Falling, Fallen | ✔️

43

~Ayla's POV~

When Soren and I got back home, he and I headed up to our separate bathrooms. I took off my heels when I got into my room, placing them back in the closet before I took off my dress and grabbed an oversized t-shirt to put on after my shower, which was much more comfortable.

I took off my makeup and then all my jewelry before I went and hopped into the shower, planning on essentially reverting into lazy bum mode for the rest of the night. After I showered and had gotten dressed, I headed back into my bedroom and grabbed a pair of socks from my dresser. As I slipped my feet into a pair of soft fuzzy socks, Soren came sauntering into my bedroom, shirtless and dressed in nothing but a pair of boxers. His dark hair was wet, dripping onto his skin, so I assumed he had taken a quick shower as well. He smiled when his eyes landed on me, watching me as I crawled into my bed and slipped under the blankets.

"Hey," I pouted at him playfully as he crawled into my bed with me and practically flopped on top of me. Well, on top of my chest, to be more specific. "This is my bed." I said, but I swung my arm around his back anyway, contradicting myself. He only smirked playfully at me and raised a brow. "Then tell me to get out, if you really don't want me in it." He murmured, as if he knew that I wouldn't do that. Hell, he probably did know that by now. Like I said, Soren really did try to take any chance he could to sleep in my bed with me, or to have me sleep in his with him. As we both knew would happen, I ended up not kicking him out, of course.

However, after a few minutes of us laying in my bed, holding one another, I decided to ask a question that had been on my mind since before we left the club. "Is it weird being friends with Danica still? I mean, she's obviously still interested in you." I asked, trying not to show any of the anxiety I was feeling when I spoke. I didn't want to make him mad by asking about her. To my relief, though, he didn't get mad at all. He just opened his eyes and raised a brow at me. "No, not really. I'm not interested in her at all, so it's not like I have any feelings for her or like I'm resentful about our break up. She's not even interested in me either, Ayla." He chuckled, causing me to shoot him a look of disbelief. Did he not remember what had happened earlier or something? I very clearly recalled her flirting with him and looking at him like she wanted to jump his bones.

"She's not interested in you?" I echoed incredulously, raising my brows in surprise. There was surely no way he actually thought that. "I'm sorry, what? She was flirting with you earlier, Soren. What would you call that?" I asked, humming curiously.

His lips twitched and he lifted his head, settling his chin onto my breasts instead of his cheek so he could look at me better. "All Danica has ever wanted from me since we broke up is to keep me on a leash, Ayla. She doesn't want me, not really. She just doesn't want me to have anyone else, or for me to be anyone else's. Why do you think she disliked you so much, if not that?" He answered, cocking up a brow at me. I went quiet pretty quickly when he said that, because I realized that it actually made a lot of sense and he was probably right. After all, he knew her far better than I did.

"But you don't resent her for that, either? She has no right to behave like that." I said softly, frowning at him. He smiled and reached up, pushing my hair out of my face. "No, I don't resent her because I don't care what she wants from me. I don't care what she expects of me. I already know that she has no hold on me." He answered, causing me to smile and lay my head back down on the pillow and stare up at the ceiling. "But you, Ayla," Soren began in a murmur, pushing himself up. He crawled up over me until his face hovered above mine and his hands planted themselves on either side of my head, his biceps flexing. "I don't even know how to begin to tell you the type of leash you've got me on."

My eyes widened in surprise as I gazed up at him, stunned by his words. "H-Huh?" I stuttered, caught off guard. He just grinned wickedly and shook his head, blue eyes trailing over my face. "Nothing, baby." He muttered. "Nothing at all." He whispered, flopping down onto his side next to me. I felt his arms slide around my waist and he pulled me into him, ready to go to sleep, but I was suddenly wide awake. He couldn't just say something like that to me and then expect me to go to sleep like it was nothing!

Soren cuddled me into his chest, slipping his leg forward between mine as he buried his face into my hair. "Goodnight, Ayla." He said softly, my face burning as I breathed in his scent and listened to the sound of his heartbeat. "G-Goodnight, Soren." I responded softly, all whilst knowing that there was certainly not a chance in hell that I'd actually be falling asleep anytime soon. Not anymore, at least. However, he, on the other hand, didn't seem to have the slightest problem in falling asleep despite the very intimate words he'd just said to me. They were still sitting in the back of my mind, weighing heavy on me in the most oddly comfortable and enticing way.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep, I settled for simply laying beside him in bed as he slept, dwelling over the words he'd said to me. And all the while, I knew I was only falling harder for this man.