His three rules

Chapter 16

His room looked bigger than I remembered it. Everything seemed exactly as it was when I first saw it. Everything is still in its exact spot but yet without a speck of dust.

"Pick your jaw up from the floor, it's not an attractive look," Dante said breaking my focus as I turned to look at him seeing him place his jacket on a hanger.

I never took him as such a neat person.

"Here's how this is going to work." He started while folding his arms across his chest.

"More rules?" I asked in disbelief sounding almost like a brooding teenager.

"My rules, remember?" Dante reminded me as I sighed and withheld myself from rolling my eyes. "Rule number 1a, you don't come in the bathroom when I am in the bathroom. Rule number 1b, you don't look at me while I dress or undress. Rule number 1c, you're not in here when I'm not in here. Got it ?"

"Does any of those rules apply to you?" I asked in shock while I watched him move closer to me and look me up and down sending a cold shiver down my spine. I had no idea what he was thinking right now or what he was going to do. I instantly wished I could take back asking that question but I also knew I didn't regret it either.

"Don't flatter yourself." He said with squinted eyes before walking to the bathroom as I heard the shower start.

I sat on his bed feeling how soft yet firm the mattress was. The covers felt delicate under my touch almost expensive as I traced my fingers over the pattern. I mindlessly lay down as I stared at the ceiling feeling how my head felt as if it melted into the soft pillow. A strong whiff of what I can only assume to be Dante's cologne wafted through the air as I turned on my side starting to smell his scent on the pillow almost inadvertently. That is before the sound of him clearing his throat sends me jolting upwards and standing next to the window.

"Excuse you." He said harshly as he gripped the pillow between his fists and threw it on the couch. "You're strange. Do you know that?" He asked rhetorically with a harsh tone of voice underlying his words.

"I'm sorry. I was just-"

"Don't make me regret this on day 1 Sophia. " He said sounding serious as I only nodded my head and started walking towards the bathroom.

While I was trying to shower, the whole thing replayed in my head over and over making me feel even more embarrassed. Dante was right, that was a weird thing to do. No one sane inhales another person's pillow like a person would a cigarette. I decided that if I had any chance of surviving these next two weeks in his space, I was going to have to put that behind me and just forget that he was even in the same room.

Walking out of the bathroom I dried my hair with the towel as I flipped my hair backwards I walked face-first into Dante's very chiselled body as I watched him do pull-ups. Letting go of the pull-up bar, I see Dante grab the same towel I had just used as he stood in front of me asking:

"Enjoying the show?"

I didn't know whether or not he meant it humorously, sarcastically or just stand-offish. So, instead of replying like a normal person would've, I just stood there looking like a gaping fish.

"Oh for goodness sake Sophia, calm yourself." I heard Dante's voice switch to annoyance as I watched him pull his shirt back on. "I need a drink, don't wait up."