Scout: Devil's Rose #11

Chapter 10: Violet Monroe

When I come out of the bathroom, I can hear Harper's animated voice practically echoing through our apartment.

Fuck. The chaos has begun.

I change into my comfy clothes, shorts and a hoodie, before stepping out into our living room. Harper and Major are talking about Italy for some unknown reason.

Harper, of course, has a glass of red wine in her hand and Major has a beer. I have no idea where he got that because we definitely don't keep beer in our place. I go into the kitchen to see that there's food on the stove.

When I say that, it is to extra large pizzas, but still, I usually have to make or get my own food. I'm about to turn around and say something to Harper, but I'm dragged into her bedroom by her, a beaming smile on her face.

"I love this guy, Vi. He got us pizza. We've already eaten one. And there's a vegan one just for you. I'm obsessed with him. If it doesn't work out between you two, can I have him?"

"Oh my god, Jesus. I just met this guy," I point out.

"I'm just saying. No guy that either of us has ever brought over and gotten us food and actually wanted to hang out. He is asking me questions about my life."

"Bare minimum."

"Not for a hookup. He could be naked in your bedroom right now, and instead, he buys us pizza and wants to talk to me about my travels to Italy for my Ph.D. I'm sorry, what?" she says, stunned.

"I'm glad you like him," I shrug, "cause I'm hoping he can stay around."

"He can stay for as long as he likes, Vi. I'm not kidding."

I chuckle as she wraps me up in a tight hug, smiles happily at me, and then skips into the living room to hang out with Major again.

I overhear part of their conversation as I get a couple of slices of pizza, but I'm not in the mood to talk, which they both understand, and I bury myself in my sheets like I had wanted to for the past ten hours.

I put on Only Murders in the Building which is my favorite easy show to watch before I hear the laughter in the living room die down. I pause my show as I hear Major's footsteps get closer to the bedroom door.

I raise the sheets a little higher on myself, knowing that I tossed my bra off about three seconds after I got into bed. And I peer at it laying on the floor and curse myself for not thinking.

I'm sure Major has seen many bras on a bedroom floor, but that was for other reasons.

We haven't even discussed where he's going to be sleeping. I don't have the energy for this right now. I'll just pretend I'm asleep, but as soon as I make that decision, he swings open the door. He sends me a soft grin, and I feel the blush creep up to my cheeks.

"You good?" he asks nonchalantly, stepping inside the room and closing the door behind him.

"Yeah, I was just tired."

"It's been a big day."

"You can say that again, Major. Harper seemed to like you."

"We got along, yeah. I like her a lot."

"When this is all over, maybe she'll want to go out with you," I stammer.

"Not like that, sugar," Major breathes out with a grin, "she's nice, that's all I'm saying."

"She's not your type?"

"She's smart and funny and gorgeous, I think that's everyone's type, but I'm not attracted to her if that's what you're asking. And if you wanna know my type, this is not the time for that conversation."

He places his dirty socks in a corner of my bedroom.

"You can put those in my hamper. All your dirty clothes. It's in my closet."

"Are you sure?" his forehead scrunches, "this is your space."

"It's okay. I promise," I assure him, and it seems to calm him slightly.

He grabs a change of clothes from one of his suitcases that he hid in my closet because he doesn't want Harper to find them. I can only imagine the conversation she would have with me if she found out I let my "hookup" bring a bunch of his shit into our space.

I think she would have a heart attack, need about four glasses of wine, and then give me a full-on intervention. As much as it would be easier to tell her about Kai, there is one main reason I don't want to.

It doesn't even have to do with how she's going to look at me or how she'll look at herself for making a shit decision about her boyfriend. We could get through that.

It's the fact that she would tell Clara, because the three of us don't have secrets (exception being this whole entire situation), and then Clara could possibly be in danger.

That just causes so much more shit to happen. I would rather not have to feel like I put my best friends in danger, find the guy, and then tell them the truth.

Even if it's crazy at this moment, I think if I said anything it would be more complicated.

Major steps out of my bathroom with a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt on. I take a quick glance at him, subconsciously checking him out, and then I swiftly move my eyes back to the TV screen.

"Before you go back to watching your show, I have a quick question," he asks me gently.

"It's going to be about sleeping arrangements isn't it?"

"I know it's one more thing to think about, and we don't really need that, but I need to know where I'm going to sleep."

"Because I don't have the energy to even deal, just get in my bed," I conclude, sliding over.

"Whoa, I'm not trying to-"

"And that's why it's okay, Major. We'll come up with something tomorrow, but if you're comfortable with it, I'm good. I just can't make any more decisions today."

He pulls back the covers on the other side of my bed, getting into them and adjusting as he gets comfortable. I rub my eyes, feeling the sleepiness take over, and I push the power button on the TV remote so it turns off.

I close my eyes, feeling the heat of Major's body next to mine.

I haven't felt that from someone in a while. Drunk Clara and Harper don't count. It's odd yet extremely nice to feel the heat of a man next to me. It's different than anything else I've felt in a long time, especially with Major.

I feel him shift next to me, once again, and I can feel my heart rate pick up. It's like my body reacts to his. I've never felt that with anyone before.

I've had a couple of boyfriends before, but no one was ever serious or long-term. With how my childhood was, it was hard to keep boyfriends around for too long, and I can't blame them.

After a while, I couldn't even stick around, which is of course, how I ended up in Westmoor in the first place. The spotlight at such a young age for two people trying to get to know each other. I mean, every boyfriend I had was someone from high school.

We were just kids, and all of a sudden, tabloids would be talking about our relationship. I've gone out on a few dates since I left Los Angeles but not with anyone I would want to spend more than a night with.

Here though, this is so incredibly different from anything else I've felt in my life.

I don't even know how to respond to it. I just don't want to let this feeling go. The two of us have gotten so close so fast, partly due to the situation in which we've met, but outside of that, I think I would still feel the same way.

I mean, we haven't talked about Kai since our conversation about seven hours ago besides the brief photo thing. That's got to mean something.