C8 Chapter 8: Crossing Limits

Veronica

The closer the presence of someone or something got, the faster my heart raced. While panic started crawling up to me, I decided to stay calm.

It's okay, Veronica. You got this, I told myself.

I grabbed the lamp from the nightstand and jumped down from the bed, not before turning on the lights. "Whoever you are, you won't live long enough to— Mr. A?" I exclaimed when I saw the familiar brunette, blinking while trying to adjust to the sudden brightness. "What are you trying to do sneaking up on me like that?"

"I needed two things. First being my clothes, second the bed," Aaron answered.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." I sighed and placed the lamp in its place.

"That was a bonus," he responded, and I glared at him. "Since I'm inside now, I'm sleeping on the bed."

"No, I took the bed first," I reasoned out, putting my hands on my hip.

"No one can prove that."

I scowled at him. "Since I'm your newly wedded wife, I will take the bed as a wedding gift from you. Thank you very much." I flashed him a tight-lipped smile.

"Let's not be immature and share the bed equally," he suggested. As I opened my mouth to protest, he further spoke, "You should not have any problem since you must act-sleep with other men in films."

"And you should not have any problem either since you must sleep with other women in hotels," I retorted.

"Excuse me, what?" He looked at me as if I had grown more than two heads.

A thought popped in my head and a smirk crept on my face. "You just want to sleep on the same bed as me, don't you?"

"Where do you even get such ridiculous ideas?"

"You're so in love with me," I teased in order to annoy him.

"Oh, you can take my love, and I will take the bed," he stated and started to take off his shoes to prepare for bed.

"Okay, fine. Let's share." I frowned.

"By the way, I usually sleep on the left—" his words died in the middle as his eyes fell on something, and I swear I saw his face flushing red. He snapped his head around and mumbled, "Are you perhaps not wearing a, uh, bra?"

Realizing what he just worded out, my cheeks flared up in the heat. I immediately crossed my arms and tried not to look affected. "Yeah, so what? You have a problem with what I wear and what I don't, huh?"

"N—nothing. I really don't have a problem at all." It sounded like he was saying it to himself.

"Of course you won't have any problem. You are rather happy, aren't you?" I arched an eyebrow mischievously. "But don't you dare think about touching me."

"I will try not to."

"It does not make me feel safe when you will only try."

"What if I say it's the other way around? What if you touch me?" he questioned and started taking steps towards me.

"I will not. I guarantee you," I said.

"And what if you do?" He was now standing only a foot away from me.

"Whoever touches the other in their sleep will have to stay out for the whole day and won't have the bed until we return to the USA."

"Sounds great." With that, he passed by me into the bathroom to get changed.

Even though I wasn't feeling hungry before, after arguing with him, my stomach was growling.

After having dinner with Aaron, we went back to the bedroom and stared at the left side, which was wanted by both of us.

"I have always slept on the left side since my birth," I defended.

"The same goes for me," Aaron responded.

"Look, one of us has to compromise, and let's just say it's you."

"And I say it's you who should compromise."

"Are you saying I should compromise because I'm a woman? Wow!" I exclaimed.

"I never said that."

"But you meant that."

The two of us argued for another fifteen minutes before deciding that we would switch sides every day, and tonight I got the left side. Also, whoever would cross the middle boundary and touch the other would have to sleep on the couch from now on. I sure hoped it wasn't me before drifting into a deep sleep.

°°°°°

When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I was hugging my big teddy. But my teddy didn't have muscles on its arm and it always wore a red top. That's why my eyes jolted open to see I was hugging Aaron in my sleep.

I was definitely the one overstepping the boundaries, not to mention my hand over his bare chest. I swear I had a momentary crush on him by seeing his handsome face from under the bright sunlight and disheveled hair.

I shook my head before my mind wandered back to our first kiss and other off-limits places. I slowly retreated back to my side and waved my hand over his eyes to check whether he was awake or not.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like he was. After all, it wasn't a crime unless I got caught.

Just as I was about to get up, Aaron caught my wrist. I swear my heart almost jumped out of my ribcage. Shit, I'm caught red-handed.

