Broken Until You

Chapter 9 - Trip to the Animal Shelter

Autumn

A finger tapped repeatedly at my forehead. "Autumn."

I groaned and slapped the finger away from my face.

The finger stopped tapping me for a few minutes, giving me a moments peace until it went back at tapping my head.

"Autumn, wake up."

"Shut up!" I groaned again and turned on my side so my back faced the person trying to wake me up. I am not a morning person. Never have, never will be.

"Oh my god Autumn! It's almost 9:30am."

Opening my eyes slowly, I turned to face the person trying to wake me up. Ryder hovered above me, smiling. Even though I could barely see, Ryder's smile still glowed, making me want to wake up and rub my eyes so I could get a better look at it.

I put all my weight on my elbows as I straightened up, not moving to a full sitting positing. I rubbed my eyes and blinked, taking in the view of him. His chocolate, brown hair was disheveled and messy, which was so hot. He wore a cherry red hoodie and grey sweatpants. It appeared that he only woke up a little before me, due to the tiredness in his voice and the yawn he did every thirty seconds.

I sighed, wishing I could wake up to his charming face every morning.

Wait, why would I want that? You're perfectly fine waking up by yourself. He doesn't make it any different.

Oh, but he does, my heart protested inside my chest.

I didn't know if I should believe my heart or my brain as I gazed at him, mesmerized my every aspect of him.

"I know I'm handsome, but you staring at me for this long is giving me the creeps," Ryder chuckled and my eyes widened. How long have I been staring at him?

A red blush formed on my cheeks. "I-I wasn't staring."

He rolled his eyes at me and smirked. "Mhm, sure you weren't princess."

Princess. The word echoed in my head. Since when has he called me princess?

"You're staring again."

Grabbing the pillow that I used for the night, I chucked it at his face but he easily caught it. His stupid quick reflexes made me upset.

I studied his face for a moment. "Did you not sleep last night?" I asked as I noticed him yawning for the billionth time.

"No I did. When I was playing—*yawn*—my video game last night, I accidentally fell asleep and let me tell you, that desk chair is not comfortable to sleep on." He chuckled, running his slender fingers through his hair.

Oh please... I bit down on my lip, please don't do that.

Looking away, I cleared my throat. "I can try to see if my moms home now. Thanks for letting me stay. That was very thoughtful of you."

I pulled the covers off of me and automatically wished I could just stay in his bed forever.

Weirdo.

My feet touched his carpeted floor as I hung my legs over the side of his bed. I was about to stand up when he grabbed my arm, forcing me to sit back down beside him. "Don't leave," he whispered but I barely heard it.

I turned to face him and his grip on my arm loosened. "What?" I asked, making sure I heard him properly.

Did he tell me to stay?

I hope, my heart fluttered.

No! You shouldn't feel like this, you don't even know this guy, my brain screamed, but I blocked out its screams for just a moment.