The Lonely Boy

How could he not?

He watched as Sophia undressed herself (only her bra; her knickers stayed on) and couldn't help but watch as he drank in every inch of her exposed form. He'd seen her naked hundreds of times (they did, after all, have an extremely active sex life), but he never failed to be awestruck by her sheer beauty. He was certain that she knew she was attractive--she was, after all, the most high in demand stripper at the gentleman's club she (they, for that matter) worked at--but he found himself wanting to tell her over and over again as it was. He didn't think she realized just how attractive he found her; she was easily the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. He knew, somewhere deep down, that even if he wasn't as madly in love with her as he was...that he would feel the same way. He'd been struck by her beauty the first time they'd ever met, and his appreciation for her physicality just grew and mounted with each passing day. Perhaps one day he'd tell her--somewhere off in the future where he didn't still feel so vulnerable and shaken in the aftermath of his confession of love to her.

He was still on the high that came with the reciprocation of her emotions, honestly.

By the time she finally curled up next to him in bed and pulled him close, Aiden was ready to drift off to sleep with his beloved by his side. So when Sophia decided to lean forward and press her lips against his ear to paint a naughty picture for him--all the while trailing one of her hands down his torso--Aiden couldn't help but shiver and give a soft moan of consent in response. He bit down roughly on his bottom lip as he mused over what the morning would bring him, more than a little excited and pleased with what it was Sophia had in mind.

When he finally managed to find the words to speak, Sophia wasn’t too surprised by what he chose to say. He had every right to be a little incredulous, and she couldn’t quite blame him for his hesitancy to believe her. Still, though…”Aiden.” His name was a bit sharp on her tongue as it fell from her lips, but quickly tempered with softness as she reached out to slide her fingers into his hair, further tousling his silky blonde locks as she combed them away from his face in a gesture designed to soothe and comfort his frazzled nerves. She parted her thighs so that they rested on either side of his hips, pressing herself flush against him and shifting forward once in a manner that was more instinctive than anything else. “Telling someone you love them for the sole purpose of sparing their feelings has to be one of the stupidest things a person can do—and seeing as I try to avoid doing stupid things, you can be certain that I’m not lying to you. If I didn’t feel the same way…well, you would know. I’d make sure of that.” 

He was just...God, he was happy. Happy that he had finally told her he loved her (even if it had been rather awkward at first). Happy that she had finally come around and confessed her feelings for him in return. Happy that she wasn't trying to be stiff and keep her distance for him.

But perhaps what Aiden was most happy about was the fact that she wasn't lying, either. She truly loved him; all of him. And a lot, by the way she was talking and cradling his face in her hands. God, he swore his heart was going to beat right out of his chest!

"I love you too, Sophia," He managed once he had finally found his voice. He was grateful that she was guiding him through this, and the purchase he held on her waist tightened as she once again assured him that she loved him. He hoped that this would make their relationship easier--that he would stop feeling so insecure and weak in comparison to other men who were more stereotypically "masculine". But he didn't know hot to communicate these feelings or fears to her, so instead he merely inhaled sharply before lifting his head off the pillow and giving her a soft kiss on the lips. He knew that Sophia wasn't exactly skilled when it came to communicating emotions--she was much more adept at expressing herself through physical means--so there was really no way to express to her how grateful he was that she'd gone to the effort of telling him this. She might not ever know it, but it meant the absolute world to him.

Not to mention, it put his worried mind to rest to know that she loved him in return.

First, though…first, she needed to do whatever she could to wipe away the look on his face, the one that made her heart ache and her throat clench and tighten to a near painful extent. She had hurt him earlier on during the night, and it was clear to Sophia that Aiden, sweet Aiden, was still suffering due to her cowardice. “No, Aiden,” she finally managed to respond, her voice soft and slightly hoarse. She dusted her fingers across his forehead, brushing the dark blonde strands away from his brow and out of his eyes. “Everything is not alright. What happened earlier, in the living room…” She trailed off, inhaling shakily and leaning down to press another tender kiss to his full lips, finding strength in the brief and affectionate gesture. Her mouth lingered on his for another moment before she pulled away from him slightly, her breath stirring on his skin as she struggled to find the right words to say. “I think we both know that I’m rubbish when it comes to feelings and the like, yeah?” she managed to question in a rush, cursing the fact that her hands were bloody shaking. Where had all of her cool composure gone?

