chiseled features were softened by full lips and thick eyelashes. He was a combination of strong but beautiful, and he was far too aware of how to work those good looks in his favor.
It wasn’t hard to see why every girl at school was in love with Aiden. He was tall with a muscular body built from years of hard work and dedication in the gym and on the football field. He also had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. But, below the surface level, anything appealing was quickly stripped away. Aiden’s external beauty just wasn’t reflected on the inside. He took nothing seriously in life and flirted with anything that moved. He was a total player, and because I refused to be affected by his charms, he seemed to take great pleasure in annoying me instead.
My life would have been so much simpler if I could have avoided him at school. But since a lot of my girlfriends were dating his friends, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the guy. It felt like he was always there, and now he was invading my home life as well. I couldn’t help but hate him a little more for that.
“Good morning, Clary.” His voice was deep and held the amused and somewhat patronizing tone it always did when he was talking with me. Thankfully, his words seemed to bring me to my senses and stopped me from staring at him.
“Where’s your mom?” My answer was sharp and slightly rude. I would have been completely embarrassed if I’d found myself snapping at anyone else like that, but it was easier to keep my conversations with Aiden blunt. Our interactions always felt like a contest. If I were even slightly pleasant to him, he’d smile at me like he’d just won our unspoken battle. To be honest, his smile only became bigger when I was rude back to him. Either way, I always seemed to lose. It was far simpler to try to avoid talking with him at all.
I looked past Aiden in the hopes of seeing Dr. Moore. She wasn’t coming up the front sidewalk behind him though, and his truck was parked in the street. I had a bad feeling it was just the two of us.
He didn’t seem to notice I’d asked about his mom. Instead, he appeared to be more interested in my pajamas. They definitely weren’t my cutest pair, and they weren’t even matching. The bottoms had pictures of puppies all over them, while I was also wearing a ratty oversized T-shirt that had a zombie survival plan printed across the front of it. The shirt was my dad’s, and I’d commandeered it the moment a pandemic was declared. It had seemed kind of funny at the time. Now, not so much.
The corner of Aiden’s lips lifted in a half-smirk as he studied the T-shirt. I hoped it was because he found the survival plan amusing rather than the fact I wasn’t wearing a bra. Crap. I wasn’t wearing a bra. I quickly crossed my arms over my chest.
“Aiden, where’s your mom?” I repeated. It felt like if I didn’t say anything he was just going to stand there smirking at me all day. Yes, I was aware I was in my pajamas. And, yes, I knew my hair was messy and I didn’t have any makeup on. Did I care though? Not really. Not for Aiden Moore. If any other guy were standing across from me, it might have been a different story.
He lifted his gaze to my face. Finally. “She got called into the hospital and asked me to come pick you up. I hear we’re about to become lockdown buddies.”
Why did his eyes have to sparkle at the thought? I didn’t need him turning his weapons of mass flirtation on me at this hour of the morning.
“It’s only until my parents are home,” I grunted. “And that shouldn’t be more than a couple of days.”
“I thought you’d be more excited about the idea. I’ll make a great lockdown buddy.”
“Who says I’m not excited? Clearly, I’m ecstatic.”
A low chuckle rumbled from Aiden’s chest at the dry tone of my voice. “This is going to be fun.”
“Sure, it is.” I rolled my eyes. Nothing about this situation was fun. “Well, anyway, thanks for coming to get me. I just need to pack a few things.”
“You’re not packed?”
“No, I only got the call from my parents just before you arrived. You’re going to