Status: To understand this you need to read Red Petals, Storm Brew and Final Curtain

Infatuation

Chapter 7 - Texting

I twisted my head, pushing harder against the pillow. There was something soft pressing against my shoulder. Warm. The same feeling scattered across my back and along my neck. I cracked my eyes open an inch, groaning.

Something heavy lowered onto my shoulder.

"I think you're late." I groaned again. What time was it? "Sorry about that, I kept you up late." Aric's breath made me shiver. I drew closer to him. I could hear the silent grin in his voice.

I licked my dry lips, "You don't sound sorry…"

"I could never be truly sorry for spending more time in bed with you—cuddling."

My eyes snapped open. I frowned, twisting around to peek at him.

"We're not cuddling," I sputtered.

Aric's bed hair was present. His lips were curled on one side, showering me with a hotter than hell smirk. This version of him was a serious turnaround from last night. No pain stricken eyes, no guilt looming over his head. If my heart could sigh it would've sighed with relief.

"That's a shame. Because I'm a cuddling type of guy." I arched an eyebrow. He refused to drop the smirk. "Obviously."

"Obviously," I repeated, nodding mockingly. Aric chuckled leaning down to kiss me—I slid out of his way, patting his chest. "What time is it?"

I was sitting up when a strong hand grabbed my forearm and tugged with enough force to pull me down—onto bed. I stared up at Aric. His face looked up-side down, like he was aiming for a Spider-man kiss.

"I'm having a hard time understanding what you want from me, Aric. Last night, you wanted me to focus on college and shit. Today, you're keeping me from getting dressed—so I can go to class."

"It's almost eleven, darling. And you can get dressed right after you admit it."

"Admit what?" I deadpanned.

Aric lowered his face, lining up his sensual lips with my right ear.

He whispered with a sultry voice, "That you enjoy waking up to me."

My breath caught. I tilted my head, biting my tongue. To be an assassin they trained you like a dog. Worse than a dog. Your classes are about getting beaten up and handling pain, how to fight, shoot, about weapons and how to conceal them, how to lie and fake emotions. No class ever prepared me to deal with true feelings, like the ones I got every morning when I woke up next to Aric. I wasn't an idiot, I knew there was something between us—more than 'good shagging' as he once said.

I could kill someone with my bare hands, but I was afraid of telling Aric I liked everything better with him around. If I didn't give him more than sex, would he get fed up? Did he want… an actual relationship? Because I wasn't sure I was that kind of person, like Melissa was.

"Are you feeling insecure or something?" I pivoted the subject.

"No, if the purring sounds you made last night were any indication, I have nothing to be insecure about."

"Alrighty, then." I smiled forcefully gripping his hair and pulling hard, making him roll onto his back, letting me go. I sat up and jumped out of bed, cheeks tinged pink. I got clean underwear and slipped it on. I took a shower last night after sex, I wasn't about to take another one. I grabbed my bra off the floor and went into the bathroom while Aric did… I poked my head out. He was still eagle-spread on my bed. "Are you planning on staying?"

"No," he sat up. I watched muscles ripple as Aric rolled his shoulders and craned his neck, releasing tension. "I have to study perimeters. For Nolan's next job."

I felt my claws come out at that name.

"You haven't told me yet—what does the bastard want now?" hopefully no more innocent children were involved.

"Crash a drug deal between some big shots. Nolan wants a guy named Garcia to buy his product. He needs the money. Since most of The Order's funds were confiscated. Drugs are the quickest and safest way for him to earn some. Plus, no one will be on the lookout for spare Order members in a drug business." Aric dawned his wrinkled shirt before bending over—giving me a nice view of his ass. Too bad he was wearing boxers. I felt like a deer caught in headlights once he threw a cheeky glance across a shoulder. "You can always take a picture, kitten. Free of charge."

I resisted muttering shut up, pulling my skinny camisole on, stuffing it inside my jeans. Teeth and hair brushed, I reached for my eyeliner. Aric showed up, leaning on the door frame, arms crossed over his chest. His jeans were on. Shame.

"Just so you know," Aric started when I finished doing my left eye. "I like that color. But I love the eyes." I almost popped an eye with my pen. I fought all the instincts wanting to turn towards him—to kiss him. "I'll show myself out."

"Okay. Have fun with perimeters." I said in a fake cheery tone.

Aric grimaced. He fell back from the frame—before he turned around again, "Thank you for not kicking me out last night." He snorted a laugh. "Or shooting me."

Then he disappeared. I capped my eyeliner, stepping forward.

"Aric," I steadied myself against the doorframe he'd been leaning on. He stopped inches from my dorm's door, inches from leaving. I cocked my head looking at the floor. My eyes flickered to his. "Don't give up on me."

Aric stared at me silently. Like he knew exactly what I meant. A ghost of a smile showed across his face.

"The thought's never crossed my mind." Aric shook his head. "Not once, Anna." I stayed looking as he vanished and the door closed behind him.

I leaned my head against the wooden frame, smiling to myself.

***

I laid on my bed, exhausted.

