Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SASHA

Bronny kicks at the coffee table and throws his controller onto the couch beside him. "Why do I fucking suck tonight?" he grumbles, then stands and stretches his arms above his head.

"You suck most of the time, but tonight is worse than usual," Monster teases.

Bronny flips him off. "Whatever. I'm done losing, so I'm going to bed," he grumbles, waving at us before disappearing down the hall.

Monster looks at his phone, and his brows shoot up. "Shit, I didn't realize it was so late I'm going to hit the hay too," he says before leaving too.

"I should not have napped as late as I did," Rio mutters. "You can head out if you want."

"I'm cool with chilling for a little longer. I haven't been sleeping the best the past couple of nights anyway," I tell him, and he nods like he understands exactly what I'm going through.

"Okay. Would you like to keep gaming or watch a movie?" he asks, and I shrug.

"Whatever you want. Today was supposed to be about making you happy, so you choose."

"Well, I'd really hate to make you cry by kicking your ass at Mario Kart. We should probably just watch a movie," he says, standing up to grab the controllers that his roommates left behind before they went to bed.

"How noble of you," I joke while getting more comfortable on the couch.

"Anything in particular you want to watch?" he inquires once he's put the controllers away and grabbed the television remote.

I shake my head. "As long as it's not gory, I'm fine."

"I thought you liked scary movies," he states while sitting beside me.

"I do, but there's a difference between scary and gory. I want to jump and scream and lose my shit, but I don't want to see people's guts and blood everywhere."

Rio nods while scrolling through one of the streaming services he has. "I'm not in the mood for a scary movie anyway. How about a comedy," he suggests.

"Can we watch a romcom?" I ask. "That new one about a couple who fake date each other is supposed to be hilarious."

"Sure, I haven't seen it yet," he says, then searches for the title.

"Shit," I mumble when I realize it's only available for rent. "You can pick something else. I don't want you to have to rent it just to make me happy."

Rio doesn't listen, though, and sets the movie to play. "The small rental fee isn't going to set me back," he assures me, placing his arm on the back of the couch as he gets comfortable. "And besides, I wanted to see it too."

I nibble on my lower lip, accepting that it's too late to fight about it now.

As the movie plays, both Rio and I laugh our asses off and make fun of the unrealistic shit that happens because it's a movie, and it wouldn't be as entertaining if it was too much like real life. As we watch the romcom, we both get more comfortable, and the anxiousness that was growing inside of me seems to dissolve.

"You're the king of dating. Is that a common occurrence?" Rio teases as one of the main characters goes on a horrible blind date.

I chuckle and shrug. "I'm the king of one-night stands. I don't know much about actual dates."

"It's been forever since I've been on a real date I've honestly forgotten what they're like," Rio tells me and its then I realize just how close we've gotten. Rio's side is almost flush against my arm and it causes my heart to race a little.

"I might not be the king of dating, but I bet I could knock your socks off if we ever went out," I flirt with a wink.

I expect Rio to roll his eyes at my lame joke, but instead, he stares intently at me.

"Somehow, I don't doubt that," he responds, catching me off guard.

Thankfully another laugh out loud moment happens in the movie drawing our attention to it and causing us to forget the moment.

By the time the movie is over, my sides hurt from laughing so much, and I'm wiping tears away from my eyes. I knew it was going to be good, but I was not expecting it to be this good. Maybe it's who I'm watching it with, though, that made it that much better.

"What's next?" I ask as the credits roll.

"You're not tired?" Rio checks.

"Not really," I lie.

I'm exhausted, but I can tell Rio is wide awake. It isn't fair that he has to be alone because he napped a little too long. Besides, it's not a hardship to spend time with a guy I've been crushing on for the longest time.

"Mind if we watch a war movie this time? There's this new one I've been curious about, but I think it might be a little boring if you don't like history stuff."

I wave him off. "I'm fine with whatever. Put it on."

He nods and starts the movie that I've never heard of.

