The sun has gone completely, letting the moon and stars take control. The moonless night was dark and low and I could smell the air for an overdue rain. I rubbed my hands together trying to warm up my freezing fingertips. I could go inside and bask in the fireplace’s warmth but the harsh cold wind that was tingling my arms sounded better than the deafening silence inside the bedroom. I wrapped the fuzzy blanket around me and settled on the swing bench facing the woods.
Feeling a pair of eyes on the back of my head, I turned around and found Jimmy leaning against the door frame. I patted the chair near me and he sat down, crossing his ankles on the ottoman.
“Heard you skipped class today”. He rolled his head to the side and looked at me.
“Heard you did too”, he said, eliciting a laugh from me.
“That’s one way to put it”. He chuckled for a moment. brief while fore relapsing into silence. He looked sad, a faint frown etched on his forehead.
“What is it Jimmy?”, my voice was barely above a whisper but he heard me. ” I know something is bothering you. Talk to me”.
He was silent for a while.
“Aren’t you scared?”, he asked, staring off into space, his voice low and timid.
“Scared of what?”, I watched him take a shaky breath.
“Scared of being an Alpha’s mate”, he turned to look at me, a sad smile on his lips. The pained look on his face broke my heart.
“Why would I be scared?”
“I had a sister Bella. I knew her and I know you”, he looked in the eyes, daring me to lie to him. I looked down at my fingers, sighing in defeat.
Everyone saw that I was angry and confused but he somehow managed to look beyond my façade.
“I was scared too. And when they took you back home today afternoon, that was the last straw. I was afraid that what happened to Sarah will happen to you too. But then I realized that your mate wasn’t any other guy who couldn’t himself and would snap. It’s Ryan. I know him. I’ve known him longer than I got to know my own family.
He was the most troublesome kid you could find in Washington state . I learned almost all of my pranks from him”, he smiled, a faraway look on his face. He continued, “He was like a big brother to both Alice and me. He was the one who taught us how to fight and defend. But our parents’ death changed everything. It was almost like that part of him never existed. He was forced to grow up too fast. He became the Alpha when he was 16. When we were grieving for our parents, he worked. And maybe that’s why the pain never really left him”, he swallowed, trying to keep his tears at bay.
“You might wonder why I’m telling you all this. Because it’s been 13 years, Bella. 13 years since he called me Jimmy, instead of James. And you know why? Because he was happy. He was happy that you stood up to him and asked for what you wanted”, he smiled proudly eliciting a smile from me too.
“In many ways, you both are very similar. You are here, in a strange place to help a guy you’ve never met before because that’s how much you care about other people”, he looked more at peace with himself, smiling, “I thought I lost him. The night our parents died. But I didn’t. He’s still there. And that is making me so fucking happy”, he laughed wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
A comfortable silence blanketed us, soaking up the words that had just been said. The night was more serene, more peaceful than it was before.
He stood up. “Guess I have talked enough for the two weeks I was silent, huh?”, he asked laughing.
“Thank you. For telling me all this”, I said. He leaned over to kiss me on the forehead, whispered good night and left.
I stood up, with too much to think about in my mind, and walked back to Ryan’s room.
It was dark and Ryan’s face was lit up from the light of his laptop. Sensing me looming by the threshold, he tore his gaze from his laptop screen to look at me. He raised one of his eyebrows giving me a what-do-you-want look.
“Where were you?”, he asked, closing his laptop.
“I was on the balcony. Talking to Jimmy”, I said walking into the room, closing the door behind me.
“About what happened today-“, I cut him off.
“It’s alright. I’m just tired”, I walked over to the other side of the bed. Fluffing the pillow, I sat on the bed waiting for him to move or do something.
“I’m not sleeping on the couch”, I rolled my eyes at his horrified face and threw the extra pillows between us, forming a partition with enough space left for both of us.
“Stay on your side, I’ll stay in mine. No monkey business. Good night”, I tucked myself in bed and switched off the light by my side.
It took a few minutes before the room became dark except for the light from the moon through a small opening of the curtain. The bed dented on the other side. I laid awake, staring into the dark, listening to his soft snores and that somehow lulled me to sleep.
Next morning was entirely different. I woke up alone on the bed with pillows as the wall on my both sides. I sat up, confused. My head snapped at the sound of him chuckling, in the direction of the balcony where he was sitting with morning papers in his hand.
“What?”
“You are a very heavy sleeper, aren’t you?. You fell out of the bed twice and slept through both times. You didn’t even stir when I picked you up. Again both times”, he chuckled, “But don’t expect me to do the same next time. I will leave you to sleep on the floor. The couch is not long enough for me “, he said massaging the back of his neck.
Yes. I had to go embarrass myself on my second night here. Nora would have a field day if she was here.
“If we are going to share a room, you better get used to it”, I shrugged trying to play it cool. He snickered but didn’t say anything.
I was on my phone, texting Nora, who was shook that I was up early, while I waited for him to get out of shower.
He came out and walked straight into the walk-in closet and tried my best to keep my eyes down and not stare but failed miserably when I stole a look at him, flexing his back muscles while reaching for a shirt.
When I was done and went back to the room, he was standing in front of the dresser, fully dressed, fixing his wet hair.
Missed today’s show, huh?
He was in a blue business shirt and sandal slacks. He has let his stubble grow to a 5 o’clock shadow that was doing a brilliant job in accentuating his jawline.
It should be illegal to look that hot.
Feeling my eyes, he turned to look at me and caught me staring. He smirked.
Here we go. He was going to say something completely arrogant and spoil the mood.
I stood rooted to the ground as he walked towards me, still smirking. He stood in front of me, closer than he normally would.
“You look cute when you are fresh out of shower”, I blinked. Okay, that was unexpected. Like any normal human being, I sucked at handling compliments, I felt hot as a heat rose up my neck, leaving me with flushed cheeks.
“And when you are blushing now”. Him standing too close and smelling like heaven wasn’t helping the cause either.
I held my breath and looked pointedly over his shoulder when he leaned forward, close to my ear, his warm breath fanning my neck.
“See. It wasn’t that hard to say it out loud when you like what you are seeing. And take a picture next time. It lasts longer”, he stepped back, gave me a smug smile and turned around, waving at me over his shoulder.
“Bye, sweetheart”, I could almost hear him laughing from the other side of the door.
Arrogant prick.
The smell of his cologne still lingered in the air and I was still little out of breath from the little encounter. I caught my eyes in the mirror and was surprised how red-faced I still was and he didn’t even touch me.
I shook my head and grabbed my bag on my way out, trying but failing miserably in stopping myself from smiling.