Part 4

As a single-worded question echoed around us, I was filled with the glaring reality of the situation. A sheepish smile curled on my lips, eyes dimming as I was stuck in his arms. That's not how I wanted his mother to find us. Or anyone.

Edward was still standing the same way, wearing the same deadpan look on his face from earlier. Did it not bother him? I wondered while sneaking another look at him.

His mother stayed rooted on the spot, her eyes shifting between the two of us before finally landing on me.

"Arianna, sì?" She asked, her thick Italian accent cutting the tension.

Flustered, I shook my head, cringing at the full name. No one called me that unless my mother if she was in a bad mood. I hated the full use of my name felt like a task.

"Yes...err" I clicked my tongue, pausing for a second to think if I should correct her but then went ahead. "I prefer Aria."

She bobbed her head, "Aria." The name easily rolled off her tongue except for the r sound. "Are you hurt?"

"Ahh..." I winced while looking at my throbbing ankle. "Just a bit."

"She twisted her ankle." Edward made a sound, his voice serious while he stared at me.

"Oh, you poor thing..."

"It's nothing..." I tried to laugh it off.

"Don't look like that, cara." She softly said while eyeing my ankle,  her lips drawn together. At the mention of the endearment I heard Edward snicker but quickly recover. He sensed how the endearment had ticked me off earlier.

"Thank you I will"

"Do you want me to send some soup to your room? It will make you feel better." She offered.

"I don't want to be a bother..."

"Nonsense." Edward huffed. "Mom please ask someone to do so."

A wide smile blossomed across her face and she excitedly nodded in his direction. Huh. I thought.

She wished me to get well soon one more time before walking towards the kitchen. Her floral scent still lingered around as Edward kept striding towards the stairs.

It was surprising to see that the entire hallway was empty. Sleeping for a few hours was the only thing on my mind and if I met anyone else that would deviate my attention.

He pulled me closer as he climbed the stairs, his every breath getting louder as he pushed through each step. A few more steps and we were finally standing near the bottom end of the staircase.

"Umm...your mom is so chill. For a second I got scared that she would get mad."

"Mad? What for?"

I stared at him while motioning to our current position.

As if the light bulb finally lit up in his head, he made a sound. "Oh...I don't think she gets mad at such stuff. Ma has always been the softie of our parents which kind of made things easier for me and my sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. Angelina. You’ll see her for dinner maybe I hope? She went out with my father for art supplies.” He said followed by an exasperated sigh but there was a certain fondness in his tone as he talked about her.

My eyes were trained on him. I did not pin him as the type of guy to be so family-oriented. Why did I think otherwise? He was simply a stranger to me. I reminded sharply.

“I know it must be super comfortable for you but my arms are tired. Are you going to give me the directions to your room anytime soon? Or do you rather prefer I carry forever?”

I let out an affronted sound at the waggle of his brows. He had to ruin the moment. Just when I thought he was not a jerk. I narrowed my eyes at him, lips set in a firm line. Being in his arms was not exactly letting me fully express my anger.

“As if!” I rolled my eyes. “It's the third one to the left.”

“Finally.” Edward exaggerated and went quiet after that, not saying anything as he turned towards the third room. The door was shut which made me exhale a breath I was holding. For a hot second, I was expecting my mother to be on the other side of the door. She would have had an aneurysm seeing me with Edward. In his arms.

I suppressed a chuckle as I imagined the look on my mother’s face at the scenario. There was a high probability she would have screamed bloody murder before proceeding to yell at Edward. She is impulsive like that.

“Okay…” Edward made a sound while lightly kicking at the door and rushing in. On instinct, my hands curled around his collar and I gripped onto him tightly. My head tilted towards the room and I was relieved that I did not make a mess.

“Don’t think too hard or you might end up hurting your head too.”

At his snicker, I turned to glare at him, lips parting. How dare he? At the sunlight filtering through my blinds, he was glowing. That’s the first thing I noticed. For a second it stunned me, staring at his boyish smile and the loose curls falling over his forehead. He was attractive. That’s something I had no trouble admitting which was not helping my cause.

