hello. hope you guys enjoy this update. i now have to study for my psych exam tomorrow.
When I wake up the following morning, I'm not surprised to find that Asa isn't home. I take it upon myself to go retrieve my car from its spot at my dorm. Once I'm on the road again, I stop at FoodMart, which reminds me to call Maya at a time that lines up. I make sure to pick up granola bars, among other things. Once I complete a couple other errands, I head back to the apartment and settle in more.
I feel a little pathetic for watching the time as hard as I do but I saw Asa for less than an hour and a half last night, most of which he was driving and the rest was him putting my stuff down and hugging me. Admitted, the affection was appreciated but I want to actually sit and talk with him. I wish I'd have had an inkling that I'd be coming back; I'd have tried to pick up shifts at the library to give me something to do.
When it hits 4:30, I start making dinner. He didn't ask me to but I know he's going to be hungry and I am, too. Plus, it gives me something to do and makes me feel less guilty about living in his apartment for a few days. The meal finishes a few minutes before he arrives and I feel like a puppy when I hear the door open and close. He hasn't even reached the kitchen when I hear his excited question: "you cooked?"
"Yeah," I confirm and he grins widely at the assortment of food on the table. "I also went and got you granola bars."
"Just let me change and then we can eat," he calls as he starts his usual strip-walk to his room. I roll my eyes and start making myself a plate. He wastes no time in switching into comfortable clothes and I watch as he crosses the kitchen in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. With a smile as full as his plate, he takes the seat across from me and practically dances around. "You don't understand how hungry I am."
"I cooked because I thought you'd be hungry," I confess with a shrug. "And you're probably exhausted."
"I could definitely go for a nap...but I'm not going to," he concludes as he takes a bite of garlic bread. His eyes close in delight and chomps away.
"Why not?" I rebut. Is he going out again?
"You don't want to hang out?" he questions with raised brows. It catches me off guard a bit. I spent all day wondering what we were going to do these next couple of days. Are we acting as separate entities and doing things on our own? Or are we going to spend time together?
"I mean, I could just take a nap, too," I propose before raising my glass of water to my mouth. "I could always sleep."
"Okay," he concludes with a large grin. I watch him take in another bite of his food. Our conversation drifts from how his day was to the last time each of us talked to Maya to the current state of our grades. Once we finish our meals, he washes the dishes and then starts in the direction of his room. I wander over to the sofa but he calls after me. "Are you not going to nap?"
"I am," I confirm as I lightly kick the couch.
"Oh..." he mutters and I raise both of my eyebrows, which prompts him to talk. "I just figured you'd want to sleep in a bed."
"Oh...well...I definitely wouldn't mind," I mumble as I robotically turn and trail behind him, trying my best to hide how excited I am. The second I step foot into the room, I leap into his bed and settle in right in the middle. With a quick tug, I submerge myself in his thick blankets.
He crawls up the bed and collapses directly beside me with a wide grin stretched across his face. I flip onto my stomach and prop my head on his chest, which gets a deep chuckle from him. His abdomen vibrates with laughter as I pull the blanket over us and sigh into his shirt. The scent of him is overwhelming in the best way possible. As if answering my silent request, his free hand comes up and starts massaging my scalp.
"You know, you seem pretty comfortable when this is supposed to be my nap," he comments. "I don't even sleep on my back."
"Now you do," I mumble as I rub light circles against the portion of his abdomen that is visible from his shirt riding up. It doesn't take long before I doze off.
I wake up before him, completely unmoved and undisturbed. In fact, his hand is still buried in my hair when I raise my head to look at him. I've never seen him sleeping up close like this. My eyes examine his resting face, which is relaxed and not placed in his naturally annoyed look. He can't see the sleepy smile on my face but it's there anyway. To refrain from kissing him, I curl my lips in my mouth a bit. That'd be a bad way to wake him up. Instead, I trace his face lightly with my finger. I start out at his eyebrows before trailing my way down to his nose, which he wrinkles lightly at my touch. His eyes twitch when I trace the outline of his mouth and then hurriedly move on to his jawline and then down his throat.