Then again, however...Aiden was a generally wary sort of individual to start with.

So when she began to speak about what had happened earlier in the living room with such aching tenderness and sorrow in her voice, Aiden was more than a little shocked. His eyes widened as she continued to speak, and time and time again he wished to part his lips and tell her that she had nothing to be sorry for, but he refrained. There was something about the way she was looking at him...about the way that she was speaking to him, even, that had Aiden halting in his tracks. He wanted to listen to her, of course, but he also didn't want Sophia to blame herself for not feeling the same way he did. He was disappointed and crushed, of course, but that was no reason for her to feel guilty just because she didn't return his--

What? What?

He froze the moment she said she loved him, stiffening considerably underneath her. Inhaling a jagged breath, his eyes widened and he gazed up at her. Astonishment washed over his pale features, and for a long series of moments he could do nothing but stare at her (not even when she kissed him). He was more than a little confused (relieved to an extent, of course) and before he could even consider his actions, he was spitting out the first thought that crossed his mind.

"You're--you're not just saying this to make me feel better?" He asked breathlessly, his heart hammering something fierce inside of his chest. "Because you--you--I hope you know that you don't have to do that for me, Soph. You don't have to uhm...spare my feelings if you don't feel the same way that I do."

But Aiden didn’t know. He didn’t know that she had had her heart (and her body) stomped and trampled on in the past, and he didn’t understand that she had more than one reason to feel the way she did when it came to allowing herself to love and be loved in return. But even that wasn’t his fault, it was hers—she still hadn’t told him about Colton and the abusive past she shared with him, and she still didn’t know if she ever would. Right now, though, she wasn’t thinking about Colton—she was thinking about Aiden, her Aiden, and how his already fragile self-esteem had been dealt yet another blow at her own hands. She watched, helpless to do anything else, as he faked a yawn and gently pushed her away and off of his lap, unable to find the right words to say as he excused himself to the bedroom for the night. She knew that he wasn’t tired—that up until five minutes ago, he would have been more than willing to spend the rest of the night fooling around, but…now he wanted to be alone with the pain of love that was seemingly unrequited.

And yet here he was, offering her food and the use of his home, despite the fact that she had more or less just torn out his heart and walked all over it. He was still so…so sweet, and so in love with her, and it hurt to see him walk away so dejectedly, the slump of his shoulders giving way to his hopelessness. After he had retreated into the bedroom, Sophia fell back down onto the couch once more, burying her face in the palms of her hands. Hours passed like days as she struggled to figure out what to do, knowing that Aiden was just a room a way and hurting because she was emotionally scarred and damaged beyond repair. She did…she did love him, though, and…maybe it was time for her to tell him.

But she didn't do that. She had thanked him. Bloody thanked him. Fuck, Aiden felt like a fool.

He wondered if the sensation would ever pass.

Some time after midnight, he woke up to the sensation of someone straddling his hips and kissing along his face tenderly. Slowly, he peeled back his heavy eyelids, a small sort of groan escaping his lips as he forced his gaze to focus on the beautiful woman perched on top of him. It was Sophia (of course) and she was mumbling something about needing to communicate something to him. His heart jumped to his throat in that minute, and all Aiden could manage to do was exhale against her shakily and blink up at her in wonder. He swallowed the knot in his throat, licking his lips and giving a sort sort of shake of his head. This was it, then--she was going to tell him that she liked him, but...they'd never work out. That she wanted to end things.

That she wanted to stay friends.

He knew that if she requested to go, he'd let her. He loved her, of course, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with this woman, but...if that was what she wanted, he'd give it to her. He took a few moments of silence to allow his gaze to rove over her build, feeling his heart in his throat and his hands clammy as they gripped the bed sheets underneath him for purchase. He supposed this was it, then--the moment of truth, so to speak. It was already clear to him that what had passed between them tonight was huge, and it was even more painstakingly obvious that she didn't love him in return. So why was she doing this? Why was she straddling him and kissing his face? He wanted to ask (desperately, in fact), but all he could manage to say was--

Sophia gave a pleased purr of a sound as Aiden’s warm and masculine hands wound themselves around her dainty waist to pull her flush against his body, eagerly accepting his tantalizing heat. “Mmm…baby…” she murmured breathlessly against his lips, rolling her hips forward once to give him a taste of what would come within the next half hour if they continued down the road they were on. Already she was fantasizing about what they could spend the rest of the night doing; maybe she could crawl down the length of Aiden’s body until she was between his thighs and tease his desperate cock until he was pleading with her to take him into her mouth, or maybe she could forgo the teasing and foreplay in favor of riding him as hard and fast as she possibly could. Whatever they ended up doing, Sophia knew that it would be perfect—that was always the case when it came to her and Aiden.

