If You Make a Deal With a Shadow...

Chapter 19

"You don't have to stay up, waiting by the phone. You don't have to ever feel like you're alone. Don't you ever say you're fed up, tired of love. Whatever you need, I got it, come with me."

- Come With Me by Sammie

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"Austin! You will not believe what I have to tell you!" Aubrey exclaimed after shutting down the laptop and closing it. He groaned when she pushed his door open rather rudely.

"Good God, woman! It's..." he peeked over at his digital clock beside him. "... four in the morning," he groaned again. "Whatever you could possibly have to say, I reckon you save it for later."

"I'm moving in with Payton," she let out, ignoring his threat.

Austin's eyes popped open and he shot upwards in his bed. "What?" he shrieked, his grogginess from earlier had officially disappeared.

Aubrey bit her lip and nodded her head nervously. "Yup, you heard right."

Aubrey figured Austin would to have a fit about her leaving him, but knowing Austin, his mind was elsewhere. She finally turned on his bedroom light. "That's not fair. He didn't invite me," he whined.

Aubrey rolled her eyes at his comment. "I'm gonna' be his head chef," she responded, ignoring him again. "And I doubt you would wanna' cook anything but his sweet piece of áss," she mocked.

Austin smirked. "And then eat him all up for myself. Who said you can't have your cake and eat it too? What were they talkin' 'bout?" he sang.

"Aus, you can't have your cake and eat it too," she declared before giggling. She was trying not to be too loud, which would result in waking Junior.

"Wanna' bet?" he asked and gave her a sinister look.

She smiled and shook her head at him. "But I haven't even told him a hard yes to moving in foreal, so—"

"Then what're you waiting for, hon?" Austin screeched. "If that was me I w—"

"If you're gonna' say something Rated-Z then don't even bother," Aubrey warned and he shut his mouth quickly, making her sigh in relief. She shook her head again with a smile.

"Well, can you at least go call him?" he rolled his neck, scolding her and that's when she realized the pink and green rollers in his head.

"Jesus, Austin. Okay. As long as you get it together," and with that she walked out of his room, laughing lowly. She decided earlier to not tell Austin about Payton's darker side. Even though the contract wasn't valid without the signatures, she felt it still wasn't her right to say anything. At least not yet. She still could barely wrap her head around it herself.

Aubrey dialed Payton's number on the house phone, but he didn't answer either times she called him. She eventually decided she was just going to call him when she woke up in a few hours because he should be up by then. She sighed before turning around to go back to her room. Before she closed the room door though, the phone rang. Aubrey quickly strutted over to it, taking it back off its hook.

"Hello?" she breathed, secretly praying it was him.

"Sorry, I was just finishing up some paperwork when you called. Why are you up this late?" he questioned, getting straight to the point.

"I was... umm... on the laptop doing some research," she spoke, blushing and he instantly knew what she was referring to.

"Well, were you heading to bed? It's too late for—"

"I'm grown, Payton," she whined like a three year-old.

"Never mind that... Did you just cut me off?" he asked and she got quiet. "Aubrey..." he warned.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked. "I didn't mean to, but I am old enough."

"I don't care. No later than two, at least for now."

She huffed a breath of irritation and rolled her eyes. "Fine," she relented before continuing. "But that's not what I called you about. I was calling you about the rules of me staying with you."

"Rules?" he wondered, eyebrow quirked. This should be interesting.

"Yes. Rules. Firstly, I just want to say that I did not sign your contract because... well, since I don't have a lawyer to go over it I just want to be sure. Plus, I don't know about some of that... stuff. We have A LOT to talk about..."

"I'm glad to hear that actually, because I would be kinda' worried if you would've signed it so soon. I want you to take your time. Seriously, Aubrey."

"Okay, well rule number one... I want to stay in school, Payton. I am so close to graduating and—"

"I would never make you give up schooling. I'm not a complete jerk. We talked about this when we first met," he recalled before smirking.

"Whatever," she laughed and rolled her eyes. She turned serious again after a paused moment and moved onto the next rule. "Also, I-I won't..." she blushed. "I won't do anything with you."

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"You know what I mean," she blushed even further, if that was possible.

"Séx?" he questioned knowingly, but she kept quiet. "Say it, Aubrey," he growled lowly.

"Payton..." she groaned, the blush now reaching her neck and chest.

"Say it," he commanded again, making her shiver. How the seductive side of him made her tingle was beyond her.

"S-Séx," she muttered before palming her face shyly like he was in front of her.

"Good girl," he chirped. His contract was definitely based off of coitus, but she probably dámn near rewrote the whole thing. Payton laughed at the thought.

"Umm..." she cleared her throat, changing the subject. "I want to be able to take Junior to school sometimes too. I want to be able to actually do things on my own, hence that I am very much my own person. I also would like to be able to go to church every Sunday. My last, but not least, rule; I will not follow all of your rules..."

"Wait, what the héll does that mean?" he sat back in his chair and laughed.

"Exactly how I s—"

"Yea, okay, Aubs. We'll see who's in charge," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Why—"

"Did you just roll your eyes, sweetheart?" Payton asked and Aubrey looked at the phone in disbelief. How could he have possibly known that?

"No," she said quickly and be only chuckled, shaking his head.

"I know when you're lying," Payton sang lightly and she groaned.

"Shut up. I have to pack," she spoke with the best voice she could muster.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, but I fully expect you to be at my house tomorrow morning. I'll email you the address," he said and she rolled her eyes again. Email? She scoffed.

"Okay," she quickly hung up. Here goes nothing...

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