"Are you done?" he exhales when I come to a slow stop at his collarbone.
"That depends on whether or not you're up," I reply as I watch him blink himself awake. A cheesy grin lines his lips as he stretches out tiredly.
"Well how far down were you planning on going?" he teases and my eyes widen as I quickly flip off of him and roll myself up in his blanket. He manages to catch me before I can roll off the bed and onto the floor. "It was a joke, Ivy."
"Shut up," I hiss as I feel my cheeks warming under his merry gaze. I decide to change the topic. "Why are you even here?"
"What?" He wears a look of confusion.
"Why didn't you go home for break?" I clarify and he raises and drops his shoulders.
"We don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Fuck Christopher Columbus," he explains and I nod in agreement. "Plus my family is just obnoxious."
"Oh, I can relate," I mutter before tilting my head. "But what do they do?"
"Well, you've met my brother," he acknowledges with a shake of his head. "My mom hovers...a lot. She was never like that when I was in high school so its new, but I think it's because she misses me and doesn't know what I'm doing half the time. My dad is just...a typical dad. He likes to make fun of me because by my age, he had at least ten girlfriends and was already a year into a relationship with my mom."
"Where'd he go wrong?" I wonder teasingly as I take a second to admire Asa, who allows his narrowed brown eyes to roll.
"I couldn't imagine getting with that many girls," he speaks indistinctly as he stares at the ceiling. Suddenly, a cocky smirk overtakes his face. "I mean, I know I'd be able to but I don't want to."
"Well...yeah," I decide to agree with a slow nod. He cranes his neck to face me and I find that he looks alarmed.
"You think I could?" he all but interrogates and I offer another nod as if it's obvious. "Why?"
I contemplate being honest and complimenting him before deciding against it. "Some girls are pretty desperate," I acknowledge with a shrug. He lets out a loud laugh while bouncing his head up and down dubiously.
"Yeah, it's totally not because I'm cute or anything, right?" he continues to play along.
"I mean, that may be it but I doubt it," I reply with a half frown. I continue to admire his features but put a dissatisfied look on my face. He watches me scan his face repeatedly before his brows tug together.
"Do you seriously not think I'm cute?" he blurts in a genuinely concerned tone.
"You want to be called cute?" I retort and he purses his lips.
"If it's by you then yeah," he confirms and I offer him a small smile.
"I guess you're cute," I shrug as I lick my lips.
"You guess?" he repeats in the same nervous tone.
"Yeah," I reply vaguely as I assess his face. "I wouldn't use the word cute, though."
"Which word would you use?" he continues to query and I raise and drop my shoulders again
"Attractive," I prefer. I'd say hot if it wouldn't make me sound like a teenage girl from a 90's movie. I watch as he lightly licks his lips and allows them to fall back into a large grin. In fact, it's such a large smile that his eyes close a little as he stares at me with his arms crossed behind his head. Hot, just like I said.
"What makes me attractive?" he milks with a flirtatious grin and I bow my head a bit in thought.
I smirk widely when I meet his gaze again. "Your tattoos." A bellowing laugh rips from him and he puts his hands on his face.
"Wow, thanks- something that I paid money to get put on my body is what makes me attractive," he acknowledges with a strong nod.
"The rest of you is nice, too," I reply. "You have nice hair. And your face is really nice. You're really smart, too, and funny, even though I hate to admit it."
Noting my brief pause, he waves his hand encouragingly. "Keep 'em coming," he insists.
"I also like the way you dress," I commend and he grins at me. "My turn." I place my hands under my chin and peer up at him. His eyes take in my face before he turns his attention back to the ceiling.
"You're not that gross," he comments dryly. My mouth drops open and I try to detangle myself from the blankets.
"Hold up, I just showered you in compliments and that's what you give me?" I ask as I flip to face him. "And it's not even a little compliment, like cute!"
"I wouldn't use the word 'cute.'" I scoff at him once I manage to get myself out of the blanket burrito. I cross my arms over my chest and attempt to regulate my ragged breathing. Cover wrestling takes a lot out of you.
