For Crying Out Loud by J. Preston

9I Sleep Naked

They should announce the sequel to Groundhog Day and then just re-release the original.

- Jenny

Aiden

I see her as soon as she walks in, looking stunning in a black dress and, believe it or not, a pair of Converse. I get up from the armchair I was sitting in and walk towards her when I notice her hand in Carter’s. She looks up at him and he leans over and whispers something in her ear, making her big blue eyes even bigger from shock. Then they smile at each other, like they share some sort of a secret.

Something in me breaks. I can’t look at this shit. I am so fucking done with him, her, this stupid party. The music is blasting out of the speakers, fueling my rage. Someone cleverly decided to play Rage Against The Machine at the party. I turn around and make my way through sweaty bodies bouncing and screaming to the sound of Killing in the Name to the back garden and pick up a bottle of vodka on the way, taking a large swig as I step outside. The cool breeze hits my face, and I remember that I’m the designated driver tonight. Fuck! I throw the bottle, roaring for added effect, as far as I can, it shatters against a tree, breaking into million pieces, just like my heart did a minute ago.

I sit down on the steps and count to one hundred, taking a deep breath with every number. I’m overreacting, surely. She promised they are just friends, didn’t she? She did.

I sigh and get up, stretching my arms and legs, deciding to go for a walk. I sneak out through the back gate.

She looked incredible, her body wrapped in the tight black dress, the sheer material covering her cleavage making it that much sexier, her hair swept to one side exposing the side of her long neck… Just thinking about it makes my mouth water and my dick harden. I need to snap out of it. I walk for what seems like an hour, and by the time I’m back at the frat house, the back garden is filled with people rolling in the grass, drinking and making out.

“Hey baby.” A girl I vaguely recognise stops me with her hand on my chest. “Are you having fun?”

“Sure,” I reply and gently take her hand off my chest.

“I can make it sooo much more fun for you,” she purrs, leaning close to me. The smell of alcohol on her breath engulfs me. And when I look into her eyes, they’re glassy and unfocused.

“Not interested,” I say the truth. I’m not interested, haven’t been interested in anyone since the day Jenny arrived, all cute and feisty like a kitten. And all my feelings came rushing back. I push past the drunken girl and walk off towards the house, but I catch a familiar name in someone’s conversation, and I stop in my tracks to listen.

“Did you see the chick that’s with Carter tonight? I’d fuck her so hard she’d forget her own name,” a drunken guy states, and I clench my fists.

“Forget about her man,” another guy interjects, taking a large gulp from his red cup. “I’m pretty sure Logan wants to tap that.” They both chuckle, and I start shaking from rage.

“Isn’t he upstairs with that chick who wasn’t too keen?” the first one speaks again.

“She’s drunk enough to be keen now,” the second one replies as my blood boils. Who the fuck do they think they are? I tear inside the house, scanning through the crowd of drunken faces. I run into the kitchen, then the living room. Where the hell is she? Then I see her, walking up the stairs, where the ‘fuck rooms’ are, holding Carter’s hand and smiling at him.

I literally drop to my knees where I’m standing and bury my face in my hands. What the fuck happened for her to choose him, to go with him? Someone walks past me, kneeing me in the shoulder in the process. “Sorry, handsome,” a girl says, smiling down at me. “Need help?” she says, extending her hand to me. I take it and get up. She seems sober and I welcome the change.

“Thanks,” I mutter. “I’m Aide.”

“I know who you are, silly.” She laughs a throaty laugh, throwing her head back, her short blonde bob bouncing above her shoulders. “We met last year.”

“We did?” I rack my brain.

“Yes, silly. I’m Chloe.” I draw a blank.

“Oh, yeah, sure! I remember you. Chloe.” I decided it’s probably best to just go with it. “Thanks for helping me up. How have you been?”

“Good, thanks. Listen, have you seen Jason anywhere?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. I narrow my eyes. She could be just one of his groupies.

“No, sorry,” I say, noticing a girl running down the stairs, crying straight into the arms of her friend.

