Page 27 of Unmasking Love
I stay quiet, hoping Wes will leave me some clues, but they continue to communicate in half sentences and I’m left trying to fill in the blanks.
Chapter 9
Harper
Vitamin Deficiency
“Here’sgood,”Wessaysfrom the back seat. My eyes are closed because who am I to fight gravity. Suddenly a warm hand starts patting my face. “You’re the next stop.”
“M’kay,” I agree with my eyes still closed. “I’m feeling very sleepy.”
“I know you are, babe. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Wes?” I ask quietly.
“Yeah?”
“He cheated. And I saw it.”
“Yeah.” He says with a sigh. It’s how I feel inside. Just,le sigh.
I hear the car door open and close and then the familiar hum of tires on the road.
“Do you know if he split the cost of the uber or if he just did two stops?” I ask, still with my eyes closed.
“Uh, I’m not sure.” The driver replies.
“Mm, I like your voice.”
“Thanks,” he says with a little laugh to it and I like that sound too. It feels like getting cozy under a blanket.
“Tomorrow is gonna suck.” I mumble to myself. Sadly, I’m conscious enough to remember I caught Crispin with Raquel a few hours ago. I wonder how much tequila it would take to actually erase that image from my brain. But really, I wonder how long it’s been going on.
I wake with a start when the cool pillow I’ve been resting on is ripped away and I start falling. Whoops! I’m drunker than I thought. I brace for impact but something catches me. Big, warm hands hold my shoulders. I blink, trying to open my eyes. My contacts are dry and foggy but I can make out a man unbuckling me.
“Shit!” I wake up a little more fully. “Sir, I’m so sorry for falling asleep. I’ve got it.”
I flutter my eyes and try to see clearly. Unfortunately because of the curse of genetics and my lack of carrot consumption, according to my mother, I am hitched to the contact train for life and right now they’re useless. Just dry disks plastered to my eyeballs. While I am trying to blink them back into a functioning state, one arm slides under my knees and the other around the top of my back. Instinctfully, I throw my arms around this man’s neck. When did uber drivers elevate their services? I’ll have to remember to leave a five star rating and a larger than suggested tip.
My head swirls as my body moves towards my front door. I’m tempted to settle my head onto this man’s shoulder and maybe nuzzle his neck. He smells like reheated burritos and Christmas. Weird, but I like it.
The smokey smell of pine bursts it’s way through my drunken fog and I blink again, lean in close, so close my nose is almost touching his face.
“Aiden?”
“Harper.”
“How did you? Where?”
“I drove you home. Now I’m going to carry you up to your room and help you get ready for bed. I already pulled your keys out of your bag. Wes told me you’ll need to remove your contacts and said you need to take your Vitamin D.”
“Okay,” I whisper and then I slowly inhale. I think the stale burrito smell is more me than him. His scent is smokey, but a little sweet. If home had a smell it would be this.
Hekeeps me cradled in his arms as he unlocks the door, steps inside and then slowly lowers me down. I stumble a bit as I regain my footing and use his shoulders to steady myself. While the hoodie he has on is soft, everything underneath it is hard. His shoulder feels like rock and I squeeze my fingers trying to make an impression.
It feels like his muscles have muscles.
My eyes, through the fog of my lenses, fixate on his chest and then my imagination takes over. What would he and his muscles look like rippling over me? Would they pop when he rested his body weight on his elbows?
