I'm freaking the fuck out.

I didn't lie about ma mère moving to Paris with my sister. I wasn't planning on flying to see them. I know how shitty that sounds but...it's complicated. Even though they've been divorced, seeing me won't help her grieve. I'm scared I'll remind her of him.

Had I really offered to spend a few days with the family of the girl that's been taking over my thoughts the past week? Yes. Yes, I just did.

Did I think before I spoke? No, but I don't exactly regret the question.

I'll admit, I'm scared to possibly meet her family. I shouldn't be considering we're just...friends? I'm not popular with many parents but I want to be liked by hers. I have no idea why, but I just do.

So here I am, sitting on Aria's bed, watching her carefully observe each and every photo she took of yesterday's game. I can't help but notice the way her beautiful brown eyes squint closely at the screen and how her nose and eyebrows scrunch in concentration.

She's breathtaking.

I've called many girls I've been with, pretty, but Aria, she's a different kind of pretty. She's the kind of girl you see and never forget. That surely happened to me.

"Are you almost done?" I groan in impatience. She turns to me, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Leo it's only been 10 minutes," She replies rolling her eyes.

"10 minutes too long," I say with a grin.

"Give me 20 more minutes and we can go," She says with a sigh and turn back to her laptop. I lay back down on her bed and pull my phone out to see a series of text messages:

I reply to Matt telling him I'd be home soon and that I'm bringing Aria. He sends an "" but that was it.

I scroll through Instagram, occasionally liking posts by friends or hockey, but I scroll past any girls I see on my feed.

"Okay, I'm almost done," I look up from my phone and see Aria looking at me. Her brown eyes are staring into my hazel, and for a moment, I feel time stop. Her eyes are so captivating, that I can't bring myself to look away. I see a faint smile begin to appear on her face, and I return a bigger smile. She looks away, her attention back on her screen, but I continue admiring her. Everything about her is so...intriguing.

If you look close enough, you can see a birthmark under both of her ears. I won't lie, I've dreamed about kissing that soft-looking neck, right on her birthmark. Thinking about the subtle noises she'd make while I work magic on her neck.

"Let me get dressed, and we can head out," She tells me, getting up from her desk. My eyes follow her movement as she goes to her dresser and takes out a pair of black leggings, and an oversized baby blue sweater with "Nirvana" written on the back. I hadn't even noticed she was still in the hoodie I gave her until she walked to her bathroom, her back turned to me.

I've seen plenty of girls where my jersey and my number, but none of them are able to take my breath away the way she can. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm my beating heart down. I've known her for only a week and she's already driving me crazy.

The bathroom door opens and she walks out, her hair is now down and her long, brunette curls fall down her back. Her sweater is huge on her, reaching mid-thigh and her arms are barely visible due to the bagginess. My eyes follow her every movement, when she goes to get her phone, when she puts on her shoes, everything. I can't help it, she's mesmerizing.

"Are you done staring so we can go?" She asks in a joking tone.

"You're stunning, you know that?" I blurt out before I could stop myself. Her eyes widen, and I see her cheeks turn a darker shade of red. God, I love the effect I have on her.

"Non dire cose del genere," My head tilts in confusion. She speaks another language? I always noticed a slight accent in her voice since I have an accent as well, but I could never figure it out.

"What language is that?" I question. Her cheeks brighten up even more, which causes a smile from me.

"Italian, my mom is Italian. I try to not speak it, but sometimes it just comes out," She replies, looking down while she paces side to side.

"Don't be embarrassed, It's cute," I say, she looks up and smiles, "I sometimes blurt out French and people look at me like I'm crazy," She chuckles a little at my confession and I join her.

"We should get going," I suggest, she nods and I get up from her bed and put my shoes on. She unlocks the dorm and we walk out. I wait for her to finish locking her door so we can walk to my jeep.

I slip my hand on her back, my fingers close to her waist, while we walk to the parking lot. I feel her tense for a moment before she relaxes and shifts closer to me, which causes my grip to tighten a bit.

We make it to my jeep and I grab the handle of the passenger door before she could, opening the door for her. She tries stepping up but seems like she's struggling, so without thinking, I grab her waist and lift her into the seat. She's looking at me with wide eyes, and I grab the seatbelt and lean over her body to clip it in. My chest brushes her thighs and I can hear her breathing pick up. I lean back slowly, my arm gliding over her thighs, and see her staring at her thighs where my arm had been.

"T-Thank you," She stutters out.

"No problem Bambi," I say, smirking while shutting the door. I walk over to the drivers' side, and hop in. I buckle in and hand her the aux cord, which she happily takes. She hooks up to the speakers and "shut up" by Greyson Chance starts playing. We both start singing along to the upbeat song, smiles on our faces while we drive to my apartment.

This girl has been my source of happiness this week.

~

We arrive at my apartment, and we both get out, her coming back to my side as we walk into the apartment complex. A few people, more specifically, girls, watch us, but I ignore them. I look down and see Aria trying to hide her face, so I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her into my side for comfort. I feel her body relax as we make our way up the stairs.

Finally, we get to my apartment, and I grab my keys and unlock the door. I open it and see Brett, Matt, and Aria's friend Brielle sitting on the couch. When Brielle sees us, she gets up and crushes Aria in a hug, which causes her to laugh and hug back.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come home!" She practically shouts, "I didn't watch how much I drank," Aria laughs and pats her back, and pulls away, "Matthew here, was kind enough to bring me here since he didn't drink at all."

I look over at Matt and see him smiling, a tint of rose on his cheeks. I wink at him and he rolls his eyes and turns to Brett, who has the cheesiest grin on his face.

"Okay well this way fun, but I'm going to help Aria with something, we'll be down later," I tell them.

Before I could start walking up the stairs, Matthew gets up, "Leo can we talk in the kitchen?" He asks, I slowly nod my head.

"Aria, you can go to my room. I'll be there in a minute," She nods her head and makes her way up the stairs. Matthew gestures for me to follow him, which I do. He stops in the kitchen and turns to me, his expression blank. Hm, weird.

"What's going on with you and Ari?" He asks. I'm a bit taken back, causing my face to scrunch up.

"Uhm, I mean, we're friends?" I answer, sounding more like a question.

"The way you look at her tells me otherwise," He starts, "I had feelings developing for her, but the way she looks at you tells me that she doesn't feel the same."

"Matt, I'm sorry. I didn't know I'd like being around her this much. I tried to stop myself because I knew it might hurt you but-"

"Leo, It's fine. They weren't strong feelings. I think we're better as friends, but you two don't look at each other the way friends do," I tilt my head at him. He gives me the are you an idiot? face.

"Matt, I," I'm at a loss for words. I'm glad I didn't hurt him but I still feel bad, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten in the way."

"Leo, like I said, It's fine. I'm not affected. I give you full consent to proceed or whatever," I give him a thankful smile, "But just don't hurt her. She doesn't deserve it."

"Trust me, I don't plan on hurting her," I reply. He nods in a way telling me we're finished talking. I pat his shoulder and walk out of the kitchen and to my room.

I open the door to my room and see Aria sitting on my bed with her laptop in her lap. She's leaned against the headboard. I have to shut my eyes to compose myself before I think bad, bad thoughts.

"You good over there," I open my eyes and see her staring at me with a smirk.

"All good," I croak out. Jesus Christ. What is wrong with me.

"Alright, let's get started."

~

hope this wasn't too bad. lowkey in a slump right now so im trying to write as much as i can. hope you guys had a good day whenever you see this!!