Page 132 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

Come on, Aria. Get your butt out of bed.

I pulled the duvet off me and swung my legs over. As tempting as it was to go back to sleep and conjure an X-rated Noah dream, I wanted to shower and attempt to manipulate arealsteamy scenario with him instead.

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My morning was pretty monotonous. Vienna was acting strange. I could feel her eyes on me all throughout breakfast. At one point, I wanted to ask her what her problem was. But every time I looked up, she’d just smile. It was very awkward, to say the least.

Noah and I kept sneaking glances at one another every chance we got. I really wanted some alone time with him and was so thankful when my stepmom told us she and her sis were making a trip to the spa after breakfast.

“Would you like to come along with us, Aria?” she asked.

I would have looked at Vanessa first, but it was Vienna’s reaction that caught my eye. She gave my stepmom this unsettling yet serious stare, as if she were trying to telepathically communicate something that I wasn’t supposed to hear. However, it wasn’t quite registering with Vanessa.

Does she not want me to come? Screw her. I don’t want to go anyway,I decided.

“No, that’s okay. I’ve got an essay to write that I’ve been procrastinating all weekend.” That was a bit of a lie. “Thanks for inviting me, though.”

“All right, honey. I’ll bring you back some amazing body lotions.”

Did I feel guilty at all for seducing her husband and trying to lure him away from her? No. There was a blood contract between me and Noah, after all, and I felt that he was rightfully mine. Vanessa could never compete against that. No one else could understand it.

“When will you two be back?” he asked.

“Well, I’d like to spend the day with my sister, since she’ll be leaving tomorrow evening. So we’ll probably go shopping afterwards and do lunch, and then shop some more. I think we’ll eat out for dinner too. I feel like sushi today. You good with sushi, Vi?”

“Yeah, I love sushi.”

“Have fun ladies.”

My stepmom walked away from the coffee machine and sat on Noah’s lap. “What are you going to do today, sweetheart?”

Oh, please, no,I whined to myself, feeling my blood simmer in my veins.

“Gym and work,” he said.

“You’re such a workaholic.” Vanessa sighed and slid her arms around his neck. “I’m not letting you fall asleep again in your office.” She kissed him on the lips, and that’s all it took to trigger the big black snakes to float out from under my hair. They were hissing around me while I imagined turning her into stone with Medusa’s death glare. I appeased my jealous, mythological monster by visualizing all sorts of alternate ways to ruin my stepmother’s morning. If it were up to me, I’d yank her off of him right by the hair and throw her down on the ground. Violent, I know, but at least she’d still be breathing. I could envision far worse.

I snapped out of my homicidal daydream when I felt Vienna’s dark eyes on me,again.

“Sorry for stealing your wife away for the afternoon,” she said, “but I’m sure you’ll survive.”

What the hell is she glaring at me for?

“With that said,” she continued, “please avoid texting each other, unless it’s an emergency.” She pulled her sister off Noah’s lap.

“I have no problem with that.” He chuckled.

Yeah, you’d better not have a problem with it.

It annoyed me how my stepmom always threw herself all over him. He couldn’t have been in love with her still. He just couldn’t.

I had no idea what Noah and I were going to do once Vanessa and Vienna were gone, but I hoped it involved a serious make out session and possibly more. Maybe we’d go for a drive in that sexy Firebird.

I was about to head into my bedroom and phone my mother when the doorbell rang. This was strange. We weren’t expecting any visitors.

“Aria, could you get that, please?” Vanessa’s annoying voice bellowed down the hall. I almost wanted to press my palms over my ears to shield my ear drums from further torture.

Changing direction, I leisurely entered the foyer and unlocked the front door. I had no idea why, but when I opened it, I felt like a deer in headlights. The stranger standing across from me had the same expression on his face. He was tall (about Noah’s height), and he had a head full of thick brown hair, which was cut short and nicely styled. His eyes were chocolate-colored with flecks of caramel in them, and his complexion was a light tan that was the color of desert sand. He looked like he was in his mid or late twenties. There was a faint hint of stubble around his chin, creating a shadowed goatee. I noticed an attractive set of dimples when he eventually smiled at me. This stranger was ruggedly handsome. Did I mention that he was incredibly ripped as well?

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