Page 33 of Stuck with You

I let out a sigh, a little of my anger dissipating as I glanced toward the school. Aiden seemed sincere, and while he enjoyed getting under my skin, his attempts were never cruel. It made me realize he hadn’t been trying to be malicious or hurtful with his prank.

“Aiden, I get that. But we should take this lockdown stuff seriously. I want the virus to go away more than anything so my parents can get home.”

His face fell at my words. “I’m sorry, Clary. I really didn’t think it would be a problem.”

I slowly nodded. “I know.” It was hard to justify my frustration because we hadn’t come into contact with anyone else. The rules were in place for a reason though, and I didn’t want to break them. I was probably just extra emotional because my coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.

As I glanced at Aiden, I felt bad for getting so angry with them. He was only trying to include me, and while I may not have enjoyed the prank very much, he’d gone to a lot of effort to try to trick me. I slowly started to smile. “It was a pretty good prank,” I admitted.

“It was?” Aiden let out a relieved breath when he saw I was softening up before he chuckled. “I guess it worked pretty well. You really had no clue we were fooling you.”

“I didn’t,” I agreed. “I must still be half asleep.”

“Yep, we were kind of counting on that, to be honest.”

“So, it looks like I’m going to have to come up with something extra special to get you guys back.”

“You will, huh?” His eyes turned playful, and there was a sense of amusement in his voice.

“Oh, yeah.” I started to walk back to the truck. “You should watch your back. I can be pretty vengeful when I want to be.”

He didn’t look afraid at all. If anything, he looked excited.

10

Clary

It was growing late, and I was pacing around my room at a total loss for how to prank Aiden. Tricking Elliot had been easy enough. Once we got home, I swapped out the cream for toothpaste in a packet of Oreos and left them on the kitchen counter. Elliot saw the cookies and went for them without hesitation.

His little face had been so cute when he realized his mistake. His nose scrunched up, and his eyes widened with surprise. It wasn’t the most original prank, but Elliot had laughed and high-fived me after. Apparently, they took pranks very seriously in this house.

Aiden wasn’t going to be so easy to trick though—and I knew I had to go much bigger for his prank. I couldn’t let him get off easy like I had with his younger brother. I was struggling to come up with the perfect idea though, and I’d been thinking about it all day. Everything I thought of seemed too lame, and as I glanced out the window, my stomach tensed. Night had well and truly fallen now, and I was running out of time. How did you prank a guy who thought everything in life was a joke?

I blew out a breath and took a seat on the end of my bed as I considered my options. If I couldn’t think of something good, was it better to just not prank him at all? I couldn’t quite bring myself to let it go though. He’d made me feel like a total idiot this morning, and I was desperate to take my revenge on him. Lockdown was probably to blame for the intensity with which I focused on making him pay. If I wasn’t stuck in the house with nothing to do, there was no way I would have cared this much.

As I stared at the far wall, my gaze caught on Aiden’s weight bench. His football jersey was resting across the end of it, just like it had been ever since I moved into the room. It almost felt like Aiden had left it here to taunt me. Every time I saw it, I was reminded of my first morning here and how I’d woken up to find him working out in my room. And, even more disturbing, how he’d suggested the jersey would look better on me.

I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t tossed it from my room yet, but as I stared at it, a crazy plan started to take seed in my mind. Aiden was always flirting with me, but I never returned his advances. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if I actually flirted back. He always seemed to be leading girls on. Maybe I could give him a taste of his own medicine.

He’d definitely be shocked, and he was too arrogant to ever imagine I wasn’t being serious. He would either completely panic or get far too excited. Either way, he’d be totally tricked, and I could already imagine the look on his face when I finished the prank by shouting April Fools’ right in his face.

I bit my lower lip as I considered the idea. Flirting with Aiden was risky, and I’d be embarrassed forever if it somehow backfired. I was desperate though—desperate and committed to pranking Aiden no matter what it took.

I jumped from the bed before I could reconsider and changed into Aiden’s football shirt. It was far too big for me and fell midway down my thigh, making my pajama shorts disappear completely beneath it. I felt ridiculous as I glanced at myself in the mirror. The outfit was supposed to look sexy, but I thought I looked more like a small kid dressing up in her dad’s clothes. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail it was in and allowed the soft curls to fall down my back. That improved the look slightly.

“This is totally going to backfire,” I muttered as I studied myself in the mirror. I still looked too much like myself, and I definitely didn’t think I was the kind of girl guys found sexy. This was Aiden though, and he’d been the one to suggest I wear the stupid jersey in the first place. Plus, he pretty much dated anything that moved. I had to believe that included me.

“Screw it.” I felt completely uncertain this was a good idea now I’d seen myself in his jersey, and nerves were prickling my skin. I had to do something though. I was running out of time, and this was the best idea I’d come up with that had a chance of truly fooling Aiden.

I opened my bedroom door and peered out into the corridor to check it was empty. The only thing worse than Aiden seeing me wearing this outfit was the idea of Aiden’s family catching me in it. Thankfully, the house was silent and the coast was clear. It was late at night, so I imagined Jade and Elliot were sound asleep.

A soft light crept out from under Aiden’s door, so I knew he was still up. I squeezed my eyes shut as I allowed myself one last moment of doubt before I opened them again and tiptoed across the hallway. I didn’t bother knocking when I got to Aiden’s room. Instead, I silently pushed the door open. Aiden had been comfortable barging into my room this morning, so it only seemed fair I returned the favor.

My heart was galloping as I pushed the door inward and snuck into the room. I hadn’t been into Aiden’s bedroom before, and I was surprised to find it extremely orderly. All his school textbooks were piled neatly on his desk, and his bookcase was filled with rows of trophies. There weren’t any dirty clothes on the floor, and the scent of his aftershave permeated the air, giving the room a pleasant smell. I’d noticed him cleaning the house obsessively over the last few days, so I probably should have expected his room would be just as spotless as the rest of the place.

I scanned the room until my gaze finally reached Aiden. He was lying on his back on his bed. He seemed to have fallen asleep on top of his comforter with a book resting open on his chest. I didn’t know whether I was more surprised Aiden was reading a book or that he was actually wearing a shirt indoors for once.

He hadn’t opened his eyes as I entered the room, and his breaths were flowing gently in and out. I was kind of relieved to find him sleeping, but my lips scrunched as I considered what to do next. I was winging this whole plan and really wished I’d had time to come up with a strategy. I wasn’t flirtatious by nature and felt completely awkward as I stood just inside the doorway. I needed to be more confident if I wanted this to work. The first thing I needed to do was wake him up.

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