Magnus
A dull ache throbbed behind my eyes, reminding me that finishing three bottles of wine had been a terrible decision.
Not terrible enough to regret it though.
I slowly opened my eye to the disaster in front of me.
The bedroom was a mess.
My shirt was hanging from one of the lamps and Aysel’s shorts were lying askew on the floor.
Empty wine bottles were scattered on the floor showing that I had, in fact, drank more than three bottles of wine.
Last night had been….
crazy.
Everything had happened before I could even blink and despite the very painful hangover headache I was having, I didn’t regret a thing.
I looked down to see Aysel cuddled up against me.
She was still asleep and brown strands of her hair fanned across my chests.
One of her hands rested over my heart unconsciously.
She looked…
I swallowed.
Peaceful wasn’t the right word.
She looked unguarded.
The furrow between her brows, that appeared every time she threatened to kill me, had smoothed into nothing.
Something unfamiliar unfurled in my chest and I smiled.
Suddenly her phone began to ring quite loudly.
The sound broke the quiet and Aysel’s face crumpled as her lips pressed together in protest.
I fumbled blindly toward the bedside table until I found the offending device and quickly picked the call.
“…Hello.”
“Aysel?!
Why haven’t you been picking my…”
I jerked the phone away from my ear to check who the hell was calling her so early in the morning.
Damon.
Her ex.
Oh.
The idiot.
I put it back to my ears after pressed my free hand over her ear.
She stirred, nuzzling closer to my chest, but didn’t wake.
Then an idea bloomed in my mind and I smiled.
I cleared my throat and dropped the tone of my voice to something rough, lazy, and deliberately suggestive.
“She’s still asleep.”
Silence.
Then, through clenched teeth, “What?
Who the fuck is this?”
I glanced down at Aysel.
She was unconsciously burrowing deeper into my chest, her nose pressing against my collarbone.
“You should probably call later.” I let out a quiet sigh.
“She had…
quite the exhausting night.”
The silence on the other end was so thick I could almost taste it.
If silence could kill, I’d be a corpse.
But I wasn’t.
I was very much alive, and very much enjoying myself.
Before Damon could say another word,I ended the call and then I blocked his number afterwards.
After all, she had clearly stated she wanted nothing to do with her past.
I stared at the screen for a moment, satisfaction humming through my veins.
“You’re awfully pleased with yourself.”
I nearly dropped the phone at Aysel’s voice.
I looked down to see that her eyes were open and looking at me sleepy eyes.
“You were awake?”
“I woke up when the phone rang.” Her voice was husky, rough with sleep.
She blinked slowly as she sat up, “Was that Damon?”
“Yes.”
She reached out to collect the phone from me, “I believe you can give me my phone back.
You seem to have made your point clear.”
I stretched the phone away from her.
“It’s one of the point of our alliance, isn’t it?” I asked, tilting my head to catch her gaze.
“You want to put your past behind you.”
“Yes, but….”
“You aren’t foolish enough to still have feelings for that man…”
She kept quiet.
No denial.
No immediate scowl.
Just…
silence.
I frowned and it bothered me more than I care to admit.
She shifted, trying to reach for the phone again.
“Just give me my phone, Magnus.”
I caught her wrist.
“No.”
She frowned.
“Magnus.”
Instead of letting go, I rolled us over in one swift movement and she landed on her back with a small gasp, her hair fanning across the pillow as her eyes widened in surprise.
Before she could even think to get out of my arms, I gently took her hand and trailed it down my body as she struggled against.y hold.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Interesting.”
“What is?” Her voice was smaller now.
Breathy.
“Last night you seemed to love touching this body.” I teased, loving the way her brush seem to spread across her face and neck.
“I-I was drunk.”
“So was I.”
“Exactly!”
“I fail to see your point.”
“There is no point!”
“There must be.” I smiled, innocent as a saint.
“You were very affectionate.”
“I absolutely was not.”
“You hugged me.” I tightened my grip on her wrist, just slightly.
“Multiple times.”
“I did not.”
“You called me warm.” I leaned closer.
“You said I smelled nice.
You ran your fingers through my hair.”
“I refuse to believe anything you say.”
“You also….”
Her fist slammed into my chest hard.
“Ow.” I looked down at the spot where she’d hit me.
That had actually hurt more than I expected.
The second I loosened my grip, she snatched her phone from my hand and scrambled off the bed.
She sprinted toward the bathroom barefoot without thinking twice.
“Hey!”
The door slammed shut and turned the key to lock herself in.
I stared after her, still stunned for a second before I began to laugh.
She was adorable.
Absolutely adorable.
I walked over to the bathroom door and leaned against it.
“You broke one of my ribs.”
“I did not.”
“I think you did.”
“You’ll survive.”
“I probably won’t.”
“You will.”
I grinned at the door.
“So you need to find a way to heal it.”
“What way?”
“Marry me.”
I waited to her sharp rejection like she had done yesterday but instead I heard the sound of something crashing loudly onto the bathroom floor.
I blinked.
“…Was that your toothbrush?”
Silence.
Then in a very small embarrassed voice, she replied.
“…No.”
“It sounded exactly like a toothbrush.”
“It wasn’t.”
A grin spread across my face so wide my cheeks ached.
She hadn’t said no.
“I’ll ask again tomorrow.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I absolutely will.”
A muffled groan came from inside the bathroom.
I imagined her leaning against the sink with her face the color of a tomato.
It was a small victory.
“I am going to make breakfast.” I pushed off from the door, already walking toward the kitchen.
Then I paused.
“I should warn you, I won’t be wearing a shirt.”
Another loud crash and I chuckled.
Today was the first time in a long while I had felt something other than anger and emptiness.