Ice Cold - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

Landon Reilly
My eyes opening dragged me out of a deep sleep and I was momentarily confused at the unfamiliar room I was in until I remembered where I was.
I groaned, sitting up slightly by bracing my elbows behind me. The blanket fell from my body and revealed my bare chest. I looked down at myself in confusion, wondering when I had taken my shirt off.
"I took your shirt because you spilled beer on it," Wren said, startling me. He was sitting at his desk, his computer open in front of him as he turned around to face me on the bed. "And I didn't want my sheets to smell like beer. It's in the wash."
I squinted at him in confusion. "You washed my shirt?" My voice was raspy and low from sleep. Wren looked down at the floor.
"I had laundry to do," he said, bringing his eyes back to mine. "I figured since I'm so nice, I could add your shirt."
I pressed my lips tightly together as a grin grew on his.
"You're not going to let me live that down."
"No, not likely," he said, turning back to his computer.
I laid back down on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before turning my head to look at Wren. He was typing something up on the computer, but I couldn't see what it was.
Then, he suddenly stood up and shut the computer before leaving the room. He came back a few minutes later with a laundry basket and began folding and hanging up clothes. Wren looked over at me and picked my shirt out from the basket before throwing it at me.
"Come on," he said. "Get up."
I glared at him. "I'm fucking hung over."
"Well, I'm going on a run and you're either coming with me or getting out of my room," Wren replied.
"I don't have any running clothes." I was still in my jeans from last night, and the sneakers I had worn at the bar were not for running.
"You can wear some of mine."
Wren pulled off the shirt he was wearing and my breath got caught in my throat. My eyes were wide as they looked him over. He was lean and tall, his torso long and his skin a golden tan. His stomach was nearly flat, but had a hint of ab muscles poking through that made his physique look so effortless.
I had never imagined what Wren's body looked like, but if I had it wouldn't have been like this. I would have thought he was a twig. But then I remembered the way he held me back from his brother all those months ago and how strong he was, and his impressive arms made sense.
All his muscles were soft and lean, though didn't look like they lacked any strength. He had a vein that ran up the length of his left arm, and I didn't know I'd find that attractive until just then.
I looked away from his arms and my eyes landed on his stomach which was even worse than his arms. My eyes locked on the hair that traveled down past the waist of his pants, and I quickly averted my gaze as he pulled a new shirt on so he wouldn't notice my staring. That was something he definitely wouldn't let me live down.
Wren glanced over at me and raised his eyebrows.
"Are you getting ready or are you going to keep pretending you weren't just staring at me?"
I scoffed and got out of the bed, pulling my newly washed shirt on over my head. The shirt was still a little warm from being in the dryer.
"I wasn't staring at you," I lied. I knew it was no use. He obviously knew that I was, but I would never admit something like that to him.
"No need to lie," he said with a shrug, pulling out two pairs of athletic pants and throwing one at me. "I have a nice body."
I scoffed again. I couldn't bring my eyes to meet his. If I did, all I would do was remember his shirtless body, the lean muscle, the vein on his arm, the hair on his stomach.
"Are you coming or what?" he asked, causing me to finally look at him again.
That was a mistake. This time he was taking off the pants he had been wearing, standing by the closet with just his boxers on before pulling on the athletic pants.
His legs were just as tan and lean as the rest of his body, and I hated him for looking like that, so gorgeous and maddening.
I had told myself I wouldn't look at any men just the same as I wouldn't look at any women to occupy my time or satisfy my urges. But Wren had literally ran into my life and it seemed like there was no way for me to get rid of him.
I pulled off my jeans and put on the pants he had given me and noticed they were a little long on me. Wren was taller than me, but only by about two inches. His waist was smaller than mine, causing him to have to tie the strings on the waist band.
Once I had Wren's pants on, I stopped in my tracks and wondered what the fuck I was actually doing. I shouldn't have been putting on his clothes, getting ready to go on a run with him. It was like my mind wasn't functioning. I just did whatever Wren told me to do. It was like he had hypnotized me.
Wren didn't say anything but he looked at me with an impatient expression, so I quickly put my shoes on and followed him out of the dorm. We passed by people who greeted Wren with a nod, no words exchanged.
