"What the fuck was that?" Taylor squeals once the door shuts behind us, but I'm still in my daze.
I absentmindedly touch my lips, missing the feeling of his on them. Laying onto the bed in my dazed state of mind, I bite my lip and replay what just happened.
"Um hello? Aurora," Taylor waves her hand in my face and I'm snapped backed to reality.
"I did it," I whisper.
"Did what? Did you have sex with him? I need answers," she begs.
"No I didn't sleep with him. Although I would've but he stopped before we did anything too intimate. Earlier in the lake he told me he'd get me a bunch of school merchandise to wear to his game next week. When he said that he'd do that, I felt this burst of confidence hit me and I kind of hinted a move on him. I guess we both just acted on it. I'm glad we did," I bite my lip again, ready for more but I know I'll have to wait at least until morning.
"Wait HE stopped y'all from having sex? HE did? Not you?"
"Yeah he did. Let me tell you, he was so hard and I wanted to do it. I wanted to so bad but he stopped it. For good reason, I'm sure."
"Bitch, I'm glad you grew a pair of lady balls and finally went for it," Taylor smiles at me.
"Fuck off," I laugh. "Let's go to bed. Your flight leaves tomorrow afternoon.
I wake up before Taylor and decide to walk downstairs to the kitchen where I smell fresh coffee. Mrs. Shield is sitting at the huge kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee and I join her.
"Good morning, Mrs. Shield," I sit in the chair across from her and smile, feeling cheerful.
"Good morning, Aurora. How did you sleep?"
"I actually slept great! I really appreciate you allowing us to stay here overnight. I'm sure my father does too. He always hates it when I drive in the wee hours of the morning."
"Oh of course, Aurora. You are welcome in my home anytime," she reaches her hand across the table and covers mine.
I smile at her and sip at my cup of coffee that Giovanni just brought to me.
"Is Aiden still sleeping?" I ask her.
"No he usually wakes up pretty early. We have a gym in the back of the house. He should be back there. Would you like me to show you the way?" She offers.
"Actually if you could just give me directions, that'd be great."
She tells me where to go and I find my way easily. I open the doors to the gym and I'm amazed by it. It's a full-sized gym with a boxing ring in the middle of it. I see Aiden lying in the middle of the boxing ring, looking up at the ceiling. I step up into the ring and stand over him.
"Good morning," I hold my hand out to help him up.
He takes my hand but pulls me down and sits me on top of him. He sits up and brushes a strand of hair from my face, smiling.
"Morning," he brushes his thumb across my lips, sending a nice chill through my body.
"What are you doing in here?" I ask.
"I was just about to finish my workout. But since you're hear now," he stops talking and leans in to kiss me.
I make no effort to move away from him because I want him. His lips, his body, his everything. I kiss him back but pull away after a second.
"Want to fight?" I ask him.
"You want to fight me?" He chuckles, but a hint of excitement shines in his emerald eyes.
"Yes, I want to fight you."
"Alright," he lets me stand up before he does.
"Don't let me win," I tell him and then we start.
He's tall, which gives him an advantage but in the end it's a fair fight. I end up on my back with him on top of me, and boy does this position make my mind run wild with filthy, sexy thoughts. He looks down at me, kissing me once before helping me up.
"You put up a good fight, little lady," he puts his arm around my shoulder.
"Hey, I'm not that little," I smirk at him.
"You're right. There's a lot of strength in that body of yours. What do you have planned for today?"
"Well Taylor's flight leaves in a few hours and I've got to call up the pilot to schedule her flight next week. But I'm free after that if you're wanting to do something," I look up at him.
"Yeah actually I do. Can I take you out?" He asks, sounding so innocent.
"Of course you can take me out. Just tell me how to dress."
My phone starts ringing in my pocket and I see that it's Taylor. I press the phone to my ear and answer.
"Where are you? This house is about as complicated as a hospital," Taylor says and smile at her two very different comparisons.