So when she finally drew her kiss-swollen lips away from her boyfriend’s, it was only because she planned on informing him that they would be heading to the bedroom. Aiden, however…seemed to have something else in mind, and his lips were still less than a hairbreadth away from hers when he spoke, and…professed his love to her. All of the air in Sophia’s lungs was released in a painfully jagged rush, and she froze against him, her eyes widening as she struggled to formulate some sort of response—knowing that she wouldn’t be able to give him the one he wanted. She…she did love him; she loved him more than anything in the entire world, but…confessing that to him would put him in a vulnerable position she didn’t think she would be able to endure. And it broke her heart—it broke her heart to know that she was so broken and so damaged beyond repair that she couldn’t give the man who had gifted her with everything what he wanted to hear most from her.

“Aiden, I…” she began, trailing off and casting her eyes away from his achingly hopeful ones, unable to bear meeting his gaze and seeing the pain that would soon overwhelm his features. Exhaling roughly, it was all she could do to stiffly raise her head and brush her lips against Aiden’s in a kiss that was meant as an apology. She gripped his shoulders tightly, her fingers digging into his skin in an attempt to show him just how much she needed him—and that if he walked away now, she would be a mess without him. Her lips lingered against his, and when she finally drew her lips from his, there was regret in her eyes.

One thing was for certain--it would sure as hell make his sudden proclamation a hell of a lot less awkward.

So he waited. He paused, his breath hitched in his throat as a million different emotions flickered across his girlfriend's face. Her hands seemed to tighten their hold on his person, and for the life of him Aiden couldn't figure out what she was trying to express. Was she astonished? Angry? Scared? He supposed the first emotion would make the most sense, though he couldn't imagine him sputtering out such an obvious declaration of love would cause any shock whatsoever. So he licked his lips and waited for the words that would never come and hoped for the confession that would never reach his ears. He was a ridiculously hopeful thing, Aiden Brooke, and in the end he supposed it would be his downfall.

It sure as hell was tonight.

Thank you. No "I love you too, Aiden" or "Oh Aiden, I've felt the same way for so long now." Just a simple thank you and a brush of her lips against his. Aiden felt his heart drop to his stomach in that moment, and he wondered how the hell he had even managed to be so hopeful in the first place. Of course she didn't love him--she was beautiful and sexy and confident and brilliant, and he was just little stuttering, nervous, shy Aiden Brooke. The only claim in his life he had was his wealth, and even that wasn't his. It was his parents. He felt foolish--more so than he ever had in his life--and in order to refrain from exploding into a dozen different emotions that he didn't want Sophia to see, Aiden swallowed heavily and gingerly shifted her out of his lap, feigning a yawn and stretching his limbs.

"Yeah, well...no problem," He said evasively, rubbing his clammy hands against his trousers before standing and glancing towards their bedroom.

"I'm kind of tired, though, so...I think I'm going to head on to bed," He managed, jerking his head towards the door and heading off to the room they shared. "Feel free to stay up...you know, watch whatever you want, eat whatever you want--I--I--I'm just tired, so I'm just...yeah, I'm just gonna go to bed."

She felt her heart warm when he insisted that he always enjoyed spending time with her. Without even having to try, Aiden knew exactly what it was he needed to say to her to have her falling even more in more in love with him by the second. It was the little things, too—from the raw honesty in his words to the way he called her Soph—something that no one else did—that had Sophia wondering how on earth she was ever going to deserve him. Right when she was about to reply to his heartfelt comment, Aiden was lowering his head and angling his face towards her. She knew he was going to kiss her, and she met him halfway, moaning softly the moment their lips met. Aiden’s mouth was always warm and soothing and delicious all at once; he kissed her with everything he had within that impossibly huge heart of his, and right now, he was kissing her tenderly. She responded eagerly, drawing his lower lip between both of hers and tugging gently on the supple flesh. Her tongue darted out to trace the full curve of his bottom lip, and her fingers inched higher up along his inner thigh as they continued to kiss languidly.

Either way, he was terrified as hell that he was going to blurt it out at the wrong time.

