Match Made in Quarantine

15. The Morning After

The first thing I noticed upon waking up was that I was not in my bed.

In movies, this realization is usually slow-burn and would dawn on you only after stretching, observing the room in detail, and blinking rapidly.

In reality, that was not the case.

As soon as I gained consciousness I knew I was in enemy territory. The mattress felt strange, the pine smell in the room was certainly not mine and the shirtless male shape snoring next to me was a whole new level of disturbing.

I knew, with dreaded certainty, that since this was not my bed it was Maddox's. And Maddox's room. And Maddox's pine scent.

Unable to stop myself, I groaned and I jumped out of the bed as if it had caught on fire. My heartbeat raced as I tried to recall the exact moment when I passed out. All I could remember was the sound of his comforting, melodic voice, and then I closed my eyes for just a second...

I cursed under my breath when I heard Maddox groan, clearly on the verge of waking up. Turning around on my heels, I tried to tip toe out of his room, probably looking a little too much like a cartoon villain.

"Are you trying to sneak out?" And failing miserably at it.

Hesitating, I threw a longing glance at the door before turning to face him. Maddox looked infuriatingly good for having just woken up. His curly hair was slightly tousled, his gray eyes open in lazy slits, his frame stretching across the entire bed... After our moment of peace yesterday, I felt increasingly more uncomfortable with how attractive he was and missed the moments only a few days ago when I thought he was just a shallow, dumb, playboy.

He smirked, clearly self-satisfied which is when I realized I'd been staring at him.

Clearing my throat, I looked away and stammered, "I wasn't sneaking out, I was--" Okay, Aimee, time to make that brilliant brain of yours shine, I was... "exercising."

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing me, an intellectual. Why? Why are you like this?

I cried out internally at my useless brain. It amazed me how I could go from having the perfect snarky remark to forgetting the entirety of the English language in a matter of seconds.

Maddox chuckled and stretched, looking me over.

"Ya know, I can give you a better exercise if that's what you're looking for." His voice was low and his lips raised in a crooked smile.

At first I thought he was legitimately offering to teach me some exercises. Considering this was Maddox speaking I should have known better. It wasn't until he wiggled his eyebrows and tapped on the bed next to him that I understood his meaning.

"Ew. Not even in your dreams." The words flew out of my mouth in a rush and I grimaced.

"Hm, well, that's debatable..." He answered and winked, making my stomach queasy.

Oh, God, so much ew. Well, I'm done with today.

Eager to get away from this conversation, I turned and opened the door to his room. Before I could escape, he laughed and for some reason the sound stopped me in my tracks.

I glanced back at him, my eyes narrowed into slits.

He raised his hands as if in defence and explained, "It's nice, seeing a girl sneak out of my room in the morning, for a change." The smirk on his face told me he wasn't going to let me live this down.

What had I done?

I left his room quickly and slammed the door behind me so hard for a second I was worried it would fall off the hinges. All I could hear from Maddox's room was another wave of laughter.