“Logan is a douchebag.” I hear the girl enveloping the crying girl in a hug say. “Thank God you came to your senses before anything happened.” My ears perk up.

“Aiden?” I focus back on Chloe.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “Got to go. It was nice seeing you again. Keep in touch.” I rush my words as I walk away from Chloe, then run up the stairs two at a time.

I open a few doors, catching couples screwing. None of them are Carter and Jenny, and I sigh in relief.

I open another door and step into a dimly lit room with two very familiar faces grinning up at me.

“Where is she?” I ask, shutting the door loudly behind me. Both Jason and Carter have chicks wrapped around them just begging to be fucked. Jenny is not in here, not with Carter, not in his lap. Thank God. I would have broken his face if she was, and that would have been hard to explain.

“Aiden, my man!” Carter says drunkenly, and I try to resist the urge to punch him. How could they just leave her alone? “Come join us.”

“No, thanks.” I turn to Jason. “Where is your sister, Jason?”

“She’s not with you? She wanted to leave, so I told her to find you for a ride. Oh wait, I remember, she’s taking a cab.” My blood boils at the stupidity of my two best friends, but I’m relieved that she is out of here and safely on her way home. I exhale loudly.

“Aiden, come sit with me!” a drunk girl in the corner exclaims excitedly. I ignore her.

“When did Jenny leave?” I ask Jason.

“Like a minute ago, I think. Maybe a bit longer…” he replies, and I resist the urge to shake him.

“Aideeeennn,” the girl in the corner whines.

I turn to her. “Not interested,” I say for the second time tonight and turn to the door. I still might have a chance of finding her and—I don’t know—just making sure that she gets home, okay? Pathetic.

I reach for the doorknob.

“Where are you going?” Carter asks from the floor. The girl on his lap is currently licking his face.

“Out,” I say, opening the door and heading into the dark hallway.

“… leaving,” I hear someone say. That voice… Jenny? “I was dropping off a friend of mine. You’re hurting my arm,” she continues. What. The. Fuck. Is someone hurting her? I start toward the voices.

“And you were going to go without giving me a kiss goodnight. Now, that’s not nice, is it?” a male voice says. My vision turns red. “Let’s have a little talk about manners,” he continues as I clench my fists and throw myself at the guy towering over Jenny.

“Hell no!” Jenny growls in her angry kitten voice, and as I fling the guy off of her. I am proud of the determination and the bravery and the fucking anger I hear in her voice. The bloke connects with a loud thump to the other wall, and I kick his body, not responsive, but I’m too enraged. I want to murder the fucker.

“What the fuck do you think you’re you doing?” I scream at him. Jenny is still in the place I left her; her eyes are huge and scared, and suddenly I don’t care about the lowlife on the floor. All I want is to take her to safety, hold her, make sure she’s okay.

I take her hand in mine. She visibly relaxes at the contact. Her hold on my hand is tight and warm. Her touch feels so fucking good I almost shiver. Instead, I say, “Let’s go home, Jenny.” She nods, her huge eyes not leaving my face as I guide her downstairs and into my jeep.

* * *

My knuckles are white as I clench the steering wheel. I’m trying hard to shake off the anger, but I can’t seem to calm down.

“You’re shaking,” Jenny says softly, touching my arm. Her warm touch grounds me just a smidge. “Are you angry with me?” Jesus, how could she think I am angry with her when she is the only thing I care about?

“It’s not you I’m angry with,” I say slowly.

“The muscle in your jaw is twitching. You’re angry at something,” she states as I park the Jeep in front of our house. I look at her and give the observant vixen a half smile.

“I’m angry at the shithead who tried to intimidate you. I was ready to murder him back there. God, if I hadn’t shown up on time…” I trail off, clenching my fists again.

“I would have been fine,” she juts her chin out proudly. “I can take care of myself.” My jaw drops. She is the most adorable, yet clueless, thing I’ve ever seen. “But thanks for your help, I guess,” she adds, barely audible as she slides out of the Jeep and starts for the house. Cheeky. I run after her. She can walk fast, I’ll give her that.

