An Arrow To The Chest

Chapter 18

He chews at his lip as he takes a moment to think, and if all he gives is a one-sentence reply I swear I'm going to flip my shit. 

"Okay so, she’s not an ex-girlfriend. I wasn't lying when I said I don't date, she's just a bit clingy," he starts, which sounds like a mixture of him leading her on, and her getting the wrong idea. It didn't answer a single one of my questions, but it was a start. 

"Okay." 

"On moving in day, I was in a pretty shit mood, hence the whole ignoring you ordeal. And after a summer away from her, I guess I forgot what she’s like and made the mistake of inviting her over."

This is probably the most amount of words I've heard him string together in one go. Furthermore, I knew he had ignored me on purpose, and this was him confirming it! 

"After she saw you in the kitchen, she made a comment, and so I said we slept together to piss her off and get rid of her. It worked. She got really mad, as you probably remember. " 

"What did she make a comment about?" 

I think back to anything I could have possibly said, yet nothing comes to mind. 

"Back when I was sleeping with her, I may have been sleeping with a Roommate at the same time. Let's just say things turned ugly quick. I guess you have a similar vibe, which she picked up on, and got triggered." 

"Did you not think id find out? That you were making up that we slept together?" 

He snorts, his eyes finally tearing away from me, and instead looking at the window in front. I let my eyes fall to his lips, a grin spread across them, and for the first time, I notice a dimple form against his cheek. Some weird impulsion is telling me to stick my finger in it, but I restrain, knowing that it would be totally inappropriate. 

"I didn't exactly expect to be picking you up from her house, did I? Plus, what's so embarrassing about people thinking we've slept together? A lot of girls try really hard to get my clothes off you know," he turns his head back, and I notice a twinkle behind his eyes. 

Well, there's a very good reason as to why I don’t want the rumor to spread, and that reason is Jackson. This is probably also the moment I should mention him, not that I think Arrows hitting on me. Wait, is he hitting on me? 

"Have you seen yourself, of course it's embarrassing," I say, opting to tease him rather than bring up my boyfriend and make the atmosphere between us become tense again. Or was it because I just didn't want to mention him? 

I lightly shove his chest with my hand whilst giggling, then my breath hitches because he leans in. And he's so close that I can smell his aftershave, and his eyes are still sparkling, and I think he's looking at my lips. 

His hand slowly comes up to my face and tucks a lock of my hair behind my ear, then two fingers gently trace the skin from my ear, against my jawline, to the tip of my chin. If he applies even a little bit of pressure then my face will tip forward, and my lips will be against his. Is that what I want? 

"Is that so?" his voice is merely a whisper, and I can feel the air he breaths on my face. 

I lean back to put some space between our almost touching noses, using the door as an uncomfortable backrest. Yet, without thinking, I also move my arm behind my back to try to find the handle, deciding this would be the perfect time to leg it out of here before I do something I regret. As the door opens, logic catches up to me, but it's already too late. 

I jolt back, half tumbling half sliding out the seat, a little scream coming out my mouth as I fall out the passenger side and onto the gravely car park ground. Nows a good time to be thankful I'm wearing jeans instead of a skirt, and luckily I manage to minimize the impact by grabbing onto the sides.

My butt cushions my fall, but I know there's gonna be a bruise when I check in the morning. The bruise to my ego is what I'm concerned about right now, and I see Arrows head pop up, leaning all the way over from where he's still buckled in. 

"Are you okay?" he says, concern on his face, and I let out a groan that's a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. I am never going to live this down.

"We are going to pretend that never happened," I say slowly, covering my face with my hands, and that's when he starts laughing. It erupts out of him, an uncontrollable and contagious laugh that makes me peep through my fingers and laugh at the situation myself. I know he's laughing at me and not with me, but right now it doesn't seem to matter. 

He gets out of the car and walks towards me, still laughing, extending out a hand to help lift me back on my feet. I know I don't actually need his help, more than capable of standing up alone, yet I still take his extended palm and use his strength to hoist myself back up. He's surprisingly sturdy. 

"Well this is embarrassing'" I say while dusting off the tiny gravel stones that have stuck to my clothes. 

"Tonight's not your night, is it?" 

"No Arrow, not at all. Can we just go back? I need this day to be over, and to never be reminded of it again." 

"Sure." 

We walk in silence, which feels weird after everything that's happened in the last few hours. There’s absolutely no way Arrow could just return back to his cold and aloof self now, yet some part of me is worried that tomorrow morning he’ll wake up and go back to treating me like a burden.

Things are surely different now?

“Goodnight Eloise,” is all he says when we reach our accommodation, and he closes the door quickly before I can even attempt to make conversation.