and it was perfect

Chapter 14

For the next two days, the heat started growing inside of me. His shirtless chest on the sofa in the morning, his knowing grin every time he saw me checking him out, and his eyes that followed me whenever I was in the same room drove me insane. He no longer ignored me at the gym but walked in when he saw me hitting the punching bag. Without a word, he grabbed it with both hands and followed my movements. "Stop staring at me." I squeezed out. Feeling his gaze on my gym bra and biker shorts certainly didn't make me improve my technique. "I'm just here to correct you, if necessary, but I like where your thoughts are going." He gave me a smirky grin, and I turned red. "Hold on." he said, and I stopped moving. He grabbed my arm to lift up my elbow. "A little higher; otherwise, your neck will hurt." he quietly corrected me. His fingers slowly brushed my skin, and I forgot how to breathe.

It was just a tiny movement. Get your act together, Jenna, I warned myself but suddenly understood what people in my books were talking about. It didn't have to be dirty; a simple gesture was sometimes enough to turn you on. I turned towards him. I wanted to see if I had the same effect on him, so I moved my hand and put it on his chest. Thank God I didn't wear his gloves anymore but only bandages, otherwise, that would've been super awkward, I realized, and it made me laugh internally.

But when I looked up into his bright blue eyes, it immediately stopped. Shivers flew up my spine. The look he gave me was better, so much better than I ever could've imagined in my wet dreams about him. It was pure ... lust. My hand twitched a little bit as I continued stroking his chest. "I think I made up my mind." My voice was raspy. His eyes turned darker, and he opened his mouth to answer when suddenly the door opened. Both of us immediately jumped back. Aiden quickly grabbed the thick leather again, and I started to punch. A second later, Zack came in and asked me if I was ready to leave. I quickly said yes and grabbed my stuff without looking back at Aiden. I didn't know what would've happened if we hadn't been interrupted, and I forbid myself to go there.

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I couldn't help it. All I could think about for the next few days was how and when it would happen. I knew it would be way too weird, at least for me, to just sneak over into his room and undress. I had a feeling I had to be drunk, so I wouldn't be too nervous. But, of course, this week Aiden had an internship in Oklahoma City and had to leave so early that we couldn't even run together. I only saw him once without any of my roommates around. When I returned from a library session with Sadie and Alice, he and the guys were heading out for a late basketball session. As always, I tried not to turn red and act unbothered when our eyes crossed while my inside stood on fire. It was only a brief moment, the others had already left, and he was about to follow them out the door when he turned around for a second and stopped me from walking upstairs.

"Jen." I turned around, hoping my knees wouldn't give in when his blue eyes darted inside me. "What's up?" I gave back as casually as possible. "Just let me get through this week, alright?" He leaned against the half-opened door. I knew what he meant; of course, I did. Oh, God. Hopefully, he couldn't see the heat rushing through my cheeks. But over the last weeks it had gotten much easier to shoot back at him, I wasn't as intimidated anymore. "Could you not make it sound like you were just changing my tires or something?" I grinned. He grinned back and raised a brow. "Oh, I'm great at that, too." It was so arrogant, and I loved it. "Proof it." I gave back and made him laugh. My heart raced like crazy when I went upstairs and he left the house. How was I supposed to survive that week?

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More than once, Mr. Palmer violently brought me back to reality the next day and humiliated me by asking questions I couldn't answer. He knew I hadn't paid attention and certainly enjoyed watching me stutter and squirm. "He's such an asshole!" Alice complained after we finally got through his two-hour torture of a lecture. I sighed and nodded. I couldn't agree more. I was so embarrassed. "You know what ... we should go out, just us three girls. Duke will barkeep at that club tonight and can get us in for free." She gave me a hopeful smile. I grinned. Duke was the frat guy she had been texting with for a while now. Of course, I would help her. "How generous of him. So, you need some company to not make it so obvious?" She turned red, and I laughed. "It's all good. Of course, I'll come with you. I'll text Zoe." She squealed and hugged me from the side. "You're the best. I'm so nervous." Zoe's answer came within seconds. Of course, she was in. Our evening plans actually came in quite handy; it would be great to get my mind off Aiden and not tossing around in bed all night thinking about him.