"Yeah, 'not gross' is your preferred term," I acknowledge with a roll of my eyes.
With a small laugh, he shakes his head. "I was going to say beautiful," he comments and I turn to him with raised brows. "Or gorgeous. But 'not gross' encapsulates both of those words, in my humble opinion."
"You know, for the longest time I honestly didn't think you found me attractive. Sometimes, I still don't," I comment after a few seconds. All I get in return is a flat expression.
"I wouldn't have flirted with you if I didn't...or hugged you...or kissed you...or talked to you at all," he lists with a roll of his eyes.
"So let me get this straight...you only associate with me because of my looks?" I playfully press in hopes of squeezing more compliments out of him. He seems to catch on because he offers me a long blink.
"Pretty much. It's not like you're funny or understanding or anything," he concludes with half his mouth turned up into a smile. He pulls himself out of bed, twists his arms about above his head, and swiftly removes his shirt. He tosses the abandoned garb at my feet and I watch as he lightly rubs at his stomach . "I'm going to take a shower."
"Cool..." I utter as his hands drop down to his shorts. I immediately roll onto my stomach and bury my face in his pillows, which is apparently very amusing because he lets out a hearty chuckle. I listen as his bedroom door opens and closes. For a while, I scroll through my phone. I reply to my father's text, which asks if I'm seriously not coming back for Thanksgiving. I roll my eyes but try my best to type out a semi-respectful response. A few minutes later, I get an incoming FaceTime call from Aaliyah and I urgently answer it. How could I have forgotten to tell her about my new, temporary living arrangement?
"You just disappeared for nearly sixteen hours," she declares before squinting at the screen. "Where the hell are you?"
"Asa's room," I announce with a growing smirk. Her eyebrows rise in slight disbelief and I give a slow nod.
"Are you serious?" she asks, earning another nod in response. "What happened?"
"Well..." I trail as I dive into the story. She listens and nods as I give her an in depth telling of the events that led up to this scenario. Once I finish, she lowers her camera to reveal a devious grin on her lips.
"So...what I take from that is that you're alone with him until Sunday?" she summarizes with jumping brows. I nod and she gives me a mischievous look. "Interesting..."
"Yeah...we napped together," I explain as I snuggle up against his pillow.
"Just napped?" she ponders and I let out a laugh.
"Yes, Aaliyah, just napped," I confirm with an amused grin. "I wouldn't be opposed to, you know-." I'm abruptly cut off by the sound of his door opening and I immediately stop talking. A curious expression sits on his face as his gaze falls to my phone, as does mine to the dark blue briefs on his lower half.
"Who is that?" he questions when he hears Aaliyah laughing loudly at the fact that he just came in mid-sentence.
"Aaliyah," I answer while she attempts to stifle her laughter with her hand. It isn't effective because now it sounds like she's choking on her giggles. He offers me a slow nod and steps further into the room.
"Tell her I said hi," he comments and I watch as he walks over to his drawers and looks for clothes.
"Asa said 'hi' but I'm saying bye. I'll talk to you later," I blurt with my eyes now turned on my phone. She offers me a serious of suggestive winks, which I discreetly shake my head at before ending the call. Once I'm off the phone, I look up and find Asa pulling on a pair of sweatpants and staring at me with a gleeful beam. "What?"
"You hung up pretty fast," he acknowledges as he motions to my phone with his chin. "What were you talking about?"
"Nothing," I reply with a blank expression on my face. "But I have a question...more like a request."
"Yes?" he wonders as he prepares to put on his shirt. His hands are tucked away up to his wrist as he waits for me to make my plea. From the corner of my eyes, I see the small water droplets produced by his wet hair scattered along his shoulder blades and sharp collarbones.
"Can I touch your tattoos?" I ask and a slow grin takes over his face.
"You've wanted to do that for so long, huh?" he teases and I give an excited nod. I extend my arms and wiggle my fingers, which gets a defeated sigh from him. He takes a step towards me and disclaims, "they don't feel any different than my normal skin."
