𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 ✓

3

Waking up to the sunlight pouring in through my light curtains, I remind myself to purchase some darker ones. I stretch my muscles out and groan before yawning and continuing to lay in bed. Staring at my white ceiling, my sleep-addled brain doesn't think about anything in particular.

Rolling over onto my stomach, I push myself up to stand and look out my window to the gorgeous view for a while. I open my door to go across the hall to the bathroom, twisting the doorknob only to be greeted by a mountain of a male, tall and imposing.

My brother is a big guy compared to most people, but I can imagine the two standing next to each other. This particular guy's broad chest and shoulders, not to mention his sheer muscle mass, would probably dwarf my brother. With nothing on his body but a white towel draped low on his waist, his staggering size is on display for my eyes only.

He looks like the love child of an underwear model and a bodybuilder.

I gawk with my lips parted, eyes tracing over his bare skin. Black tattoos are painted all over him. He has let an artist use his body as a canvas and this art belongs in a museum. Never have I ever seen so many tattoos on a person before, but I've also never seen a half-naked man in person unless you count my brother when we were children. His raven black hair is dripping wet, trailing moisture down his chiseled body that is still clear as day, even with his collection of scattered tattoos.

"Your mouth is open, but I'm not hearing any words." His face is blank, almost bored and his voice is like a cloud of smoke wrapping around me and choking me. What is happening to me right now? I close my mouth and tear my eyes away from the gorgeous specimen, now back to staring at my toes. "Are you lost?" He says rudely. I look back up to him with shock.

"No," I mumble quietly, still affected by him. He looks me up and down, clenching his jaw in what I assume is anger. I turn around and practically dive into my room when he doesn't reply, realizing that I barged into the bathroom and that I was the unwelcome guest, not him.

He must be in the room beside mine, so he must be the one to share the bathroom with me. I blush when I remember the way I stared at his body in awe and made a complete fool out of myself, exactly as I thought I might last night. Why couldn't he have been there?

I can't help but think about how attractive he is. He is so tall, and muscular, and just so dark. He was nothing like any man I'd ever seen. He just seemed like he had some sort of darkness surrounding him, but I wasn't scared, not in the slightest. Intimidated yes, but not scared. More like, intrigued.

I lie down on my stomach, and pull out my laptop from beside the bed, opening up a browser and searching the map for things within walking distance of the house. Knowing that I would be relying on Chase to drive me around, I wanted to minimize it as much as possible. Luckily for me, the campus itself is easy enough to walk to.

My door is flung open and I look hastily up to see the dark man again. He has replaced the towel with a pair of jeans, but his bare chest is still on display, water droplets collecting on his broad shoulders. Looking down at me, his eyes drop to my chest and then back up. My shoulders tense.

"You're Aurora aren't you?" He asks sheepishly, running a hand through his hair as if he's embarrassed.

"Yes," I say quietly and nod, still not making eye contact with his piercing grey eyes. I look up briefly to see him looking down at me, his jaw flexing again. Tilting my head to the side, I work up the courage to look him in the eye. "Who are you?" I ask curiously.

"Maddox, I'm friends with Chase." I bite my lip and nod, waiting for him to speak but he never does, he just stares at me.

"Well... it's been a proper good time but I better get ready. Big day and all that. " I say quietly, standing up from the bed. Noticing that my shorts have slightly ridden up, I tug them back down, feeling a blush rising to my pale face. Maddox doesn't say anything as he stands there and looks at me, finally turning around to leave. I gape at the tattoo taking over his entire back, a ribcage and spine done in black ink. The detail is incredible and looks to be taken directly from a photo, except that it is completely hollow; a skeleton.

He stops in the doorway, turns around, and says "Nice socks, Princess" as he shuts my door behind him. I blush at the thought of him complimenting anything about me. Maddox. Both times I've been near him I feel butterflies in my stomach just from a mere glance at his body.

I decide to change into a plain white top and a pink jean skirt, throwing on a light cardigan over the top in case I get cold. It was much more likely that I would be hot here after being used to miserable rain and cold my entire life in London. Knocking on Reece's door, I smile eagerly as he opes his door.

He gestures for me to come in to wait and leaves the door open. "Hey you, ready for that tour?" He asks, walking around his room and grabbing random things before shoving them into the many pockets in his shorts. I nod.

Reece grabs his keys off of his dresser before leading me out. I look down the hallway that leads to my room, seeing Maddox exiting his own room now dressed in a black t-shirt to match his black trousers; how he doesn't die in the sun, I'll never know. He watches me leave Reece's room with an eyebrow raised. "Already moving in on the little sister?" He tsks teasingly and I tilt my head in confusion. Maddox lets out a laugh at my expression before brushing past us and walking leisurely down the stairs.

"I'm being nice!" Reece yells at Maddox's back. Reece turns back to me and smiles. "I'm really just being nice, I hope you know that." He says sweetly. I smile back at him.

"I know."

"This is bloody amazing!" I exclaim with my mouth half full of chocolate chip pancakes. Reece laughs and continues to eat his bacon.

"Try mine." He offers, pushing his plate towards mine and I shrug, getting some of his food on my fork and eat it.

"Mhmm. Yum." I moan.

"Pretty's is where we come to most of the time we eat out. Breakfast here is the best. Faye always orders the same thing." We laugh and chat all through breakfast, becoming fast friends. Reece is one of those people that gets along with everyone and doesn't have a bad thing to say about anyone, making me like him even more.

Because Pretty's is located on the boardwalk directly next to the beach, we have a perfect view of it from our booth. When we're finished, Reece insists on paying and proceeds to show me all around the town, bringing me to where everybody hangs out, gets coffee, and goes shopping.

I notice that his conversation topics often revolve around a certain girl named Faye, but I don't point that out. From what he tells me, she is Lexi's best friend, and also his best friend. He tells me about her obsession with red, her reputation for being a bit of a badass, and how the two of them met.

Faye sounded like my perfect opposite, but I was liking the idea of her more and more as Reece continued to talk about her. The way he speaks about her, not as if she's on a pedestal but as an equal, made me smile so I asked him all sorts of questions about her. He knows everything. I felt like I was getting a tour of Faye instead of Greenville but I didn't mind because I couldn't wait to get to know her and Lexi. These girls are obviously important people in Chase's life and I hope they accept me the way I am.