The Brown campus looked just as I expected it to with brick buildings and walkways, red and orange leaves blanketing the ground beneath our feet. Once we were off campus, Wren picked up his pace to a jog and I followed after him.
He knew exactly where all the cracks in the sidewalk were, expertly dodging them while I trailed after him hoping not to stumble and watching him from behind as he ran.
My mind couldn't wrap itself around the idea that I was currently, willingly going on a run with Wren of all people. What was even worse was that it didn't feel unnatural.
It felt too normal, too comfortable. I wondered if he felt the same way.
Eventually we got to some familiar territory, passing through the area Wren and I had run into each other the first time, heading toward the coffee shop. We slowed as we approached the coffee shop and walked inside.
"Morning Anthony," Wren said, standing at the counter.
Anthony nodded at each of us. "Morning Wren, Lance."
I glared at the back of Wren's head as I heard him chuckle. Anthony looked confused, but he didn't mention it.
"What will it be today, Wren?" Anthony asked, bracing his hands on the counter.
"A medium iced vanilla chai latte," he answered. "And a medium cold brew with oat milk."
I stepped forward.
"You're not buying my coffee," I said. I wasn't even going to mention I didn't know what a cold brew was.
Wren waved me off and pulled his card from his wallet.
"I'm serious," I snapped. Wren just ignored me. It seemed like he wasn't the type to let anyone tell him what to do, not as easily persuaded as I was this morning.
Wren paid for the drinks and walked off to the side. I stood there stunned for a moment but eventually followed him.
"I think you need to be more adventurous with your coffee," he told me after an awkward pause.
"What is wrong with you?"
"You're the one that has the issue with someone buying your coffee," Wren replied. "You can get mine next time."
"Next time?" My eyes widened and my heartbeat quickened. "What, are you trying to make this a regular thing?"
Wren shrugged. "I just assume this isn't the last time I'll have to drag you out of a bar. It definitely wasn't the first." He took a long sip of his latte.
I just stared at him. Wren had a way about him that made me feel so dumb in comparison to him. It was in the way he looked at me and how he spoke, his mocking expression and matter of fact tone and the way he acted like he knew everything.
I looked away from him and sipped my coffee, pleasantly surprised by the taste.
***
Wren Ridley
I suspected there was something wrong with me last night when I had to physically cover Landon's body with my blanket to stop myself from looking at his bare chest. It felt too intimate and deranged.
What really solidified that there was something wrong with me was that my mind kept replaying the way he touched my chest just before he fell asleep. And what was worse was that instead of kicking him out first thing in the morning, I decided to take him on a run with me.
Because for some reason my logic was broken and my mind had decided on its own that I needed to take care of him when in reality I had no intention of ever taking care of anyone.
Landon looked so out of his element, sitting across from me and sipping on his coffee, wearing my clothes. The rational part of me wanted to leave him here, get out of his presence before I thought about him more. But my body didn't move. It stayed put across from him like it was telling me I needed to stay.
Something was definitely wrong with me because I had never wanted to stay in someone's company before. Landon intrigued me, and I wanted to believe it was because I liked getting him angry and riled up, but I couldn't pinpoint exactly the reason for it.
"You intrigue me," I told him. He looked at me strangely like I had grown two heads. It was a look I was used to seeing from him whenever I said anything that made him uncomfortable.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Landon hissed.
"You don't know what intrigue means?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know what intrigue means, but what intrigues you?"
I pondered for a moment. "I don't know."
We stared at each other, Landon at a loss for words and me trying to figure out the inner workings of my own brain. Maybe my intrigue for Landon was purely physical attraction. I wasn't beyond admitting to myself that I found him attractive, which was already quite unusual for me. And if it was only physical, I didn't need to worry about my mind deciding it felt something for Landon. That was highly improbable anyway.
All I needed was to sort out my physical attraction to him and this strange feeling I had would go away.
"I think we should have sex," I said.
Landon started choking on his coffee, the liquid splattering on the table in front of him. His coughs gained the attention of the people at surrounding tables, some looking at him with concern and others with irritation. I stared at him with a serious expression, willing him to stop and answer me.
He pounded on his chest and then his coughing stopped. Landon wiped his mouth with a napkin and cleaned up the coffee on the table, unable to meet my eyes.
"What the fuck, Wren?" he spat, still staring down at the table. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I was just thinking."
