Emily sat on one of the island chairs in the kitchen, eating Aiden's chocolate cereal. She couldn't believe that he actually wrote his name on the box. Thinking this would be sweet payback for the way he's been treating her, she smiled at him as he entered the room, munching on his cereal.
He looked at her smiling wickedly at him, then to the open cereal box next to her. His eyes narrowed and he stomped over, grabbing the box.
"Did you seriously eat my cereal?" he exclaimed.
"Yesh," she kept munching.
"I wrote my name on it when I found out you were staying. I had a sick feeling that you would do this."
"Sorry," she smiled, totally not sorry.
"You owe me a new box."
"I don't owe you anything."
He leaned down to look her in the eye. He grabbed her spoon, scooped up some cereal, and took a bite. Setting the spoon back into the bowl, he swished it around in the milk before letting it hit the ceramic bowl. She looked up at him with disgust.
"Enjoy."
"How dare you! You got your nasty saliva in my food!"
"Correction: my hunky saliva is in your food."
She stared at him with a look of confused annoyance.
"I don't think hunky is the right word to call your saliva."
"Oh, baby, I think it is. Plenty of women crave my saliva," he declared exaggeratedly.
"Yeah, right."
"You've seen the business cards in my nightstand."
"Yes I have, but I'm beginning to think you just keep them there for your self-esteem."
He scoffed.
"No, and if you need proof, I can show you all the numbers on my phone."
Her next words were spoken in a whisper.
"Are you sure those are real numbers?"
He narrowed his eyes, yet again, at her.
"Yes-"
He was cut off by his brother entering the kitchen, a towel hanging over his shoulders. Emily directed her gaze to Axel. He was walking towards her, shirtless, water dripping from his hair and onto his chest. He smirked when he saw her eyes graze his body.
"Good morning, babe."
He stopped in front of her and lifted his hand to cup the side of her face. She leaned into it, her eyes closing slightly.
"Good morning," she replied softly.
He leaned down and kissed the corner of her mouth. She sighed and looked up at him with loving eyes.
"Last night was amazing," he whispered, loud enough for Aiden to hear.
Aiden stood to the side of them, frowning unpleasantly.
"It was," she whispered back dreamily.
"Yeah, right. You guys did squat last night. I didn't hear anything," Aiden interrupted.
"Oh, and you were listening?" Emily asked, sarcasm dripping from her words.
"No, I was too busy actually having sex."
"You had Penelope over last night?"
"Again, no. Ask your girlfriend, since she thought it was better to come into my room last night than be with you."
Axel looked at Emily.
"Is that true? Did you go into his room?"
"Yes. I mean, it's not what it sounds like-"
"Enough," Axel stopped her. "Let's just... go to school. We'll talk about this later."
Axel left the room, mumbling something about needing to change. Emily turned and glared at Aiden.
"Why did you do that?!" she yelled.
"Do what? You're the one having trouble with your boyfriend, don't drag me into this."
He smirked as he watched her grow more infuriated.
"You dragged yourself into this! You made it sound like..." She paused to whisper, "like I slept with you last night."
"Well you did lay on my bed. Should I tell him that?"
He made a move to walk away. Emily got up quickly and grabbed his strong bicep with both arms.
"No! Don't you dare do that."
He planted his classic smirk back on his face and started walking toward her. She let go of his arm and backed away until she hit the granite. He placed his hands on either side of her and leaned against her, trapping her.
"Looks like I hold all the cards now."
"What do you want?" she spit out, eyes narrowed.
"You know, I'm starting to like you in this position. Getting comfortable?"
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning her upper body away from him and accidentally pushing her lower body further into him. He smirked.
"Are you... hard?" she asked, gulping as she felt how large he was pressed up against her.
"Nope," he replied, his smirk growing.
She paused in wonderment. Clearing her dirty mind, she tried speaking to him in a civilized manner again.
"What do you want?" she repeated.
"Break up with Axel."
Her eyes widened, mouth opening slightly. Aiden's eyes darkened, looking at her parted lips.
"Close your mouth, baby, or I might have to close it for you," he murmured huskily.
"W-why do you want me to break up with Axel?"
He hated seeing his brother's name escape her delicate lips. He lifted one hand and pressed the top of his fingers against the bottom of her chin, closing her mouth. He left his fingers there.
"I don't want to see you getting hurt," he gazed into her soft brown eyes, letting go of her chin and placing his hand back on the counter.
"Axel would never hurt me."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that."
She huffed in annoyance.
"And what makes you think that he would hurt me?"
He frowned.
"Because, unlike you, I don't see him through your love-goggles."
She gasped, outraged.
"I see him just fine. And he happens to be a great guy. I think you can't stand him being better than you."
She pressed her index finger against his chest. He lifted his hand and pressed his palm on her finger, trapping it.
"Not true at all. I'm the better brother. I even have his girlfriend," he exclaimed, letting out a short, humorless laugh.
"You do not have me!"
She splayed her hand on his chest, trying to push him away. He smiled.
"I wasn't talking about you. I meant Penelope."
She faltered.
"Oh..."
"Yeah, oh."
"Well... anyways, I'm not breaking up with your brother."
"Suit yourself. Don't come crying to me after you realize what a jackass he is."
"He is not a... a..."
"A jackass. God, you're so pure. And yes, he is."
"How so?"
"First of all, he's using you to make Penelope jealous."
"H-he is not. What makes you think that?"
"Oh, come on, it's so obvious. You can't fool me."
"Oh, right. Can't fool Mr. High and Mighty! Well maybe you're wrong."
"Maybe, but I highly doubt it. It's written all over your face. You're like a puppy pleading for her master's love."
"Okay, I admit, I used to be like that. But now the feeling's mutual."
"Sure it is. May I continue?"
"You can try."
"Secondly, he totally let you do him at the party. Any gentleman would stop you from doing something so stupid, especially when you were drunk off your ass."
"Oh, like you were the gentleman telling me to break it off with him," she sarcastically remarked.
"Exactly, now you're thinking like me. Also, I know you just banged him to blow off steam from our little chat. Tell me, did you think of me while you were slapping parts with my brother?"
She gasped.
"You have such a foul mouth!"
"Comes from years of talking dirty to girls during sex."
"That's nice," she replied with a straight face.
"That's what all the girls say, followed by 'yeah, right there, harder,'" he mimicked a girl's voice for the last part.
"Surprised they weren't more enthusiastic."
"Maybe you can show me how you think they'd sound tonight. But you better book your reservation fast, cause when we get to school, my plate will be full."
"Oh really? Then what will you need me for? You've surely got enough candidates lining up to show you how it's done."
"I'm always up to try out newbies."
He leaned his face in closer to hers. Her eyes widened. Not wanting to become his fresh meat, she used both hands to push him away. He stumbled back a bit, and she took the opportunity to slide past him.
"I'm going to talk to Axel today and straighten this whole mess you made out."
"Whatever," he grumbled, unhappy that he got rejected.
The kitchen door swung open and in walked Axel. Finally, thought Emily.
"Okay, I'm ready now. Let's go."
He grabbed his backpack from one of the kitchen chairs. Emily watched as Aiden snatched the keys off the counter.
"Penelope asked me to pick her up, so we're stopping at her house along the way," Aiden said.
"Wait, he's driving us?" Emily asked Axel incredulously.
"Yes, I am," called out Aiden.
"Oh, come on!"