I shift myself up so I can actually reach and run my fingers along the black ink staining his shoulder. His eyes follow mine as I delight in his smooth, tan skin. I rest my palms against his chest and arm, which are surprisingly muscular, and feel his racing heartbeat. I allow my nails to lightly trace the lines back up to his collarbone and he startles me by reaching out and grabbing my wrist.
"That tickles," he hisses almost breathlessly. I giggle and return my fingers to his skin. Instead of using my nails, I rest my entire hand on his neck and he watches me with a distracted look on his face. I use my other hand to remove the shirt from his grip, tossing it onto the ground.
"Better?" I ask and he nods slowly. Nervously, I lightly guide him towards me and wait for him to catch on. Thankfully, he leans forward avidly and just as he's about to close the space between us, his phone rings noisily from its place on his dresser. He halts a few centimeters from my mouth and I struggle to tell whether he's going to ignore it or pick it up. Please just let it ring. Please just let it ring. With a loud sigh, he backs up and grabs it off the dresser.
"Even from across the world, she manages to interrupt," he mumbles as he answers the call. "Yes?" His voice is monotonous and slightly irritated. I smile as he places his hand at the waistband of his sweatpants, lightly pulling it and letting it thump back against his stomach.
He puts it on speaker as he retrieves his shirt from the floor. "Hi, Asa!" she greets him cheerfully. "Have you talked to Ivy at all? She hasn't replied since yesterday and I'm getting worried."
He looks to me and raises a brow, as if silently wondering if I want to tell her. When I don't speak, he does. "Yeah, I did," he informs her briefly. There's a second of silence before Maya heaves a loud sigh.
"And?" she urges for a response.
"She's here, sitting in my bed," he explains as he pulls on the black long-sleeve shirt.
Maya lets out a mocking laugh. "Ha-ha-ha, very funny Asa, you wish," she quips dryly before returning to her previous tone. "I'm serious. What if she's crying over Drew or something?"
He looks to me and I sigh noisily and inch closer to the phone, which he's now holding out for me. "Hi Maya," I greet her and she gasps.
"Ivy?" she all but screams in shock.
"Yes," This gets another surprised noise from her.
"Why didn't you guys tell me you were back?" she questions in the same cheery tone. "What have you guys been doing?"
Asa laughs as he retracts the phone and leans against the dresser. He slings his free arm over his stomach and uses the other to hold the phone a few inches from his face. "Just hanging out," he answers after a few seconds of chuckling. His lips are pulled back and bearing his bright, straight teeth and his eyes are locked with mine, effectively sending a series of shockwaves through my system.
"What was that laugh about Asa?" she wonders and he surprises me yet again by offering me another boyish chuckle.
"Nothing, Maya, you just have amazing timing," he clues her in and I feel a grin coming on as well. At least he's not trying to hide whatever is between us. I don't know what it is quite yet but I know it's something. I'm certain of it now.
"Again?! I'm sorry. I'll let you guys get back to it," Maya rambles nervously. "But stay safe you guys. Remember Asa, there are condoms in the bathroom in the top drawer-."
"Bye, Maya," Asa quickly ends the call and I let out a loud laugh.
"That's what you get for dropping hints," I respond and he makes it a point to turn off the ringer on his phone. "Oh, what are you doing that for?" I tilt my head teasingly and he laughs and extends his hands for me to take.
"Let's go eat," he encourages and I roll my eyes as I follow him to the kitchen. I don't bother mentioning the fact that we ate two hours ago. He opens the cabinet and I watch him reach for the granola bars.
"I also bought ice cream," I inform him as an afterthought and he stops mid-reach. He quickly closes the cabinet and opens the freezer, coming upon the two tubs I purchased. I couldn't decide so I got red velvet and cake batter.
He sighs in delight and nods. "I knew I kept you around for a reason," he mumbles as he decides on cake batter. I smile and watch him load up two bowls for the both of us.