"Just go to the kitchen and I'll meet you there," I tell her.
"Gotcha," she hangs up.
"Well Taylor is awake and I've gotta get her back. But I'll see you when?" I ask.
"I'll pick you up at seven. Dress casual" he grabs my hand and guides me through the hallway and to the kitchen where Taylor and Mrs. Shield are waiting.
I say goodbye to Mrs. Shield and allow Aiden to walk us to the door.
"I'll pick you up at seven. Have fun with her before she leaves," Aiden kisses me one last time before sending me on my way.
The drive home is kind of awkward. I get the sense that Taylor has something to say but won't say it.
"What?" I ask as I drive.
"What do you mean?"
"You're being quiet. Just say whatever you want to say," I demand.
"Fine. I think you're moving too fast."
I'm kind of baffled by her observation.
"I'm sorry what? You think I'M moving too fast?"
"Aurora you literally snuck into his bedroom last night while I was taking a shower and had a heated make out session with him. You never do anything like that!"
"You're always telling me to loosen up my morals and shit! And I did that last night! Now you're telling me not to?" I start to get upset.
"Yeah but I never thought you'd actually do it," she claims.
"Look, I like him. I know I haven't known him long but I like him. I don't regret it. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," I convince her to stop worrying and continue the drive home.
When we get home, we pack her things and hang out with Dad for a while.
"Hey Dad number two, guess what?" Taylor addresses Dad.
"What?" He asks.
"Aurora here has a date with Aiden tonight," she points her finger at me.
Why did she tell him that? I don't like talking about boys with my dad. It's awkward and I'd just rather not get into it.
"Really? How do you feel about that?" Dad looks at me.
"You really want to talk boys with me, Dad?"
"Not really. But I have to do the typical dad thing and say that y'all need to behave. I'm not really worried about it. I respect Aiden's family and he has yet to give me a reason to not trust him."
"Well that was easy," I mumble.
"Let's go pick out an outfit before I leave," Taylor pulls me up the stairs to my room.
By the time we finish getting me ready, it's nearly time for her to go back to the airport. I look at myself in the mirror and smile at my appearance. I let Taylor take the reigns this time and come up with my whole outfit and I let her design my hair and makeup. She dressed me in a baby blue, low cut, flowing tank top and some simple blue jean shorts. I put my white Chuck Taylor's on my feet and allow her to do my hair and makeup. She curls my hair, teases it and puts it into a high ponytail and then applies minimal makeup to my face.
"Thanks, girl. I look great," I hug her as we walk out to my car.
The whole drive to the airport, Taylor and I sang loudly to the music blaring from the radio. Taylor is a bit crazy and she jumped up and down in her seat the whole time. Now that we're at the airport, her mood has calmed a lot and she's noticeably dreading the flight back.
"Hey, don't worry. I'll see you next weekend right?" I hug her.
"Yeah you will," she hugs me back before turning to the plane.
"Love you," I call to her as she steps on.
"Love you too, bitch!" She waves at me and I laugh at her constant nickname for me.
As soon as the plane takes off I hop back into my car and drive back home, trying to get back before seven. Okay, sure I broke some speed limits but I'm desperate. I somehow make it home ten minutes before Aiden said he'd pick me up. Fuck, I'm all of a sudden nervous for this. I shouldn't be nervous thought! He's obviously just as into me as I am him, so why the fuck am I nervous?
I sit down on the couch in the living room and wait for Aiden, trying to distract myself with anything. Finally I hear a knock at the door and I force myself not to run towards the door. I get there and open it to see Aiden standing there with a big grin on his face.
"Hi," I look up at him.
"Hey," he bends down and kisses my cheek, the feeling still lingering even after he pulls back.
"Ready?" I ask him.
"Actually I want to talk to your dad first if he's here."
"Yeah he's in his man cave. Come in, I'll go get him for you," I let him walk through the door and go find Dad.
"What's up, Princess?" He pauses Judge Judy on the television and looks up at me.
