Page 16 of Demure
“How do you know where I live?”
Aodhan turned to face her, his face neutral.
“Did you follow me after our date?” she accused, her tone dripping with acid.
Aodhan shrugged. “No. Well, not really.” He motioned to a building just a few buildings back along the street they had just walked on. “I’m staying there.”
“Oh.”
“After our date, I watched you walk ahead of me around this corner. I don’t know the way from here.”
Sierra felt herself blush. She felt bad that she had accused him so quickly. “I live just there.” She motioned to her building, which was halfway up the block.
He nodded, and they continued on their way until they were at her door. As Sierra dug out her keys, the awkwardness stretched between them. She really wasn’t sure what to say or how to fix the weird tension that was clearly between them. She knew she would regret leaving this tension to fester for another day, but she didn’t see another solution. She just couldn’t deal with this—or the fact that they had kissed the night before—right now.
Instead, she unlocked the door, and as soon as it was open, she turned over her shoulder, called “Good night” to Aodhan, and slipped inside. She closed the door quickly behind her, not even waiting to see if he called goodnight in return.
She made her way up the stairs, ducking into her apartment and locking the door behind her. Heading directly for the bathroom, Sierra flipped on the shower, turning the water up as warm as she could stand before stripping and stepping in. She usually preferred showers and didn’t mind the fact that her apartment didn’t have a bathtub, but she would give anything at that moment to be able to soak in warm water.
Sierra just stood under the stream of water for several minutes, not even moving to wash her hair or body, replaying the events of the evening behind her closed lids.
She was supposed to hate Aodhan. He had been late, following her, and just generally a pain in the ass, but something had changed between them tonight. Sierra couldn’t put her finger on it, and she didn’t know what it would mean for them going forward, but she really hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.
Chapter Eleven
The next morning, Sierra felt weird as she went about her morning routine. The events of the night before continuously raced through her mind, crowding the front of her consciousness so tightly that she could barely discern where one thought ended and the next began. It wasn’t that she was still afraid of what happened—as she had been the night before—but she was having a difficult time coming to terms with the fact that she had both let Aodhan walk her home and that she had told him about her psoriasis.
Sierra normally didn’t like to tell anyone, and not even her friends in high school had known. Her family knew, of course, but she had always kept others at arm’s length, not wanting them to see her lesions for fear she would have to explain them, or face their ridicule, or worse.
She winced internally as she remembered the last guy she had dated for several months in Texas. He had seen her skin when things had begun to get physical between them and had assumed it was a communicable disease. Sierra had tried to explain that it wasn’t contagious and that he had nothing to worry about, but the relationship fell apart shortly after because he never seemed to believe her, always accusing her when he would get anything, evenjust a cold, as if there was some sort of connection to his sniffles and the red marks on her skin.
Sierra had really liked him, but in the end, she couldn’t deal with his toxic behavior, and she had ended it before it had really taken off. Sadly, this wasn’t the only story she had like this.
The residents of Texas were, unfortunately, some of the most vain in America when it came to appearances, making it really hard to fit in as a second-generation Mexican-American, and even more difficult when she didn’t meet the appearance standards others expected her to meet.
Sierra looked in the mirror as she pulled on her red sweater, ensuring it covered as much of her skin as possible. One of the reasons she had been so glad to move to Dublin was because of the fact that it was quite chilly almost year-round. Sure, there was a summer, but she wouldn’t be expected to wear the same skimpy shorts and tank tops that most female residents of Texas wore with pride from May until September.
With one last glance at her reflection in the all-too-honest mirror, Sierra grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs. She had a class at ten, followed by an afternoon shift at the library.
As she exited her apartment building into the blinding but chilly sun, she noticed a masculine figure leaning against the wall. She nearly panicked for a moment until the man looked up, and she recognized Aodhan’s green eyes.
“Aodhan,” Sierra gasped, looking around the street as if she was expecting someone else. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged. “Thought you might want to walk to class together.” Aodhan was wearing a fitted long-sleeve blue t-shirt and tight black jeans. While he was wearing his signature black beanie, Sierra was surprised to see he didn’t have any sort of coat with him despite the fact that it was a chilly fall Dublin morning.
Sierra raised an eyebrow, pausing to cross her arms over her chest. “How did you know I had class this morning?”
“I didn’t,” he replied, his nonchalant shrug irking Sierra. “I just came early and figured you would come downat some point.”
Sierra rolled her eyes as she began walking towards the University, and Aodhan fell into step easily beside her despite her brisk pace. “So, you were just going to wait there on the street until I came down? And what if I didn’t have class today?”
“Then I would’ve left at some point, I suppose.” Aodhan’s tone didn’t give Sierra any insight into his thoughts. She truly couldn’t tell if he was being serious or making a joke. “I just thought you would feel better having someone walk with you.”
“Hm.” Sierra was quiet for a minute, the only sound of their footfalls on the cement leading her to conclude he hadn’t been joking. He really would’ve waited outside her building for hours, maybe he already had. “And what about your own studies? Don’t you have classes or lectures today?”
“Not really.”
Sierra groaned internally at his continued non-answers. They walked on for a few moments while Sierra ran his words under the microscope in her mind. Realizing he had never given her a straight answer, well, ever, she planted her feet where she stood. It took Aodhan a moment to notice she wasn’t beside him before he turned around to see what was going on. The moment his eyes met hers, Sierra’s blood boiled, which had been building since she met Aodhan the week before, and she exploded.
