ALL THE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND

Chapter 44

Twisting my fingers, spiraling my hair, flipping from my back to my stomach, contorting my legs, wiggling my toes- all in the search of giving my mind the sleep it so desperately needed, yet avidly refused.

The seven of us- me, Dylan, Marc, Zain, Dylan, my mom and dad- all ended up playing monopoly in the drawing room downstairs after the guests had left.
We played nonstop till 3 in the morning, after which my parents gave up and went to bed, leaving the 5 of us to fight for the win. By 4:30ish, Marc went bankrupt and called it a night, after which Zain grew tired as well and left all his properties in Lauren's name-who played to the death. That's when the game got spicy though, because Dylan and I teamed up, pulled out a few tactics and successfully defeated Lauren- who was a good sport about the whole thing, if you ignore the tongue roll she gave us.
After our little shenanigan, we cleared up the lounge, put the game back, and each headed to our separate rooms. Lauren and Zain took Lauren's room, I slept in my own bedroom, while Dylan took rest in the guest room downstairs. He was also given one of Marc's shirts- courtesy of Lauren- and without realizing it, we had all crashed- except, that's what I thought.
'Hi sleepy.'
I received a text from Dylan, and instantly jumped out of bed, loathing how that one notification could make me feel- so much for self-restraint, huh?
'Why are you still awake?'
My needy fingers hammered the letters on the keyboard, as the screen indicated that he was playing a melody on the keys as well.
'I could ask you the same thing'- he texted. 'Hope it isn't too weird, by the way- me staying over.'
My lips pouted, as I contemplated on what the right response to that would be.
'Why would it be weird? We called a truce.'
'Just making sure.'
He said, as I paused before uttering something I knew I'd regret.
'Can I call you?'
I went against my will, as the letter's stopped appearing on the screen, and he went offline.
Crap!
I muttered under my breath, as I realized I may be the indecisive one. Why did I do that? The angst began to suck out the boldness from my mind like a leech on the epidermis, but just in that moment, my phone buzzed as his name appeared on the screen, sending me into a momentary relapse, as I pressed accept.
"Hi."
I caught myself grinning like a clown, as he chuckled on the other end.
"Hey. I'm not sure staying up all night when you have a flight to catch the next day is such a good idea."
He allocated concern, making me roll my eyes.
"If you're worried about me missing my flight. Don't worry, I have a sweeping clean record of never having done that."
"Mhm, overconfidence is the key to destruction."
He retorted, as I squirmed but tried to keep a steady tone- I was glad he wasn't in the same room as me. There was too much smiling on my face, and if he was here, he'd have gotten the wrong impression. Though, I wasn't sure anymore if it was really him that would have to be put on self-restraint. It was me.
"It isn't so much overconfidence as it is stating facts." I ignored the rush that had begun to swirl upwards, from my feet to my head as my body fell into a complete trance of his words- I told myself that it was nothing more than a hormonal feeling, though. It had to be. It just couldn't be anything more.
"Whatever you say." He fell silent for a moment, as the only thing cutting through the air was our breaths, breathing heavily. I didn't like the silence at all. It was filling my head with the most coitus of thoughts, so I broke it.
"What happened in London, by the way? After I left?" I bit my tongue for even asking that, but I knew I had to divert my attention away from the lustful imagery that had spiraled in my mind.
"You mean with Tyler?" He asked, as I mimed a confirmation.
"We won the case. Meghan is really something."
I wasn't sure why but that stung me, and had we been face to face, he would have realized that, but again, I was glad that wasn't the case and I didn't interrupt as he went on.
"You should have seen his face when the judge dismissed the entire thing. It was not pretty. But it was a close call for me as well. I got off with a warning, that this was the last time something I did would be kept off record."He sounded cautious, but I still offered my two cents on the matter.