13. Jody

Chapter 13

Jody

I really didn’t sleep with guys on the first date. Really. I promise.

But Aldyn was different. And that night was at least ten dates combined. Maybe a lifetime. Excitement sizzled within me as I led him back to my apartment. I was glad I had just cleaned. I could be messy at times. But the gods must’ve been smiling down on me that night. I wanted to kiss him. Wanted to reach out and hold his hand and tug him close.

But I was pretty sure if I started kissing him I wasn’t going to stop. So we stayed separate on the short walk. Then I led him up the rickety stairs that led to the door to my apartment. It was small. Unimpressive. But it was all mine. And that was worth something. Once the door closed behind him, the place felt tiny.

Aldyn wasn’t that big. But he was big enough to take up enough space that I couldn’t forget he was here. And I was happy. We took off our coats and I hung them in the closet. Aldyn still looked kind of bruised, though it was difficult to tell between the markings he naturally had on his gold skin and what Evil Santa had done to him. I wanted to kiss him and make it all better.

But suddenly, I was exhausted. All of the night just crashed down over me and I realized what we had been through. How we had survived. Damn, that was crazy.

A good host would have offered Aldyn a drink. I just stumbled towards the couch and collapsed. He rushed over after me, maybe concerned for my well-being, maybe concerned that it suddenly looked like he wasn’t going to get any.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his hand going to my shoulder as if that was enough to steady me.

“We survived. What the fuck? What was that?” An evil alien had held us hostage. What even was my life? And here I was with a different alien, hoping he could soothe away all of my fears, could make me forget for the night what had really happened.

The tears caught me by surprise. I didn’t even know I was on the verge of crying until sobs wracked my body and I could barely breathe. Aldyn wrapped his arms around me and held me close. It felt nice. Nicer than I would have expected. And I didn’t want it to end. Thankfully, the tears didn’t last that long. But I knew I did not look very hot. I had always been an ugly crier. It’s why I tried not to ever do it.

I had to get control of the situation. I had to make things better. I cupped Aldyn’s cheek and leaned in close. But before I could kiss him, he grinned at me. “Where’s your bedroom?” he asked.

That was more like it. Maybe we could get things moving along.

There wasn’t really any mystery about where the bedroom was. It was only a one bedroom apartment. There was exactly one closed door. That was where the bedroom was. He laced our fingers together and tugged me up from the couch before leading me into the room. I let my body press against his and tried to imagine what it would feel like once our clothes came off. He sat me down on the bed and dropped to his knees.

Yes. This was looking up. But instead of putting his hands on me, he reached for my shoes and slipped them off before taking off his own.

Okay, he was practical. I could take that. I could take all of him.

“Lay down,” he said.

“I think we’re missing a couple steps.” It might have been sexier and more flirtatious if a yawn had cut me off in the middle of saying it.

Aldyn just waited until I lay down. And then he got in right beside me. He put his arms around me and tucked me in close to him. It was nice. Nicer than I knew it could feel.

And in its own way, it was even scarier than anything that Evil Santa had tried to do to us. Not scary in a way that meant I was going to be injured, but scary in a way that I knew something was about to change. Something massive. It was at just the edge of my conscience to ask what, but before I could grab onto the thought, my eyes drifted closed and I found myself surrendering to sleep.

I didn’t dream. Not any dreams that I could remember. Though there was half a thought about calamari. It dissolved into nothingness before I could grasp the memory. And when I woke, sunlight streamed in.

And I was alone.

Not the first time I had woken up alone in bed after inviting a man to join me. But I was shocked at how much it hurt. My stomach dropped and I ached. Why? Why had he left? Why did I care? Was I not good enough?

I had to stop thinking it. If I kept thinking about it, I was just going to go crazy. Guys always left. And besides, it wasn’t like I really knew him. We had just been thrown together in a crazy situation and that was it. There was nothing more. I didn’t even care about him. I didn’t even know his last name.

Was Aldyn even his real name? No way to know.

I would move on. And it wasn’t like we had even slept together. Well. We haven’t had sex. So it was okay. I’d be fine.

Right?

I turned over and curled up into a ball, still burrowed under the covers as if the warmth and softness of my mattress and blanket were enough to shield me from the harsh reality of the world. No one stayed.

No one cared.

I wasn’t worth it.

Was that bacon?

There were only a few things that could pull me out of my pity party and the scent of cooking meat was one of them. I threw the covers off and got out of bed. I was still wearing the clothes from last night, everything except my shoes. The shoes that Aldyn had so carefully taken off.

And there he was, standing in my kitchen and taking two sandwiches out of a bag from a restaurant that was just down the street.

“I thought you must be hungry,” he said. “I got two different sandwiches. So whichever one you like more you can have. The cashier didn’t know if you had a favorite order or anything.”

He’d gone and gotten me breakfast? I didn’t know if a guy had ever done that for me before.

I marched right up to him and captured his lips’ searing kiss. This was what we were supposed to do the night before. This was what we were supposed to do forever, a small part of me whispered. But my grumbling stomach interrupted what I was sure was going to be one hell of a make out session and I pulled back with a sheepish grin. “I guess I am hungry,” I had to say. I realized I hadn’t even eaten dinner the night before. Of course I was starving.

But Aldyn was smiling at me as he handed me a sandwich. Bacon and eggs and cheese and bread. Was there a better combination? I had taken two bites when the smile dropped off his face. He put his sandwich down and looked at me seriously.

“We need to talk.”