I'd missed so many classes today. And I'd gone around yawning all day. Even after two double expressos. The limp—from the bullet wound—was hardly noticeable anymore, which was good. Maybe I could start jogging soon. I rolled across bed, snatching my cell off the bedside table. Mel hadn't called or texted. I wondered what she up to? Maybe she'd talked to Nate. I blew out a breath—ah! When Melissa didn't want to do something—deep down—there was little chance of anyone convincing her. My thoughts landed on Aric. I smoothed a hand across the pillow he'd used, wondering if he was still working out the plan with Nate. I could text him.

I shifted again—kicking off my shoes—and stared at the ceiling. I was bored. There were tons I had to do, there was a massive test coming up. But I missed planning hits and… Well, I wouldn't say I missed killing, but I missed the thrill and action of it all.

It was the biggest part of my life. I sighed dejectedly.

Just for kicks and laughs, I thought about Aric wanting more from me. Could I give him more? Could I… date him? Ah, I didn't even know if he actually wanted that. I assumed he did—because it wasn't the first time he tried making me admit something like this morning. Wait. What if he didn't want that? That made me feel strangely… upset. Good God, did that mean I wanted those things?

Argh. I should be snooping around Nolan and the evidence—trying to help. Not thinking about possibly wanting Aric as my boyfriend or cramming for tests. My aunt would shoot me if I bailed on college, though. She'd made it clear I needed time off and would be better off with a degree.

I picked up the phone.

I'm bored

I sent it. I stared at the phone for the next five minutes until I rolled my eyes, throwing it aside. I was bored and hungry. I could take care of at least one of those. I opened my mini fridge and grabbed two large pizza slices. Pepperoni and olives. My favorite. I sat on my bed cross-legged, eating the first cold slice. Halfway through my last slice, I snickered. Aric hated cold pizza. After eating, I laid back, leafing through notes on Microeconomics. I was still bored, but at least this was productive.

I stretched my legs, yawning, when my phone pinged. Text alert. I grabbed it.

Sorry, luv, can't come over. Keeping an eye on Nate

That surprised me—the part where he was watching out for Nathaniel. He'd never seemed interested in any of his siblings, aside from Melissa. Maybe Aric was doing this because he knew it was what Mel would want. My phone buzzed again.

What are u wearing?

I snorted, grinning. A little. We were picking up sexting now? I shook my head. Surprisingly not in the mood to play along.

Where are u?

I hit send. And the response was immediate. Looked like he was bored, too.

Somewhere very un-classy.

That could be anywhere. I typed the first place that came to mind. Though, I was sure Aric wouldn't be bored in that place…

Strip club?

Another text came in lightning quick.

Nope. FYI, I've been to some very classy strip clubs.

Was he trying to get a rise out of me? Make me jealous? I wrote back a dry text.

Oh, really?

My phone buzzed after a two-minute break. Something just distracted him from our little talk. I wondered where he was. My best guess was that Aric didn't want to share over the phone.

Really. I'll take u someday. Just admit u like to cuddle ;)

I rolled my eyes at our morning debate. I dropped the phone on my pillow, getting up and began to strip to put on my pj's. I saw the screen light up after pulling on my t-shirt. I didn't run across my dorm and throw myself on my bed like a lovesick teen. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Washed off my make-up. Put on facial cream. When all my business was taken care of, I turned off the lights and pulled back the covers. After I shifted around a couple of dozen times, finding a cozy spot, I grabbed my cell.

Let's have dinner.

Huh.

I stared at the words. The phone slid from my fingers. They'd gone numb. I hated this guy. Suddenly my cozy spot on bed wasn't comfortable enough and I was moving all around. Breathing too quickly and hating the reason why. What the hell? This was out of the blue—not what I had in mind when I first texted him hours ago.

What the hell, Aric? I was experienced enough to know he meant go to dinner as a date. Because we'd had dinner before. With Nate and Mel present when we'd been on the road, late nights eating leftovers after having heavy sex. This was different—this was more. I scrubbed my face in frustration. Fuck. I was losing sleep over a date proposition. So much for not acting like a lovesick teenage girl, my brain deadpanned. The sad thing was, my heart was racing and I wanted to plunge a knife in my chest for doing something so atrocious. Hive teachings hounding me again. Assassins didn't marry often. Some married for convenience, like Sarah and John—Nate's adoptive parents—some married outside the assassin pool to use the non-assassin spouse as an alibi—though it usually ended badly. Little assassins indulged real relationships or romantic feelings. I'd heard stories about assassins going as far as killing people they fell for to remain unattached.

I sighed, glaring at the ceiling. I could never kill Aric. Not because I didn't have the skills, because I didn't want to. And that meant too much. Mel's parents had been assassins and they'd loved each other. Or so Nate seemed to think. So, maybe when both people were trained killers it didn't matter that they… liked one another. I didn't need to worry about Aric, right? He was a big boy. He'd been taking care of himself long before I came into the picture.

He wanted more from me and unlike this morning, I didn't need to overthink this, I wanted to try that.

Suddenly, I wasn't so worried and sleep crept back in. I managed to type through a long yawn.

I'll see if I can schedule you in

I think the phone came to life minutes later, but my eyes were already closed and too heavy to move. My muscles were slack as I sunk deeper into the mattress.
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This chapter happens during chapter 17 in Final Curtain, where Aric went with Nate to an underground club for illegal fights. I hope I'm doing a good job showing their relationship growing and Anna's conflict and growth :)