So by the time Aiden had finally finished kissing Sophia, he thought they would return to watching the film. In retrospect, he probably should have expected a hell of a lot more from her--and as his girlfriend swiveled around to perch herself on his lap, he was greeted with the prospect of what lay ahead of him for the night. She was giving him that look--the look that spoke of minutes of breathless snogging and heavy petting that could, in all probability, lead to them stumbling off to the bedroom to fuck one another senseless. He had no idea if it was going to go that far tonight, but as Sophia leaned forward to claim his mouth in a heated kiss, Aiden couldn't find himself caring much. He kissed her back eagerly, parting his lips and moaning as she flicked her tongue against his lips. His hands wound their way around her waist with ease, fisting in the soft material of her shirt and tugging her body closer against him as they kissed. He only half-heard her breathless murmurs by the time she pulled away from him, but once he understood the weight of her words, he couldn't help but blurt out the next few words. They were like whispers against her skin as his lips dusted against her mouth, and his blue eyes lifted to meet her brown ones as he spoke.

Now, curled up beside him on the sofa as they watched a film together, Sophia was truly content. Aiden was so warm and sturdy against her smaller frame; he sometimes seemed a bit…vulnerable, but there was an underlying strength to his lean form that most people overlooked. In all honesty, she wasn’t paying too much attention to the movie; she was too busy focusing on the deep blue of Aiden’s eyes and how comforting it felt to have his long, slim fingers combing through her hair. She had never really been one for…affectionate gestures and the like, but now, when she and her boyfriend hardly ever went five minutes without touching one another, she was starting to realize that she had just never been given the opportunity to be affectionate in the past. Aiden had opened her eyes to so many things—he had showed her what a healthy and happy relationship was supposed to be like, and now, she couldn’t even bear to imagine what her life would be like without him.

Surely she didn't want this long-term like he did; Sophia simply wasn't...she wasn't that sort of person. He knew he couldn't expect as much from her in the first place--it would be wrong of him, no matter how much Aiden may have desired it.

He'd have to come to terms with who she was. One way or another.

He nodded his head lazily when she stated the movie was a bit slow, but not too terribly bad--he didn't know, to be honest, though he was quite willing to take her word for it. He shivered as he felt her fingers inch their way up his inner thigh, savoring the sweet delicacy of her touch and imprinting the sensation to his memory. He loved when they were intimate like this--they didn't even have to be fooling around or snogging one another senseless; Aiden simply took pleasure in her company, and in return he liked to think that she derived the same sort of satisfaction from being with him. After all, there had to be a reason she'd stuck around with him for so long, right?

"Interested in me?" He asked, slightly startled by her statement. "I always enjoy myself when I'm with you, Soph. It's been that way for nearly a year now." He felt the need to add something--anything--to the conversation, though he had no sodding idea what he'd even tell her.

What was there to say?

There was a realization hidden somewhere in there. There was a truth that she was too scared to look for, but it was there, and it was getting harder and harder for Sophia to deny. She loved being with him, she loved everything about him, and that…that was as far as she would go for now. She was closer and less guarded with him than she had been in the early months of their relationship, but she still had  a hell of a lot of reservations when it came to him—when it came to any man, really. Colton had gone and screwed her up, and…she was only just beginning to heal. And Aiden…Aiden was the main reason she was even managing to fix herself in the first place. 

She watched as Aiden carefully retrieved their cake from the oven, a wide smile blooming across his face when he realized that—as she had predicted—it had turned out absolutely perfect. She wanted to memorize him like that, she decided. She wanted to commit his happiness to memory, and she supposed it spoke volumes that it wasn’t his face contorted with pleasure or lust that she wanted to remember always—it was the wide, albeit slightly timid smile that she wanted to take hold of and never forget. She stood beside him, smiling at the sight of their cake and reaching up to press a quick kiss to his cheek—a chaste one, this time. 

There. It was perfect. Just as he'd said.

When Sophia spoke, he felt her shift closer to him and slide her hand down the back pocket of her trousers. He could feel the delicate curve of her palm and shape of her fingers press against the outline of his arse, and he swore he could smell the enticing scent of her perfume from their proximity. It didn't matter that they had been together for months now; it didn't even matter that they had sex more times than he could count--Aiden never grew tired of being around Sophia. Every time, he was affected the same way; she was intoxicating, as he'd stated several times, and he simply couldn't get enough of her. He strongly suspected he never would; there was so much more to her than even she herself knew. She was, in a word, mesmerizing. The most mesmerizing woman he'd ever come in contact with.