It doesn't take long for my eyelids to become heavy, and it starts to get hard to keep them open. I promised Rio I'd be a good friend and stay up with him, but staying true to my word is becoming harder and harder. Eventually all the fighting in the world isn't enough to keep myself awake and slumber slowly pulls me under.

Soft snoring fills the room, pulling me from my peaceful sleep. Slowly, I blink my eyes open, trying to figure out where the snoring is coming from.

Where am I, and what time is it?

As my eyes adjust to the bright room, I realize I'm on the couch at Rio, Monster, and Bronny's place, but the pillow I'm resting my head on isn't exactly a pillow. I mean, as far as I know, pillows don't have the ability to move on their own, and this one is gently twitching beneath my head. Glancing down, I see that the " pillow" is, in fact, someone's knees.

It's then I remember watching movies with Rio and falling asleep during the second one. I guess I must have gotten comfortable in his lap at some point. By the sound of his even breathing and adorable snoring, Rio fell asleep at some point too, but only he knows if I decided to snuggle up on him before or after he fell asleep.

I lay still for a while, taking in how nice it feels to be this close to Rio. At the same time it kind of feels wrong because I'm not sure if he would want this or not. The digital clock that sits on the television stand tells me it's already nine in the morning, which means Bronny and Monster will probably be getting up soon, so I decide to sit up carefully, trying not to disturb Rio in the process. The last thing I want is for Rio's roommates to think something is going on when it's not.

Even though I try my hardest not to jostle Rio, it's hard to accomplish since his arm is resting on my waist. When I finally get into a seated position, he begins to move. He blinks at me a couple of times before stretching his arms above his head, which causes his shirt to lift. I get a glimpse at a sliver of skin and neatly trimmed hair that leaves my mouth watering and has me wanting to see more.

Fuck, staying for the second movie was a mistake. I was only trying to be a good friend but now my sleepy brain is thinking of things it shouldn't.

"Looks like we fell asleep," I murmur while trying to discreetly adjust my morning wood.

"You fell asleep ten minutes into the second movie," Rio reminds me before letting out a big yawn. "And I think it only took you another five minutes before you were cuddling up on to my lap."

I grimace a little before whispering my apology, but Rio doesn't look upset and waves me off.

"Nothing to be sorry for." He tilts his head from side to side. "Clearly, you had the right idea about laying down. Who knew sleeping upright would give you this bad of a neck crick."

"Why didn't you go to bed after the movie was done?" I ask, leaning my head slightly to the side, studying him for a moment.

Rio shrugs and glances away, his cheeks turning a rosy shade. "You looked too peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you," he admits, making my heart warm.

"You didn't have to do that," I tell him in a soft voice.

He looks back at me with his lips pressed together. "It's what friends do," he repeats my words from last night back to me while staring at me with a look of longing in his eyes. "Or maybe it's more than that."

My eyebrows shoot up at his admission, and I'm stunned silent for the first time in a long time.

Slowly, like magnets are attached to our lips, we both lean toward each other. My heart races so fast that it makes it hard to breathe or think about anything except what is about to happen. I'm going to kiss Rio. Something I've dreamt about doing a million times before but also thought would never happen in real life.

We are so close now that I can feel his breath on my skin, but just as we are about to bridge the final gap, a door opening startles us and kills the moment. Rio quickly pulls back and stands so fast I'm surprised he's not lightheaded.

"Shit, I'm sorry," he murmurs before racing down the hall. Leaving me alone in the dimly light living room.

I take a shaky breath before standing, unsure of what just happened. Rio's sudden shock and disappearance stings a little, but I try not to let it get to me. I know that he's demisexual, and maybe he's just realizing that he might have feelings for me. I hope he has feelings for me.

I bet that would be a shock to anyone and I understand him needing time to get his head around it all.

I fish my phone out of my pocket and fire off a message to Rio to make sure we don't end up with awkward feelings from this almost kiss before leaving his apartment and making my way home.

I never thought that kissing Rio would be a real-life possibility, but now that I know that it is, I'm dying to know what it would feel like for it to actually happen.