“Pardon me?” I say, raising my eyebrow when I catch up with her.

“Nothing,” she says, sticking her tongue out at me as she opens the front door. I’d give my left kidney for that tongue in my mouth.

“Nothing? Are you sure?”

“Yup, I’m sure.” She scoots to the living room, holding back laughter. I follow her before she ducks behind the couch.

“Oh, yeah?” I pounce at her, and we fall on the sofa. She squeals and starts pushing me off.

“Definitely!” she says, laughing. I grab her wrists and push them above her head, holding them there. Her mouth forms an ‘o’, and her eyes grow huge as I lean toward her. I’m tempted to kiss her, but now is not the right time. She swallows loudly, and I lick my lips. Lifting a corner of my mouth, I bring my free hand to the side of her body.

“You bastard!” she squeals as I tickle her. “Stop it! No! No!” she screams through laughter.

“What did you say earlier, then?”

“Aiden, stop it!”

“What was it?”

“Please!” She giggles uncontrollably.

“Say it.” I pause the tickling for a second. She’s breathing quickly, her chest heaving up and down, and for a brief second I wish we were in my bed. There goes my right kidney.

“Never,” she whispers, kicking her legs, but she misses and I resume the tickling torture.

“Say it!”

“N-no!”

“Jenny…” I growl. Her hair is scattered around her face like a halo. She is grinning and laughing, her eyes closed. Never have I ever seen anyone so beautiful in my entire life. Tears start streaming down her cheeks.

“Fine, fine!” she shouts through laughter.

“Say it.”

“Oh God, please stop, stop, stop!”

“Not until you say it.” I laugh.

“Thank you, okay? Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

I stop, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Now that wasn’t that hard, was it?” I say, leaning over her and kissing her on the forehead. She stills and relaxes only when I move away. I get up and pull her up to standing. “C’mon, kitten. Want to watch a movie or do you want to go to bed?” I say, praying for the former. She looks between the TV and the hallway leading to her bedroom, hesitating, then nods to herself.

“Movie,” she says. “Let me get changed first. Let’s have a pajama movie night.” She smiles up at me, and I can’t help myself.

“Oh, kitten…” I say, brushing a strand of hair off her face, anticipating her reaction. “I sleep naked.” Her face turns red, and I fight the urge to bite my lip. She looks so fucking innocent and…it’s all my fault. Fuck. I will work my ass off to make it better. “Don’t worry, I’ll make an exception tonight.” I wink at her and walk to my room.

As I strip to my boxer shorts, I briefly consider the fact that after tonight I will most likely have to live with the biggest case of blue balls known to mankind. I pull a pair of sweats and a t-shirt on, then sit on my bed preparing myself for two hours of sitting next to the hottest woman on earth. I’ll need a strategy.

Like a glass of water to spill on my crotch when shit gets too hard to cope with… Literally. Maybe I should just stuff a bag of ice cubes down my boxers? After deliberating for what feels like ages, I decide to just wing it and run for a cold shower if the situation gets out of hand.

I step outside of my room and go to the living room, stopping by the kitchen where Jenny is leaning on the kitchen counter, her face propped on her arms, arms on the worktop, nose inches from the microwave, watching the contents intently. I run my hand through my hair, trying not to think of her bum, which is currently sticking out in my direction, basically waving ‘hello’ and enticing me to come over and take a bite. Shit.

“Hey,” I say, my voice hoarser than it should be. Jenny jumps up with a squeak and turns to face me. She looks delicious in a white tank and tartan shorts. Her face is scrubbed clean, all traces of makeup gone.

“Damn it, Aiden! There are knives in here! Don’t scare me like that, you could end up with a shitty circumcision job!” she exclaims, throwing her hands up, exasperated.

“Kitten, all the knives are in the drawer next to where I’m standing.” I laugh.

“I’m fast! Like a ninja.” She narrows her eyes at me.

“No, you’re not.” She gasps, aghast, then narrows her eyes into slits.

“Did you see me do that?”

“Do what?” I’m confused.

