Chapter Twenty-Three

I can hear him clinking some things around in the kitchen as he prepares the drinks for us, and I turn the fireplace on before setting into the couch. Luckily, I’ve broken it in enough that sitting in the oversized cushions don’t necessarily trigger the memory of Friday night, as long as I keep my mind busy. I haven’t sat with Adrian on it since then though, so hopefully the homework is interesting enough to keep me occupied.

While I wait for the website I need to load, I reach over to the tabel for the remote and turn the TV to my preferred streaming website, deciding to pick up where I left off with a show I started bing-watching over the weekend.

Adrian brings too mugs over and hands one to me as he joins me on the couch, casually draping his free arm over the back of the sofa behind me. He doesn’t acknowledge the warning look I shoot him as he sips his steaming beverage, eyeing the actors on the TV.
“What’s this about again?” He asks as I lean back in my seat with my drink, taking a sip of the unsweetened green tea. I didn’t instruct him to add any sweetener to it though, so I drink it anyway, wincing as it burns my throat.

“I don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s something to do with Vampires,” I say around my scalded tongue.

“Careful, it’s really hot,” He says, reaching around the back of my head to confiscate the mug. “I don’t want you to burn yourself.”

“Ugh, too late,” I say, fanning my tongue dramatically.

He places my tea back on the coffee tabel before placing his arm back where it was. “Only Vampires? That’s boring, isn’t it?” He redirects his attention back to the show, seeming particularly bothered.

“Not really, it’s a drama-romance between the human girl and the Vampire brothers,” I explain, glancing up from my laptop. “Girls like that kind of stuff.”

He sips his drink, casting a doubtful look at me over the rim. “Do they?”

I ignore him as I begin to research what I need for my homework, leaving him to interperit my eyeroll for himself. He leaves me to my work for a few minutes before his noises begin to distract me. Every time the main love interest says something sweet and romantic about the main character, Adrian scoffs or grunts in disbelief.

I turn to stare at him in annoyance. “Don’t you have homework to get done too? We’re in the same classes, you know.”

He leans over to see what I’m researching, lifting a lip in disinterest. “I’m not required to do homework. I don’t need a passing grade.”

I give him an incredulous look. “Of course you do. You don’t want to get booted out of all my classes, do you?”

“Like I said, I’m not attending for my own academics,” He says, taking a long sip of his beverage. “The proffesors know that.”

My brow furrows in confusion. “So they just let you in to chaparone me?”

He shrugs, leaning to set his empy mug down and picks mine back up. “Basically. My father is an alumni too, remember? He pulled some strings the same way your father did.”

“Oh,” I say, turning back to my assignment with a frown. “That makes sense, I guess.”
Adrian seems to sense that I’m unsatisfied by his answer, so he blows on my tea before offering the mug back to me as a peace offering. “Besides, we only have one computer,” He says, making an excuse for himself.

I give him an anamused look, but accept the drink anyway as I click the button to submit my work. “You’re like, a millionaire, aren’t you? You can literally just buy one for yourself instead of mooching off of mine.”

He fakes a chest injury dramatically. “Ouch. I’m cheap, don’t make me say it out loud,” He admits, taking the closed laptop from me as I hand it off to him, setting it on the table by the remote.

I roll my eyes as I pull my knees to my chest, forgetting that I’m still wearing a skirt. “Why? Are you saving money for your retirement or something?”

Adrian reaches to puch my legs back down, averting his eyes. “I guess you could say that, but it’s mostly for my future in general. Can you sit like a lady, please?”

I frown, resisting his gentle push to straighten my knees. “Why? This is my house, isn’t it?”

Adrian sighs, leaning his head back and pinching the bridge of his nose. “It is, but that’s not fair. You wouldn’t do that if there was a different guy here, would you?” I’m not used to hearing a pout in his tone and it makes me want to tease him even more.

“Maybe. It depends on who it is,” I poke fun at him, trying to focus back on the show. “If it offends you, you can give me your pants and we can trade.”

My suggestion draws a disbelieving laugh from him as he shakes his head. “Me, pull of a mini skirt? I don’t have the legs for it. You know, I could just tickle you until you put some pants on,” He leans forward threateningly, reaching for my cup to avoid spilling any tea on the couch if he follows through.

I cling to my mug with newfound possesivness, leaning away from him with narrowed eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

He raises an eyebrow, his eyes raking up and down my body. “I know your weakness now, remember?” Suddenly, I feel the playfulness in the air replaced with something else, and it reflects in his dark eyes as he leans forward even more. His fingers begin to pry mine off of the cup one by one, daring me to disobey him.

“One,” He begins to count, starting with my pinky. “Two,” He continues with each finger, never breaking eye contact.

I swallow nervously, determined not to give up my tea. “Don’t make me scream,” I threaten, but it does nothing but draw a smile from him.

“No one will come help you. I’m all you have, little bunny,” He chuckles, inching forward as he hooks a finger around finger number three. “Three,” He moves a free hand to support the bottom of the cup do it doesn’t fall into my lap, brushing against my knee as he does so.

My skirt hikes up even further as I try to lean back, but end up falling onto the cusion beside me and having to prop myself up by an elbow. If he looks down right now, I know he can see my underwear. As if coming to the same conclusion himself, he places a knee between my legs to lean over me, keeping his hand on my mug.

“You’d better give up while you still can,” He says, voice deepening to a whisper. “Listen to daddy.”

My breath hitches in my throat as I losen my grip, letting him take the cup from me. “You said not to call you that,” I breathe, staring up at him. My heart pounds in my ears so loudly that I’m sure he must be able to hear it too.

“When we’re alone, you can call me whatever you want,” He snickers at his victory, taking a sip from my cup as he continues to tower above me, keeping his knee pressed against my thighs. “I win. This tastes gross,”

I reach to push on his chest, feeling my face redden. I blame it on the blood rushing to my head, but have no excuse for feeling breathless. “You didn’t sweeten it,”

Adrian drags his eyes down my body, noticing the way my sweater has pulled up, exposing my stomach. He lowers his gaze even further to my skirt, seeing that it’s been flipped upwards to expose everything. Looking back to me pink cheeks, he realizes what he’s done and spits the tea back into the cup, practically jumping off of me.

I sit up and fix my clothes, turning to glower at him. Now I have to go change everything. I don’t feel too embarrassed though, because I notice a twitch as I look down at his lap. It makes me feel better knowing that he got himself turned on now, too.

I look away quickly and stand up, pinning my skirt to my thighs in case he tried to flip it up as I pass by him. Judging from the embarrassment on his face though, I don’t think he’ll be touching me again for a while.

Once I start climbing the staircase, I look back at him over my shoulder to catch him staring at my ass, where I know he can see under my skirt at this elevation. I pause, giving him a prolonged view as I catch him red-handed. Once he realizes he’s been caught, I jab a finger in his direction.

“They’re red, in case you didn’t see well enough,” I say, calling him out on admiring my lace underware. “You’d better not run off with some lame excuse again this time. You did this yourself, so don’t hide from it,” I demand before stomping up the last few steps to my bedroom.