Page 75 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

“Arden, they are our friends and family. They know you well enough to not show up here if they are contagious.” The biggest smile lights up his face. “What? Why are you smiling like that?”

“You saidourfriends and family.”

Huh, I guess I did. “I didn’t even realise.”

It’s the first time I didn’t second guess my choice of words.

“Come here,” he says, lifting the edge of the sheet to let me into the bed.

I curl up with my head on his chest, and he runs his hands up and down my back, soothing me.

This is my favourite part of every day. We just lie down together, talking and touching. Some nights it gets hot and heavy, and Arden spends hours bringing me countless orgasms. Other nights, we just talk. On occasion, we’ll add a movie for some background noise.

“Thank you for today,” I murmur into his chest.

“Stop thanking me. I’d give you the world if you asked.”

“I know, but I don’t want the world. I just want you.”

He drops a kiss to the top of my head, and I get butterflies in my stomach. I hope I always feel this way when I’m with Arden.

“I saw something today that I don’t think I was supposed to see,” I tell him.

Actually, I’m positive I wasn’t supposed to see it. But it could be a good thing.

“What did you see?”

“Ashley making out with a girl I don’t know.”

Arden sits up suddenly, forcing me to sit with him, as I was lying on his chest. “As in Rhys’s Ashley?”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

It took me a minute to figure out what was happening, but I didn’t hang around long. Once I realised it was Ashley, I bailed. I said nothing earlier because I didn’t want a scene during the gathering.

Arden grabs his phone off the bedside table, and his fingers fly across the screen.

My phone pings with an alert in the group chat.

Arden: EVERYONE. MY ROOM. NOW.

“Really? You couldn’t say please?”

My phone pings again.

Arden: PLEASE

I shake my head at him and move to sit against the bedhead while we wait for everyone to come in.

Not even five minutes pass before we hear the faint click of the door closing.

“Where are you?” Chase asks from out in the living room.

“Bedroom,” Arden calls back.

“You better fucking have clothes on,” Rhys says, coming into the room with his hand covering his eyes.

“I wouldn’t want to make you jealous of my sexy body,” Arden says, trying and failing to sound like Fat Bastard fromAustin Powers.

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