"Why were you thinking about that?" he asked, still not looking at me.
Because this was the only rational explanation my mind could come up with as to why I wanted to be around him. Because there was no other reasoning for me allowing him to sleep in my bed and wear my clothes or inviting him to come with me this morning instead of kicking him out first thing.
"Because I'm intrigued," I told him. "Like I said. It's a suggestion, an offer."
"An offer?" Landon looked bewildered and downright irate at the same time. I wouldn't have been surprised if he punched me in the face again, and I wasn't sure I'd mind it.
Landon stood up from his seat, slammed his hands down on the table, and leaned over it to come face to face with me.
"Don't you ever say something like that to me again," he hissed. His voice was low and menacing and did nothing to curb my attraction to him. "Whatever you think you know about me is not fucking true. I'm not like you, so don't you ever fucking say that to me again."
"That's not what it seemed like when you were watching me undress this morning," I said, a grin slowly forming on my face.
Landon's face was turning red, his hands forming fists on the table in front of us. I could tell he was trying to hold himself back from punching me. It was one thing to punch me in private, but it was a whole other thing to do it in public with witnesses.
"What are you going to do, Lance? Hit me?" I taunted.
"You infuriate me," he said through gritted teeth.
My grin widened. "Then a bit of hate sex might be worth your while."
He slammed his hand down on the table again, then stood up straight. He looked at me with disgust before picking his coffee up and turning to leave. He threw out his coffee on his way out the door and he didn't turn back as I watched him storm off.
"What the hell was that all about?" Anthony asked, walking over to my table.
"Oh, nothing," I said, sipping on my latte. "Lance just had somewhere to be."
Anthony looked at me like he knew I was lying, but didn't say anything about it.
After I finished my latte, I made my way back to the dorms and Stella immediately opened her door when she saw me in the hallway, like she was looking through the peep hole and waiting for my arrival.
"Wren, I think I'm in love," she said as I unlocked the door to my room.
"Disgusting," I said. Stella followed me inside the room and sat on top of my desk. Landon's jeans from last night were still thrown over my desk chair.
"I'm serious," Stella said with a wide smile. "I think I fell in love with Jess last night."
"And why would you do that?"
"I couldn't help it!" she exclaimed. "We didn't even have sex. We just made out and cuddled and talked and I liked it. I actually can't believe it."
"I can't either," I said. Stella was always as against love as I was.
"Anyway, how was your night with Landon?" Stella asked with a suggestive expression.
"Oh, you know, barely got any sleep because of all the passionate sex we had."
Her eyebrows practically flew to the top of her head.
"Really?"
"No."
Her eyes narrowed. "He was too drunk for that anyway. I knew you were lying."
"I'm sure you did."
If Stella only knew about my new found attraction to Landon. She would take that and run with it. She would never let it go. She would tell me I was in love with him. And that was why I couldn't reveal that to her.
"Jess said she's kinda friends with him," Stella told me.
"So she's one of the ones that left him drunk and alone in a bar too?"
Stella faltered at that.
"Well, I don't know, maybe," she said.
I didn't respond, taking Landon's jeans and throwing them in my hamper.
Stella didn't stick around long and I was finally left alone long enough to work on more of my book after some homework.
Then, I got a text from my brother.
From: Fox
Mom's texting me to check on you because she's afraid of bothering you
It was rare I heard from Fox while we were both away at school. Even after somewhat repairing our relationship, we didn't spend much time keeping tabs on each other unless we were together. And that had made me forget how bad it would be if he found out I had been hanging around with Landon, or worse, if I didn't end up actually fucking him.
To: Fox
And what exactly is she trying to check up on?
From: Fox
Just text her ok
or call
She just said she hasn't heard from you since we were home last weekend
It wouldn't kill you to just call her sometimes idk why ur like this
To: Fox
Do you miss me so much that you're trying to start an argument over text?
From: Fox
Maybe
We always have to have something to argue about
Just fucking call our mother more often so she doesn't worry about you it's not that hard
We didn't continue texting after that, and I did call our mother.
But now I had a pit in my stomach at the thought of how Fox would feel if he learned about Landon and me, about how that would damage our relationship, and I wondered how I let that slip my mind when I was thinking about what I wanted to do with Landon.
And now I knew for sure that there was something truly and undeniably wrong with me.