“My ankle might be broken but I still have a functioning hand…” I emphasised by slapping his arm.

“Ouch! So ungrateful.” He winced. “I carried you for so long and this is the thank you I get?”

“At least I didn’t kick you.”

“Do not even think about it. I will not hesitate to drop you.” He said in a challenging tone. I raised my leg and as if he sensed he lowered me, the grip on the back of my legs loosening. My stomach dropped and I squeaked, both hands wrapping around his neck, eyes shut. I was expecting the impact but it never came.

“Did you think I would drop you?” He whispered, his hot breath fanning my face. Opening my eyes, I realised we were way too close and my head tilted. What was going on with me? I did not have to touch my cheeks to know they were warm.

“Hmm, cara?”

I glared at him. Who does he think he is? Calling me his dear? Again? My nose flared in annoyance.

“Will you stop with that? I told you my name is Aria.”

He stared at me for a few seconds and I was genuinely hoping for him to drop me or just walk away. But laughter bubbled out of him, the vibrations echoing.

“I think I will stick with cara, cara.” He gave me an innocent smile, his lips barely lifting up. By the look on my face, he could understand that I did not like that at all. He did not even seem fazed at that.

I ignored him as he neared my bed, it dipped under his knees and he carefully withdrew his arms away from me. A sigh escaped my lips as soon as I was on the bed. The soft cotton under my body making me feel like I was floating.

“I am so spent right now" I let out a pitiful sigh, surrounded by the pillows and duvet. As I tried to move my leg I winced as my ankle throbbed in pain.

“And I was the one who carried you?” He was still sitting on his knees in front of me, eyes boring into me. Goosebumps prickled into my skin, sudden urge to pull the duvet over me.

“You're so annoying” I retorted as I pulled the sheets closer to my body. A lazy smile graced my lips as I was surrounded by the soft cocoon of the sheets. It was the best feeling ever.  

Edward laughed at my comment, shaking his head lightly. I did not even bother to look at him, enjoying the comfort of the bed and sheets.

“That's the best you can come up with? The injury is already taking a toll on your brain, cara.”

He whooshed a deep breath and moved, the bed creaking as he suddenly got up from the bed. I lifted my head to look at him and noticed that he rushed to the chest of drawers. My brows pulled together. What was he trying to do?

Edward rattled the drawers for a long second before he retrieved a white box. It had a red plus sign sticker pasted in front. My mouth formed an O as he came to sit on the edge of the bed.

I flinched as his cold fingers wrapped around my ankle, pulling my legs away. I sat up, the duvet tightly clenched in between my fingers.

“Umm…what are you doing?”

“You cannot leave your ankle untreated.”

“I…I was going to sleep it off.” I lamely said.

Edward rolled his eyes before grabbing my ankle again. I let out a wince. He held his hand before expertly grabbing bandage from the kit and what looked like a balm. I watched in keen interest as he applied a dollop of the balm and rubbed it lightly on my skin. The smell of the balm made my eyes prickle and I looked away.

“Are you a doctor or something?” I licked my lips, watching him wrap the bandage nearly, fully focused on the task.

He let out a dry chuckle, lifting his head to meet my eyes. “Unfortunately no. I took over my father’s company so I am the CEO. A good one I would say.”

“Show off.”

He laughed again, “I had to learn to do this during my high school. I used to get hurt a lot in high school playing football.”

My mouth parted at that. It made sense. His physique totally screamed that. I imagined Edward as a high school athlete. He must have left a trail of broken hearts.

“You must have been a handful boy growing up.”

“You have no idea! My mother said she cried when my sister was born.” Edward said with a lilt to his tone, inspecting the bandage carefully. “I think two boys would have driven her mad. But I would have loved a little brother growing up.”

“Please take mine. I have two brothers and I do not like them most of the time.”

He laughed. “All done. It’s a bit tight so take it off after you wake up.”

“Thank you, doctor.” I let out a yawn. “Now get out"

“As expected.” He looked at me for a few seconds, an amused expression on his face before walking towards the door. Sliding out of the door, he gripped the knob and peeked inside.

“Get some rest, cara.”

And with that, he was gone.

***