“Exactly!” She lifts her chin up, like she’s just proven a point, and I burst out laughing just as the microwave dings.

Jenny takes the warm bag of popcorn out and starts for the living room. “FYI,” she says, “I don’t share.” I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. She is one of a kind.

“What do you want to watch?” I ask, sitting down on the couch next to her once I’ve calmed down.

“I dunno.” She taps her chin in thought. “How about Star Wars? I want to re-watch them since the new one is coming out soon.”

My jaw literally drops. “Which one?”

“Let’s start from the beginning,” she says. “I mean the second one cause the first one sucks ass.” And I have to physically stop myself from attacking her right here on the sofa…

I clear my throat, find the movie, and press play. As the music starts, I hear a quiet ‘Yaaay!’ from Jenny, and I wonder if it’s at all possible to fall for someone any deeper than I am for Jenny at this moment. She gets herself comfortable, pulling her legs underneath her and leaning on me, covering herself with a blanket.

“Want some?” she asks, sticking the bag of popcorn in front of my nose.

“I thought you didn’t share…”

“I don’t, but I am willing to give you a small handful.” She scoffs and I smile, picking up a few kernels.

“Thanks, kitten.”

She shrugs, then settles deeper into the groove between my arm and my shoulder. She hasn’t changed the shampoo she uses since the last time I smelled her hair. It still smells like strawberries. I move my arm, settling it around her shoulders, and pull her in closer. I briefly consider whether her lips still taste like bubble gum… I don’t have any kidneys left to find that out.

Halfway through the movie, her phone chimes, and I see Carter’s name. She pulls up the message and sighs loudly.

“What?” I ask. I’m dying to know what he said.

“Nothing…” she replies, and I stiffen. She looks up at me and her cheeks flush. “He’s just being his usual annoying self. He says ‘hi’ and is asking if I’m still being your French maid, at least I think that’s what it says. He clearly can’t type when drunk.” I smile with relief. I’m going to bring it up. Just suck it up and say it.

“Jenny…” I start, “about our bet.” She pauses the movie and turns to face me, her face weary.

“You weren’t serious about the French maid outfit, right? I know I didn’t cook much, but you weren’t here and…” She looks down at her phone and makes a face, then looks back up at me. I struggle not to laugh. Then I start to imagine her in a French maid outfit and laughing is the last thing on my mind. Where’s that bag of ice when you need it?

“No… Although, that would certainly be…” Amazing? Hot as fuck? Incredible? Mind-blowing? Sexy? All of the above? “Interesting.”

She exhales a relieved sigh.

“I was thinking about the part of the bet where you agreed to go on a date with me. A proper date,” I say.

“Oh,” her mouth drops open and her blue eyes get larger. “I mean, yes.” She shakes her head, closing her mouth and biting her lower lip. I’m struggling to keep my hands to myself.

“I was thinking we could go next weekend, if you’re free, that is.”

“Let me check my schedule,” she says, pausing. My shoulders sag. “Yep,” she continues. “Just as I thought, wide open.” She grins at me. I grin back, like a fourteen-year-old.

“Ok then.” I say, pressing play on the movie while Jenny settles herself back on my shoulder. There’s no way I can focus on what’s happening to Anakin and Obi-Wan.

When the movie finishes, I switch the TV off. Jenny is not moving. Her eyes are closed and her face nuzzled in my neck. I have a serious cramp in my shoulder, but I don’t give two shits about that. Instead, I gently move her, then slide my arms underneath her body, lifting her up and carrying her to her bedroom. I quietly open the door and set her on the covers, then pull a blanket over her small frame. She looks angelic, and I can’t stop myself from pressing my lips to her forehead.

“Aiden,” she mumbles, and I still mid-action. “Cuddle,” she orders sleepily, and I chuckle.

“Are you sure, princess?”

“Mmm,” she mumbles, grabbing my hand, her eyes still closed. I pull my t-shirt off but leave my sweats on. I need as many layers as possible between me and her. I slip under the covers, and she instantly moves in on me, putting her face on my chest and draping her leg over mine. Fuck, there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to sleep.