+++
I wake up on Thursday morning in Asa's bed with his arms around my waist. We stayed up late last night watching movies and he didn't really give me the choice to sleep on the couch. When the last film of our marathon ended, he nudged my head off his chest and insisted that we go to sleep. Of course, I more than eagerly followed. And because today is Thanksgiving, he doesn't have work so he's here with me. I flip over and feel my chest fill up a bit with what I can only describe as satisfaction. I smile at his sleeping figure before reaching my arm out.
I lightly shove his shoulder and he shifts a little. "Asa," I whisper as I shove him again. He groans and rolls onto his back. I watch as he drags his hands down his face.
"Just because you're awake doesn't mean I have to be," he tells me, "that's not how this sleeping in the same bed thing works, Ivy."
"I just want to spend time with you," I mumble and he lets out a long sigh before sitting up.
"I hate you," he mumbles and I watch as he slithers out of bed. I join him and together, we start the day.
We spend most of our time talking and watching scary movies. We decide that our big Thanksgiving feast is going to be frozen pizza, ice cream, and soda. We talk a lot, which is still an adjustment. Asa is Asa and he's not a man of many words, so sometimes when he speaks, I have a hard time focusing on what he's saying because I'm so happy that he's actually communicating with me and allowing me to get to know him.
After our third movie, I turn to look at him. "Do you have to work tomorrow?" I question and he gives me a slow nod.
"But I don't work Saturday or Sunday," he reminds me when I let out a long groan. I roll my eyes as I stare up at him from my place in his lap, where I placed a few pillows and laid down. With a satisfied grin and head-tilt, he sighs and asks, "do you want me to call out tomorrow?"
"No, just go. I'll probably study all day, anyway," I confess with a shrug. It's not like I have much else to do. The campus doesn't reopen until Sunday so whenever Asa isn't here, I'm alone.
"Good, you need to," he mumbles teasingly and I scowl and make a motion to get up. He simply rolls his eyes and pulls me back onto his lap. I smile at the television and enjoy the feeling of his hands playing in my curls.
I want to kiss him. Would that be weird? I feel like it wouldn't considering how affectionate we've been these last few days. But I want to fall into it; I don't want to just force it upon him. After Friday's make-out session and the way we've been acting towards each other, I thought we'd be doing a lot more kissing by now. Especially after our almost kiss yesterday. Maybe the real thing wasn't as good to him as it was to me? Should I ask him what he thought of our kiss? No, that'd definitely be weird.
What if this is just how he's behaving now that we're alone? What happens when Maya comes back? Are we going to retreat to our respective corners like puppies and wait for her to leave again? He dropped hints to her yesterday but who knows what he'll do when she's physically here and can tease us? He's shy so I wouldn't put it past him to retract when she's back. Should I ask him about that, too? So that I know where we stand in a couple of days? I can probably ask without things getting too weird, but then again, the conversation of what we are might come up and I feel like if that discussion goes wrong, then this will be an awkward weekend.
"Are you sleeping in my bed tonight?" he cuts off my train of thought and I blink a few times.
"Do you want me to?" I retort with furrowed brows. Was I stupid for thinking that was the plan?
He scoffs noisily and starts to get up. "Come on," he insists.
"I'm not tired yet," I mumble as I try my best to remain on his lap. Maybe I can buy another hour with him.
"I was tired this morning when you forced me to wake up," he rebuts, "now you're going to go to bed with me."
"But I'm not tired," I groan again as he grabs my hands and attempts to tug me off the couch.
"You'll get tired," he retorts and my brows shoot up on my face. I attempt to repress the grin that's carving out along my face and he gives me a breathless chuckle. "Stop being a pervert."
I sigh and just give in, allowing him to guide me to his room. I get into bed and lay on my side, feeling him join me. His arm falls over my waist and he tugs me so that I'm pressed against him. I smile widely and tangle my fingers with his as I stare at the wall. "Goodnight," I mumble and he surprises me by leaving a light kiss on my neck.
"Night," he responds and I can practically hear the smile on his face as my voice catches in my throat. He lets out a deep chuckle as he tightens his grip around my palm.