He was resigning himself to spending an afternoon eating cake and watching television with his girlfriend when he remembered what it was she had stated earlier--she wanted to ride him in the car. Aiden fought off a blush that was rising to his cheeks, and for a moment he was locked in the vivid imagery of what was sure to come.

Sophia loved riding him, and Aiden craved for her to do it; it was probably their favorite position (at least his), and there was really no question as to why. He pictured Sophia sliding onto his lap and dragging her shirt down so that her bra-clad breasts were showing. She'd probably spread her thighs and grind against him slowly, murmuring in his ears that she'd gotten rid of her knickers and urging him to pop her breasts out of the tight confines of her bra. He could imagine the way her skillful fingers would unbuckle his trousers and pull his aching cock out of the confines of his clothing, and she'd give an erotic whimper and tilt her head back, rubbing her breasts against his face. He pictured her sliding down on his cock at an agonizingly slow pace, mewling with desire as her braid became loose and curled down her back. He pictured her grinding her hips against him at a slow and sensual pace, her warm arse cheeks dragging against his thighs as she rode him. She might snake a hand into his hair and grip onto the soft blonde strands tightly, moaning about how good he felt and how she loved fucking herself on his cock. He pictured her eyes widening and her lips trembling as she came; her entire body quivering with lust as her pussy contracted around his thick length. He imagined what it would be like if she used a hand to fondle one of her swollen tits, leaning back until her back was pressing on the steering wheel and causing the car horn to blare and--

And that was enough of that!

"Hey, Soph," He managed, clearing his voice and trying to keep himself from quivering as he spoke. "Let's uhh...go to the car, alright?"

She felt Aiden’s fingers tighten their hold on the soft cotton of her shirt, and she moaned for him, extremely pleased with the way he was reacting to her body and the way she touched him. She knew that Aiden more than likely wouldn’t approve of it, but if she could, she would gladly lift up her skirt and tug her knickers aside before pulling Aiden’s cock out of his trousers and riding him then and there. That was an admittedly exciting thought in itself; how fun would it be to claim Aiden in front of a room full of strangers? She wondered if he would ever, ever consent to such a thing, highly doubting that he would. She didn’t mind, though—the last thing she ever wanted to do was pressure him into things he wasn’t comfortable with, and she was more than content with fucking him with no one else around.

He was in love with her. Madly, hopelessly, crazily in love with her.

Even the way she kissed him was enough to have him falling in love with her all over again. It probably sounded ridiculous to anyone who wasn't him, but Aiden hardly cared. He had fallen head-over-heels for a woman who he thanked heaven for every day of his life, and no matter what happened in his life, he could be grateful that he had her. The only problem was that now that she had entered his life--willingly, at that--he didn't know if he could ever let her go. How was she supposed to? She was so central to his life--to his entire being--that the thought of living even a day without her was enough to fill him with dread. He felt ridiculously clingy and disgusting for feeling so dependent on another human being, but to deny it would be a lie. He needed her; whether or not Sophia Bartlett was aware of it, he needed her.

She was grinding against him frantically now, and if Aiden hadn't heard the shrill ding of the oven, he probably would have continued to snog her in such a fashion until his cock was rock hard and jutting between his thighs. As it was, he shakily pulled her off him, his legs trembling slightly as he moved to stand and ran a hand through his hair. He tried to keep cool, but the task was nearly impossible, so he took to humming to himself. Groping for the oven mitt, he took the cake out of the oven, turning the timer and heater off and setting the pan down on the stove top. He glanced down at their chocolate cake, grinning when he realized the crust of it hadn't cracked at all.

She gave him a pleased hum as he wrapped his arms around her waist, inadvertently tugging her even closer to his masculine frame. She was straddling him almost indecently now, but Sophia didn’t care—why shouldn’t she be allowed to kiss and touch her boyfriend whenever she pleased? “Mmm, Aiden,” she breathed as his teeth scraped against the tender flesh of her lower lip—probably accidentally, knowing him. “You’re the good kisser here, baby; you’re turning me on.” To prove her point, she kissed him harder, drawing the tip of his hot tongue into her mouth and suckling on it in a manner that was very, very reminiscent of a different act of the same nature. She wanted him to be hot and bothered and almost completely undone by the time their cake was finished baking—because when Aiden got desperate, Aiden also got /hot/. Even more so than usual.

