the very least,awake.”

He stood up and grabbed a towel before rubbing it across his forehead. His forehead didn’t seem to be the problem though, because I could very clearly see droplets of sweat across his bare chest. He had well-defined muscles and a light tan despite the fact we were coming out of winter. I wished I could take a hot poker to my eyes. I didn’t need his perfect pecs distracting me from his terrible personality.

“You told me it wasn’t a problem for the weight equipment to be in here.”

“The equipment is fine. You using it while I’m still in here? Not so much.”

He shrugged, his lips lifting in his signature smirk. “I still don’t see the problem. Aren’t you enjoying the view?”

“I’m not enjoying any of this! Would you put a shirt on?” I gestured toward his football jersey, which was lying across the end of his weight bench.

His expression somehow managed to grow more smug. “Are youreallysure you want me to put that on?”

“Of course, I’m sure.”

“Because I think we both know my jersey would look much better on you…”

I pinched my brow and shut my eyes, hoping he’d be gone by the time I opened them. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with Aiden. I needed a cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, when my eyes opened once more, Aiden was still standing there grinning at me with his devilish smile. Staying with Zoey and her crazy parents was beginning to look really appealing right now.

“Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“Get out!” I pointed toward the doorway, narrowing my eyes in my most violent scowl.

He lifted his hands in defense. “Okay, okay. No need to get upset.”

He started to leave, but I stopped him as he went to open the door. “Hey, wait a sec.”

He slowly turned, a hopeful look in his eyes as he smiled at me. “You’ve changed your mind? You want the show to go on?”

“God, no.” Instead, I grabbed my phone off the bedside table and lifted it up to take a picture of him.

He blinked with surprise as the flash went off, and the smile on his face was replaced by a frown. “What was that for?”

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