Page 42 of Spin The Bottle
I pick it up and turning it over in my hands, wanting to know what she’s doing right now. I’ve barely seen her. I kept my word, she wants to be done with me, to act like that night never happened then so be it.
Too bad I can’t do the same. I can’t act like it never happened. The times I see her in class, I can’t take my eyes off her. She always sits next to this girl she seems to be friends with. I watch as she talks to her, laughs with her, smiles at her. She has such a pretty smile. If only it was directed at me.
She needs this back, right? I clutch the clip in my hands, picturing what her hair looked like that night, pinned back with this butterfly clip, the rest flowing behind her back, those rich, chocolate strands of hair that were so soft between my fingertips. I want to run my hands through it, to clutch the strands and pull her into me until those pink, plump lips part and let me inside, tasting how sweet she is when no one else is around. So sweet.
I pick up my phone from the nightstand, scrolling through until I find her name, letting out a breathy laugh when I see the name still set as what she changed it to.
Never going to happen.
That’s too bad, Leila, it already did, and like the gluttonous asshole that I am, I want it to happen again.
I pull on my sweats and throw on a clean shirt, stuff my phone in my pocket and head downstairs, not even daring to go near the living room. I send Grayson a text, smiling when I see his reply and I open the front door and head outside.
I’ve never been here before, but I know I have the right place when I see the big ass spiral doors at the front. Grayson came here all the time when he was seeing Rosie. Difference is, Rosie wanted to see him too. Leila doesn’t want anything to do with me.
This might be a mistake, but I knock on the right number before I can talk myself out of it. I can hear shuffling on the other side and then the most gorgeous pair of eyes stare back at me when she opens the door and blinks, twice, three times.
“Aiden?”
“Hey.”
She blinks again, making me grin a little. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
I grasp the small butterfly-shaped clip in my pocket and pull it out, holding it out to her. “You left this at my place the other night.” She glances down at my hand, grabbing it. “Thought I would bring it back.” It’s such a shit excuse, but it’s the only thing I could think of.
“I didn’t even know this was missing,” she says, glancing down at the clip and then back at me.
Right. Of course she wouldn’t. “Well, I thought you might need it.” I rub the back of my neck. Fuck, this is not going how I wanted it to.
She squints. “That’s the only reason you’re here?”
No.“Yep,” I say instead, stuffing my hands in my pockets. “I just wanted you to have that back,” I gesture to the clip clutched in her hands. “And now you do. So…” Well, this was a fucking dumb idea. I turn around, heading out of here before I embarrass myself further.
“Wait.”
I look behind my shoulder at her, clutching the clip in her hands, fiddling with it. “You want to come in?” she asks.
I blink, my eyes widening a little. “Yeah. Sure.” She steps inside, holding the door open for me and I enter, looking around the place. Damn, there’s a lot of windows. This place screams rich trust fund kid. “Wow, this place is nice.” Understatement. It’s so white and clean, glass vases everywhere, covered in green. Plants are spread all over the place, on the counters, tables, by the windows.
“Yeah,” she says a low chuckle coming from her. It makes me twist around to see her. Did she just… laugh? “Well, I have Rosie to thank for this. If not, I’d be living with my roommate.”
“She sounds awful,” I say, remembering how she wasn’t her biggest fan.
“She was the worst.” She rolls her eyes which makes me smile. I really like when she does that, I don’t even know why.
“What did she do?” I ask her, leaning against the wall. “She steal your soap?” I tease, grinning at her.
She shakes her head, dropping the clip on the table near the door. “More like set fire to my dorm and roll around with her boyfriend in my bed.”
My brows lift. “Damn. I’m sorry, that does sound bad.”
“Yeah.” She scoffs, crossing her arms. “That’s why I’m thankful for this place.” She turns around and grabs a glass, looking behind her shoulder at me. “You want something to drink?” she scrunches her nose. “Fair warning, I only have water and orange juice.”
I laugh, liking this side of her. “I’m good.”
She nods, fills up her glass with water and takes a sip before she turns around and leans against the sink. I watch as her eyes drop, giving me a once-over. Very obviously checking me out. Oh, Leila, you are not as done with me as you think. “So, what are you really doing here?” she asks.
“I came to bring your hair thingy.”
