Page 23 of The Expiration Date

“I’m sorry. I am not judging you at all. I don’t know Hales, I just figured it would be higher.”

“And why would you figure that?”

Now Aidan is looking away and there is a slight tint of pink on his cheeks. Is Aidan Stone blushing? “Because you’re you.”

I’m speechless. What is that supposed to mean? I am too chicken to find out, so I reach for the remote and gesture to the TV. “Up for another one? How about You’ve Got Mail. Let’s make it a Nora Ephron marathon.”

“Wait, don’t you want to know my number?”

“No, need. I already know it's up in the hundreds,” I say matter-of-factly.

Aidan hits his chest as if I struck him with a bullet. “Ouch, Hales. Damn, is that what you really think of me?”

How can I not? In the three years I’ve known Aidan, I’ve seen him date Natasha and “date” a slew of other women these past six months. God knows he is a fricken heartthrob. All the girls at UConn were foaming at the mouth just at the sight of him, I’m sure. I bet he was the prom king, captain of the lacrosse team or insert whatever sport in high school, and now living in L.A. there is undoubtedly a line of women happy to entertain him for the evening. I’ve seen the premieres and the photos of him getting practically bulldozed by adoring fans.

“Is it not? Ok, maybe in the fifties.” I try to hide a playful smile as I press the “Ok” button on the Roku remote. A picture of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan graces Aidan’s flatscreen.

“Well, well, look who is judging now. Not even close, Swann. Why would you think my number is so high? Is it because of my dashing good looks and charming personality? Is it because I am an international movie star and I just can’t control myself when women throw themselves at me?”

“Okay, lover boy, what is it then? Thirty-five? Twenty?”

Aidan moves the empty popcorn bowl to the coffee table and drapes part of the blanket over his own legs. “You’ll find out soon enough. Let’s just watch the movie.” The lines around his eyes deepen and his dimples are on full display.

“You’re not going to tell me? How is that fair? What if someone asks me what your number is?” I start yawning as I check my phone. Midnight?! How did it get so late?

“They won’t. They’ll be too embarrassed to ask. Trust me. Let’s start the movie since you are already yawning, old lady. You’re giving Mabel a run for her money.”

“It’s midnight. I’m hardly an old lady!” I gruff as I pull the blanket even more over my body. Now it’s just my head peeking out. “Fine. Let’s watch Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan hate each other, then fall in love.”

I press play and snuggle back into the couch. Even though I am covered with this blanket, I get goosebumps when I realize how close I am to actually laying my head on Aidan’s shoulder. It’s mere centimeters. He smells so clean. I can feel his body heat radiate, like my own personal heater. I’ve never felt so comfortable in a stranger’s house so quickly in my life. Then again, Aidan is hardly a stranger. But for some reason–maybe it’s the candle, the coffee, the blanket, the conversation–this apartment feels like home.

13

We didn’t see Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fall in love. Haley fell asleep somewhere on my shoulder at about the point when Meg Ryan was commenting on how much she loved New York in the fall and I followed suit shortly after Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan were discussing Pride and Prejudice and Starbucks.

It’s raining again. I slowly raise my arm to check my almost dead Apple watch. Already 7:30 A.M., but it seems earlier since the sky is covered with dark clouds.

Haley is cuddling with me. I haven’t cuddled with a woman since Natasha. But even then, it didn’t feel this comfortable. Whenever Natasha and I would fall asleep in each other’s arms, she would always let go at some point during the night and retreat to the opposite side of the bed.

Not Haley.

She stayed put all night, apparently. I woke up to her slight snore. It’s the cutest snore I’ve ever heard. Her leg is draped over mine and her arm is wrapped around my torso, hand clutching my t-shirt. It is then I notice my hard-on. Jesus Christ, she cannot wake up to the sight of my hard dick under my sweatpants. She is going to freak out and never want to be next to me again. I need to get up now, but I don’t want to wake her. This is perfect. She is perfect.

When she walked out last night from my room, wearing my t-shirt and close to nothing else, with her hair in a mess, I almost exploded. Her legs are long and toned and just goddamn amazing to look at. OMG Aidan, snap out of it! This arrangement isn’t real. The whole reason she is in my apartment is because we are pretending to be together, and also I wanted to protect her from the rain and the creepers she might’ve encountered if she tried to walk back to her hotel last night. I’m about to be perceived as one of those said creepers if I don’t get off this couch immediately and handle this situation.

I carefully slide my trapped arm out from under Haley’s torso and inch off the couch. I cover her back up with the blanket and place a pillow under her arm that was draped over me. She won’t suspect a thing. I grab my phone from the coffee table and plug it into the charger in my kitchen. Maybe I should order from Ess-a-bagel. One thing about Haley is the girl can eat. She is like one of the Gilmore Girls with food. That’s always refreshing about Haley.

After ordering two everything bagels with cream cheese, I make more coffee for Haley and place the mug on the coffee table. Damn, she looks so peaceful. I don’t want to wake her up. I’m sure the smell of coffee will do that for me.

I write her a note and set it next to the coffee and head toward my bathroom to jump in the shower.

14

Ismell the heavenly scent of coffee.

A little disoriented, I wake up from the best night of sleep that I’ve gotten in a while, which is surprising since I usually can’t sleep well anywhere except for my own bed that has the perfect pillow, the perfect mattress, the perfect duvet. Yet here I am on Aidan’s couch, waking up from the most restful sleep. I don’t remember finishing the movie last night. Aidan must have covered me up and slept in his bed. Oh God! I hope I didn’t snore. I’ve been told that I snore in my sleep when I am sleeping really hard. A wave of embarrassment rushes through my body. At some point during the night, I must’ve removed my hair from my messy bun because now it is down and in a ratty mess. It is probably sticking up on all sides. I do my best to tame my tresses with my hands so it doesn’t look like I went through a wind tunnel or was a part of a fricken rock music video.

I glance around the apartment. Where the heck is Aidan? Maybe he went on a run or something.

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