"Look, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. I must have rolled over my sleep and hugged you as my teddy—" I stopped speaking when I realized that he just caught my hand in his sleep. I released a sigh in relief.

Phew, now I won't have to sleep on the couch for the whole week.

That's when an idea popped in my head. A dubious smile took over my face as I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and clicked the photo of his hand holding mine as proof.

"Now the bed is mine for the week. This calls for a celebration." I grinned and stepped down from the bed, starting to dance.

I was swaying my hips like crazy when I heard a familiar voice groan. I halted immediately and looked at Aaron to find him sitting up, an irritated look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to suppress my grin.

"I just had this really weird dream where you were hugging me. Eww," Aaron let out, making a disgusted expression.

I chuckled nervously and said, "Why is that eww?"

"Because you were hugging me. Of course, it's disgusting," he cringed and I rolled my eyes.

"You have a surprise coming for you then. Because it's you who touched me in your sleep." I clicked my tongue and started looking for the photo in the gallery.

"Impossible." He shook his head in denial.

Grinning, I showed him the photo. "See? That's your hand."

"This is fabricated," he said firmly, and I gulped. Did he wake up earlier to see me hugging him in my sleep? "I don't believe this is my hand. You must have ripped it off the internet."

My jaw dropped to the ground at his words. "It's literally my and your hand."

"It's not evidence if I don't believe it." With that, he threw off his duvet and went to the bathroom.

I plopped down on the bed. "What is wrong with him?" I asked myself. It must be my karma since I was the one who broke the rule and was trying to frame him into it, that must be why the plan didn't work. Yet, I needed to earn the bed to sleep comfortably.

I will do whatever needs to be done for that. I will use his weakness if needed.

Therefore, later on, during breakfast, I was wondering what could be his trigger point which might make him so mad at me that he wouldn't even want to look at my face, let alone share the bed.

"Hey, Mr. A," I started, but he didn't respond and continued reading the news on his iPad, although I knew he was listening. "Do you have an ex?"

"Plenty," Aaron answered plainly, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious." I thought I could use his former love interest as a way to poke him. "Do you happen to have an unrequited love story?"

"I have never even fallen in love."

A smile wanted to take over my lips at that piece of information since I had never fallen in love either. "Is your business going through a tough period right now?"

"What's with this weird question session?" he let out. "And no, it's not. My company is doing great," he added.

"I told you I'm just curious."

"Don't tell me you are the one starting to like me now." He rolled his eyes.

"Never." I scoffed. I took a bite of the waffle and twitched my lips while thinking deeply when a topic from three years ago made its appearance in my head. "Why didn't you come to your dad's funeral three years ago?"

Aaron stopped chewing the food in his mouth and pierced his gaze at me sharply, which sent a shiver down my spine. "I don't see why any of that is your business."

I tried not to get fazed under his scary gaze. "It just kind of bothered me that day to not see James' younger son there, so I was just wondering—"

"Stop wondering things that don't concern you, especially if it's a matter related to me," he said rudely, his words stabbing me like shards of glass.

"I'm sure you didn't go there because you must have been ashamed to face him after being a bad son for years," I taunted.

Aaron gritted his teeth. "Shut up," he mumbled.

"No, I won't. I want to know. James was such a good person. Why would you—"

"Don't talk about something you have no idea about!" he snapped, making me flinch. "What you saw was a facade, he was not a good— never mind. Why am I even talking to you?"

"Whatever. I'm not interested either," I snarled. How dare he yell at me?

"And about that photo, yes, that hand is mine. I touched your hand, I broke the rule. So, I will leave the house for the day and you can have it all to yourself," he spoke up abruptly and stood up from his chair, putting his phone in his pocket. "And you know, there are some limits that you should never cross, which you just did." With that, Aaron walked out of the main door.

I frowned. "Go, go. Never come back. I hope you have an accident on the way," I blurted out but immediately bit my tongue to stop saying anything more ominous.

Shit, did I just wish for something like that?

Shaking my head, I ran after him to the garage to find it empty. Aaron already left.

My heart was racing so fast, and a bad feeling started looming over my head. As if something really bad was going to happen.

"Oh, my God. What if he actually gets into an accident because of me?"