Never Have I Ever

Chapter 15

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Something was on my back. I tried to move but I was pinned down. Furrowing my eyebrows, I twisted my head to the side to see a head of dark brown hair. I sighed, relieved it wasn’t a random person sprawled out across of me. Quite literally, too. Nash’s head was on the middle of my back, his hands twisted in sheets, and my legs tangled around him. Blood rushed to my cheeks while I tried to remove myself from him.

            I didn’t want to wake him, but it was too late when he blinked, disoriented.

            “Aria?” he mumbled, looking around like a lost puppy. I blinked, staring at his handsome face with a small smile on my lips.

            “’Morning,” I said, as he pushed himself off of me, stretching his arms behind his head.

            He yawned loudly, “’Morning.”

I tried to brush through the tangled mess my hair was with my fingers. Giving up on that, my stomach growled loudly. I was sure my face was as red as a tomato now. I could see the small smirk that was growing on Nash’s face.

            “Is someone hungry?” he cooed, his lips twitching in amusement.

            “Nope,” I said, embarrassed.

            “Come on,” he nodded his head to his door. I followed him like a lost puppy down his large staircase, still marveling at his house. When he entered the kitchen, I saw his back tense slightly. I bumped my nose into his back, and froze.

            “I didn’t know we had company,” said a cool, feminine voice, “I was under the impression that your father spoke to you about this Nash. Don’t bring girls over in the middle of the night!” she snapped, and I inwardly flinched. I inched myself even further away from her, and hid further into Nash’s t-shirt.

I could see Nash’s jaw clenching, the muscle in it twitching angrily. I clutched my fists onto his t-shirt to let him know I was there. “Her name is Aria,” he said sharply, glaring at his mother.

            “I’m sorry for imposing,” I said quietly, stepping out from the shield that Nash made for me.

            His mother’s expression slightly softened before she masked it. She simply shrugged, and turned back to their island, her attention on something else. I swallowed hard.

            “Don’t apologize to her,” Nash snapped at me, roughly grabbing my arm and shoving me through his back door. I stumbled on the pavement, and he grabbed my upper arms, steadying me. “Sorry,” he said in a gentler tone, “Didn’t mean to snap.”

            “I know,” I told him. He rubbed his hands through his hair roughly. “Want to talk about it?” I asked him and regretted it when he turned angry.     

            “No,” was his short reply in a cool voice. I knew he was now shutting me out.

            I sighed.

            “Want to get breakfast somewhere?” he asked me, obviously trying to change the subject. I nodded in reply, following him to his truck. When we were both in and buckled, he drove off.

He was rubbing his jaw, his back tense and straight as he drove. I could tell he was hurting over how coolly his mother had spoken to him.

            “She doesn’t know what she’s missing,” I told him softly. His head snapped to mine, a cynical expression taking over his face.