Chapter 130 - 129

Sophia was finally ready to go home, it had been a very long day, but as she walked to her car, she saw Aiden carrying a big bouquet of red roses. He was so cute it almost made her want to smile.

He was wearing his most dazzling smile, eager to see her, "Sunshine, I missed you," he said as he reached her.

"You were only gone for three days. Why are you acting like you've been gone for long?" she replied.

"What do you want me to do? Each second I wasn't by your side made me feel so lonely," he replied with a soft voice.

After Aiden confessed, Sophia can now see the desire in his eyes very clearly, something she never noticed before. Now that she analyzed his gentleness and attentiveness, it felt too much for her to handle.

Aiden did not plan to stay away from Sophia that long, but his parents wanted him to spend more time with them. Especially now that someone else has his attention, he may not be able to visit them every weekend. And all their time away from each other, he never failed to send Sophia text messages. She had replied to some of them, and he thought even short messages were better than nothing.

"Why are you being so cheesy?" she asked.

He winked at her, "Being with you turns me into a romantic. See, I even got you flowers."

They were the most beautiful deep red roses Sophia had seen. These roses were usually for special order.  Flown in from other countries, and are selected for their color and their aroma. It would cost an arm and a leg for a regular citizen, but Aiden was not an ordinary person. 

"I don't like flowers," Sophia said, rejecting his sweet offering.

"Liar, I saw your eyes twinkle, and your lips twitched when you saw me. Was it me or the flowers?" He asked as he stepped closer, touching her chin. 

Sophia did not notice that she had smiled. Her moves were always calculated. She tried to hide any hint of her expression from anyone, always maintaining a poker face. But with Aiden's careful scrutiny, he was noticing more and more of her tells.

They were very subtle. A twitch in her lips showed her smile, a small movement of her eyebrow showed mild annoyance, a mild squint showed anger, and her glossy eyes showed sadness. All he needed was to look at Sophia, and Aiden knew what she was thinking.

"Keep the flowers in a vase this time and don't let them die," he instructed.

"Okay, I will take care of them," she took the bouquet and inhaled their sweet scent. 

Aiden invited her to have dinner at his place, "My parents sent a lot of dishes for me to take home, and I won't be able to finish all of them alone, come and join me," he asked.

This will be the first time she will enter his home since they usually hung out at her place when they were together. It was surprising for Sophia to see that Aiden's home was more pleasing than she anticipated. She expected his apartment to be a regular bachelor pad with just the basic appliances and necessities in it, muted colors. There was so much color everywhere, from the sky blue sofa, red and yellow throw pillows, the multiple artworks on the wall, to the healthy-looking plants on every corner. It definitely looked better than her house, it gave off the lived-in, homey vibe.

"Your house is very beautiful, I did not expect it to look like this," she gushed.

"Thanks, I really don't like boring colors. I gave my PA my requirements and she put it all together," he passed her a water bottle to quench her thirst.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'm going to freshen up." He left her to take a shower and change his clothes. When he came out, he found Sophia watching the TV. But the minute he stepped out of his room, her attention was diverted, and surprisingly she was inspecting his appearance.

The shirt he wore highlighted the muscles he got from working out a lot, from his shoulders to his abs, the shirt did not hide anything. And his hair that was still slightly dripping hair made him look more dangerous. Sophia had to swallow to stop herself from drooling.

He headed to the dining area, smiling as he overlooked Sophia's discomfort. He thought he saw interest in her eyes when she stared at him, but he was not sure. "Come and sit, I will set the table," he called out.

He showed her all the dishes his mom packed for him, selecting the items they wanted to heat up and eat. There was an assortment of main dishes, side dishes, dessert, and fruit. And it looked like he was covered for the next few weeks.

"There is so much food. Did your mom get scared you were going hungry?" she sat on the chair he pulled out for her.

Aiden laughed and replied, "We don't need to finish everything today. I will leave some in your refrigerator so we can eat it the whole week.

After dinner, she decided to look around while Aiden washed the dishes. She got curious when she found he had left his bedroom open, wanting to see if his bedroom was as colorful as the whole house. She hesitated and thought it would be hard to explain what she was doing in his personal space if she got caught.

As she walked by, a yellow image on his wall caught her eye. She did a double-take and walked into the room, not caring anymore about the consequences. What greeted her first shocked then angered her.

An almost life-size picture of Sophia was framed on the top of Aiden's bed. The photo had been taken when they were in the sunflower fields. She remembered being there, wearing that yellow dress, the wind blowing her hair, and feeling like she had no other cares in the world. 

The picture shocked her because of her smile, it made her remember that time when her parents were still alive, and life was still good.