"Aiden's here. He wants to talk to you."
"He wants to talk to me? What for?"
"I don't know. He just asked to speak to you before we leave."
"Alright. Just send him in here."
I walk back to the living room and ring Aiden back to the man cave where Dad is sitting.
"I'll go wait in the living room," I shut the door to the man cave.
Ten minutes go by before Aiden enters the living room again, a big smile plastered on his face. His smile is perfect, outlined by his perfect lips, showing his perfect teeth. He's just perfect.
"What are you so smiley about?" I stand up and walk to him.
"Nothing. I just like your dad," he grabs my hand and guides me out to his silver Audi R8.
He opens the door for me, allowing me to get situated before closing it and getting in the driver's seat. As soon as I'm alone with him, I feel a little more confident.
"So what are we about to do?" I ask, looking out at the darkening sky.
"You'll see once we get there," he rubs his thumb over my hand and puts it back on the stick shift.
Christina Aguilera plays through his speakers and I can't help but sing along with her. Music is a major part of my life that I don't really share with a lot of people. My mom was a fantastic singer but she never wanted to flaunt it. She passed that talent down to me.
"Where did you learn to sing like that?" Aiden looks at me, eyes wide.
I smile, remembering my mom.
"My mom could sing. She had a set of pipes on her. I guess she passed that along to me. I don't really sing around a lot of people, other than Taylor and Dad. It's sort of a hidden talent," I shrug my shoulders.
"Why not? You have this beautiful voice and beautiful presence, but you don't want people to know?" He pulls off of the highway.
"It's not so much that I don't want people to know. I just like singing in private more. I tend to get emotional when it comes to music unless I'm just having fun in the car or something. I don't really know how to explain it."
"I get it. It's like a personal thing for you."
"Right, exactly," I smile at him.
"Okay, we're almost there so I'm going to have to ask you to close your eyes," he looks at me.
"Alright. Just don't let me fall when I start walking," I giggle and close my eyes.
"I'll never let you fall," he puts his hand on my bare knee and it sends goosebumps up and down my body.
We ride for a few more minutes until I feel the car park.
"Don't open your eyes yet," he climbs out of the car.
I hear my door open and feel him unbuckle my seatbelt for me before guiding me out of the car. His hands find their way to my waist and he gently pushes me to start walking. The feeling of his hands on my waist makes me giddy. Last night in the middle of our little make out session, they were on my waist under my shirt and it was like I couldn't get enough of him.
We walk for a few minutes, feeling gravel underneath my shoes. Finally we stop walking but he doesn't say anything for a minute.
"Alright, you can open your eyes now," he gives me permission, his hands still on my waist.
When I open my eyes I'm surprised at the venue in front of me. The zoo! He rented the zoo! There are lights strung up everywhere, the smell of popcorn is filling the outside air, and a zebra is looking right at me.
"Oh my God, Aiden. This is amazing!" I turn around and hug him tight.
"You like it, huh?"
"I love it! Thank you so much," I squeeze him again before turning to the zebra again.
"You can touch it. There are zookeepers around, just giving us space," he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the zebra.
"Aiden how did you pull this off in just a few hours?" I look up to him, admiring him.
"Connections. I'm just glad you like it," he reaches out to pet the zebra as I am.
After we're finished with the zebra, he takes my hand and we walk around the entire zoo, eating popcorn and fresh churros, and cotton candy. We talk about everything under the moon, laughing and joking. This is perfect. HE is perfect. How did he come up with the idea to do this? He's just amazing.
"So this isn't even the best part," Aiden turns to face me, but continues to walk backwards.
"What could get better than this?" I ask, my smile wider than my head I'm sure.
"Well, I have another surprise for you," he smirks at me and I want to kiss him.
We walk up to the elephant cage and I watch them in awe.
"Elephants are my favorite," I skip.
"Wow then I hit the jackpot," he chuckles.
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to ride of these elephants," he points at them.