That was bad, wasn't it? For him to wonder and question motives. It wasn't...it wasn't so much him not believing her or anything like that as it was he just...didn't understood what she saw in him. That sounded ridiculously detrimental to his self-esteem (again, ha!), but it was the truth. After all these weeks--months, even--of being with her, he still couldn't figure out what she saw in him. There was plenty to see in her. Him? Not so much.

Nevertheless, she seemed...well, she seemed to want him. If the way she kissed him and spoke to him in a low and sultry sort of voice was anything to go by, that is. He was desperate as he kissed her, and his grip on her shirt only seemed to tighten as she spoke to him and deepened their kiss. When she spoke about wanting him to feel how wet she made him, he almost stopped dead in his tracks right there. Surely she wouldn't...? Not in public...? Right here in the cooking class of all places? His questions were quelled the moment she began to grind herself against him, then, speaking of how she'd make him feel her up once they were in the car. He could hardly wait, and he felt that same tickle of arousal tugging and pulling behind his navel as she ground herself against him.

Fuck, how was it possible for one woman to be so sexy?

She watched as Aiden finished with the cake batter and placed it in the oven, resigning herself to wait as it baked. She could swear that she could still feel the gazes of the blonde girl and her friend boring into her back, and she felt herself begin to simmer with rage again. How dare they act as if they had any sort of claim over her boyfriend? How dare they make such unsolicited comments to a man who was clearly taken? It was distasteful, and it was more than enough to have Sophia’s blood boiling with fury. Oh, she would show them—Aiden belonged to her and only her, and she wasn’t at all afraid to prove that to a room full of people.

His suspicions were confirmed as she nudged at his jawline, and he willingly tipped his head back, a startled sort of quiet gasp escaping his lips as she kissed his neck. He could feel her sucking and nibbling on the tender flesh of his throat, and in that moment he was certain the proof of her touches would be marked all over him by tomorrow. Oddly enough, he didn't care; oddly enough, he relished in that. It proved that they belonged to one another--at least in Aiden's mind. And to Aiden, the acknowledgement that they belonged to the other was...well, it was extremely important to him. Especially given how...self-conscious he could be when it came to Sophia. They were just so different, and he was afraid that one day she'd see that and grow tired of him. He was, after all, severely less exciting to be around than she was.

He felt breathless as she kissed him, parting his lips for her eagerly and forcing himself not to moan as she sucked on his lower lip, causing the soft plush to swell. He kissed her hungrily, his mouth working against hers eagerly as his hands fell to grip at her waist. He didn't know what had gotten into her, but he wasn't about to stop what they were doing (no way in hell, in face). They were sitting in the back, anyway--the probability of anyone seeing and paying attention to them was slim to none, more than likely. His fingers curled in the soft fabric of her shirt, and he decided not to worry about it anymore. Just to kiss her.

 She was already anticipating the risqué romp they would share in the front seat of his car at the end of class, and it was with a rather pleased smile that she resumed cooking with her boyfriend, following his instructions and hoping she wouldn’t do anything to ruin the cake Aiden had been working so hard on. He was so focused on the cake they were baking (well, Aiden was baking—Sophia was sneaking bits of the batter whenever she thought he wasn’t looking) and Sophia thought it might have been one of the most endearing things she had ever seen. He was so…Aiden was so incredibly pure, as if he had somehow managed to avoid becoming jaded and hardened in the cruel and vicious world they lived in. He was startlingly different than anyone else she had ever known (especially Colton) and maybe…maybe that was why she liked him as much as she did.

He didn't know, and honestly...he didn't care too much about figuring it out. He wanted her, plain and simple. There wasn't much "thinking" or "figuring out" to be done about it. There was him and her and no one else--that was really all that mattered. Today, tomorrow...forever, even. Maybe.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," He answered finally with a genuine grin that stretched across his face. He laughed as she licked on a bit of cake batter, the gesture oddly...suggestive. Wiping such inappropriate thoughts from his min, Aiden cleaned off the spatula he'd been working with, noting that the batter was mixed thoroughly.

