Kidnapped By An Alpha Jerk

Chapter 23

April's POV

I fumbled for the key in my pocket and unlocked the door, slipping inside. I couldn't help but glance behind me. Aiden was there, silent as ever. There was only the ghost of a smile on my face now – I felt kind of bad slapping him. His expression was unreadable but he hadn't said anything yet. The angry, red mark was fading from his cheek and he cast me a death glare as he pushed past me. 

He deserved the slap, I told myself. He deserves a good ass whopping, I then thought bitterly. Thankfully, Aiden slipped away from me, into the shadows of the kitchen and the sound of running water sounded. I went in the opposite direction to get changed into my night suit, grateful for his lack of attention. By the time I was done, he was standing in silence behind the sofa.

 "Why are you smiling like that?" My voice was tinged with caution.

"Because I didn't know you had it in you to be such a violent little minx."

"You deserved it, Aiden. I'm surprised more people haven't flipped out at you."

He pouted at me.  "People love me. Did you know I get called a sexy beast by girls?"

I stared at him blankly. "The beast part is accurate. Sexy? I'm not too sure. Maybe their eyes aren't working properly."

His pout grew. "I am sexy April. I am a sexy, beautiful hunk of a man. And you know it," he raised his eyebrows suggestively at me. Oh God, I hated it when he looked at me like that. He was beautiful, I wasn't going to deny it. 

I couldn't help but splutter. "As if. You are one of the most infuriating, irresponsible and reckless people I know. And trust me, I'm sure plenty of people out there would just die to try out their right hook on you."

He sighed. "Damn, April. And here I was, thinking you cared."

"You kidnapped me," I replied, dumbfounded.

He paused, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah." 

I swallowed hard, my courage vanquished suddenly when I realized just how close he was to me, how shallow my breathing was. Stepping back, I retreated to the couch nervously. Ignoring him as best I could (which was very hard considering the fact that he had sat on the far end of the couch too) I flicked through channels mindlessly.

 "Are you going to choose something to watch or not?" 

"It takes time finding something worthwhile, Aiden. Finding a movie is as hard as finding a good book." I replied.

We ended up arguing over a lot of movies, but in the end, I declared that since this was my property and he was an unwelcome guest, I had the ultimate choice of picking the final selection of movies.

 "Okay so we have: The Exorcist, Bad Neighbours or Sherlock Holmes." 

"None." He confirmed, reclining back on the sofa. It was only then that I realized how surprising this situation was, having this  strange, dark haired, strange-eyed boy sitting in my living room.

"Tough luck. Pick one or leave."

He made a rude noise. I'd ended up putting it on The Exorcist in a personal bid to prove to myself that I was not someone who scared easy. I settled on the sofa, before remembering what he'd said earlier. "Are - are your friends still coming?" 

"No." He replied shortly to my relief.  

"Oh, okay," I didn't bother elaborating – if they weren't coming then that was fine by me. They were unwelcome in this house. And so was he, I thought, though I didn't seem to mind his company as much.

"I want some food." I stated suddenly. "I'm ordering a pizza. Do you want any?"

"Yeah, get me the whole shop."

I flipped him the finger.

He made a little kissy sound at me and I rolled my eyes again, turning to dial the pizza shop number. 

"But, I want popcorn if we're watching this shit." He said thoughtfully, his mouth set in a thin line. I returned the frown and gestured to the kitchen. I wasn't making it for him. He groaned before going into the kitchen. After a couple of minutes I heard a yell and ran in – I just knew this idiot was going to do something stupid.  He was clutching his hand and giving death glares to the bag of popcorn on the table.

"It burnt me the motherfucker!" He yelled, looking as though he was ready to hurtle himself at it.

I stifled a snort. "Calm down. It's just a bag of popcorn." I pinched the bag shaking it roughly to make sure all the kernels had popped. I then emptied it out into a bowl and offered it to Aiden, struggling to keep a straight face at how hurt he looked that the popcorn burnt him. 

The pizza ended up coming, but an hour too late. By that time, we were already caught up with the movie. I instantly felt myself tense as he unconsciously edged closer on the sofa. The lights were off so we could watch the movie in all its glory and I felt slightly uncomfortable.

His head was leaning next to me, his body waves of warmth. We were nearly a ¼ of the way into the movie and I was scrunched up into a little ball, a pillow covering my eyes, allowing me to see a strip of TV from above. I jumped as the next scene rolled into play and I could feel rather than hear Aiden's laughter next to me.

"Shut up!" I whisper-shrieked. "You know, I'm not actually scared, it's just jump scares and the soundtrack that makes it creepy." I defended myself, covering myself completely with the pillows now, half leaning on Aiden and clutching at his shirt. He didn't resist, but did tense at first. Then, an arm traced its way along my shoulders and pulled me up gently, a hand pressed softly against my back so my head was resting on his chest.

I came to my senses and flinched away.

 "You're not going to hit me again are you?" Aiden sounded worried. 

"Only if you try to scare me later on," I mumbled back. "I swear, my reflexes are amazing. My first instinct is to punch at the air when someone jumps out at me. So I mean... I'd watch out if I were you."  

He smiled faintly and rose, taking hold of my shoulders and half-dragging me from the sofa. He was leading me away from the TV and towards my bedroom. I realized this a few moments later when my brain finally caught up with my body and I dug my feet into the ground. He halted to a stop and looked at me questioningly, the green in his eyes coming out more than the grey. He looked so pretty with his eyes like this.

"April, you're shaking. I don't think we should carry on watching that movie."

"I'm not even scared, haha." I laughed nervously.

"April, you punched me 10 minutes ago because I made a noise."

I grimaced. "Sorry." 

He rolled his eyes at me. "Look, go to sleep little Cruella." I glared at him and he opened the door for me, switching on the light. I paused, stepping past him and turned around to stare.

"Are you going to be okay letting yourself out?" 

"I'm not stupid." 

"Are you – okay?" I said uncomfortably, looking out the window at the full moon casting a sliver of platinum light through. He didn't bother nodding. I pulled a face, deciding it was best not to say anything, and muttered a goodbye before scanning my room and switching off the light quickly, bounding over to my bed in three quick strides. I hated the feeling of open vulnerability – especially in the dark. Just before I fully knocked out I thought I heard the door open slightly and the ghost of a hand brushing my face before a familiar voice whispered a goodnight.