"Alright," He continued, lifting up a can of Pam. "Next we have to grease the cake pan." He popped off the cap of the canister, shaking it before squirting the Pam all along the interior of the glass cake pan. Once finished, he heaved the bowl of cake batter up and scooped the silken batter out into the pan with his spatula, making sure it was spread nice and smoothly before grabbing his mitts and stuffing it inside the oven. He hit a few buttons, setting the timer for about half an hour before plopping down in his seat

“Fine,” she managed tersely, trailing her fingers down Aiden’s arm to find his hand and entwining them together, walking them back towards their counter. She shot a heated glare over her shoulder at the girls who looked extremely scandalized as they whispered and pointed in the aftermath of their vicious exchange of words. Sophia drew her hand away from Aiden’s in favour of gripping the counter hard enough that her knuckles had gone white, the entirety of her petite frame tense with rage. She /hated/ when things like this happened.

“Some people have absolutely no shame,” she exclaimed heatedly, knowing that both girls could hear her and not caring at all. “Honestly, it’s as if they don’t…it’s as if they don’t realize that you’re not exactly /available/. Speaking of…”

She shifted closer to Aiden, hooking her thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans and yanking him flush against her, chest to chest and nose to nose. Satisfied with their proximity, she slowly slid her hands up along the length of his torso, well aware that everyone in the room was watching them. She wound her arms around his neck, tangling her hands the soft strands of his blonde hair and raising her head to murmur in his ear.

Baking. Right. yes. Baking.

Just as he was preparing to rattle off the next set of instructions, he felt Sophia's fingers loop in his trousers and she tugged him towards him. Confused, he turned to face her, kissing her in return and ignoring the shifty glances of the other members of the group. When she leaned forward to mumble in his ear about riding him in the front of his car, he could do little else but shudder and nod. Even thinking about it was enough to get him worked up, so in order to prevent...unwelcome arousal in the middle of the bloody baking session, he cleared his throat and faced forward again, licking his lips quickly and gazing down at the directions.

"Now we need to add in the milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to the flour mixture," He began, his voice cracking slightly. He reached for the eggs that had already been picked out for them, cracking them carefully and spilling the dripping contents inside the bowl before discarding the shells in a rubbish bin nearby. "Do you want to uhm...do you want to go ahead and add the rest while I get things ready?"

He was a mess of nerves, and he took a moment to inhale sharply and steady himself before slipping back into cooking mode.

"Right, okay--now that it's all added, I need to stir carefully until it's all smoothed together," He explained, grabbing the bowl and using the whisk at a smooth, even pace, casting a sideways glance at Sophia.

He was red-lipped and breathless by the time she had finished kissing him, and she was pleased to note that he did indeed look thoroughly snogged. She was almost smug with satisfaction (ha!) and she kissed Aiden once more on the cheek when he proclaimed her as sexy before allowing him to resume cooking. Hopefully that was that, then—she had joined Aiden today with the intention of spending time with him, and she really didn’t want things to get out of hand because some ditzy little blonde couldn’t see what was right in front of her. She watched, a soft smile that was meant only for Aiden spreading across his lips as he focused so attentively on stirring together the ingredients they had doled out. He was so…so sweet, and not for the first time, she wondered what she could have possibly done to deserve him.

She was checking the oven to make sure that it had been pre-heated (she didn’t really know what else she was supposed to do) when she heard something that immediately set her on edge. Despite the little show she had just put on—the one that had made it more than obvious that Aiden was taken—the ridiculously perky blonde girl was going on and on about how /sexy/ her boyfriend was! Sophia was immediately infuriated—how dare she talk about Aiden as if she wasn’t even there?! Enraged, and…alright, more than a little territorial, Sophia slammed the oven shut and angrily made her way towards the two girls who had been gossiping about /her/ boyfriend.

What the...?

Confused, he spun around in place once (more than likely looking like the biggest idiot this side of California), and just when he was about to search for his cell phone and call her did he realize she was standing at the table next to them, talking intensely to two girls who seemed...either offended or shocked, he couldn't seem to tell. Oh, no. Aiden knew Sophia well enough (or at least...he liked to tell himself so) to know when she was preparing for a battle, and the jerking movements her head made and the way she seemed to dominate the conversation suggested as such.

"...I think we both know that I would be more skilled at doing that than you," He heard the blonde sneer, and Aiden was suddenly extremely confused.

Uncomfortable, he hesitated before moving forward, taking her elbow in his hand and gently urging her towards him.

"Soph? Baby?" He managed, his voice quiet. One of the girl's eyes widened when he referred to her as baby, but he ignored them. "Let's get back to baking, alright? I need you to help me with the eggs and stuff."