Careless and Reckless — Chapter 26

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Stupid fucking alarm clock. I reach to my right to turn the damn thing off but as I do I realise I can't move very much. At this point I decide to open my eyes and when I do I realise I'm not in my room, I'm in Wyatt's.

Fuck.

I immediately remember the previous days events, each moment replying in my mind at a high speed.

I hear a soft groan coming from next to me and it's at this point I realise I'm not in the bed alone. Wyatt is lying next to me with his arm draped over my waist, so that's why I couldn't move properly.

Why the hell was I okay sleeping in the same bed as him?! Stupid sleepy Ari, I should never be allowed to make decisions whilst tired.

"Green eyes?" I hear the person next to me say in a slightly husky morning voice. "Why are you up so early?" Wyatt yawns.

I turn to the alarm clock to see it reads quarter past seven, shit. I immediately attempt to jump out of bed, attempt being the key word as Wyatt's arm keeps me firmly in place. "Wyatt," I groan. "Get your arm off me, I'm running so late. How the hell am I supposed to get home and get ready in time for school?"

I've decided not to think too much about us snuggling in our sleep, it's easier for my brain that way. Plus, I've slept in the same bed as Max before so it's not that big a deal.

"Green eyes, I'll take you to school, chill. You can borrow some of Aria's clothes like that time you got really drunk," he says chuckling and smirking at the end as he sits up, stretching his arms.

I groan and shake my head, trying to rid myself of the embarrassment before I playfully hit Wyatt's arm which he has finally moved off my waist.

"Okay, thanks," I reply, choosing to ignore the sly comment about my drunken self. "Do you have a spare toothbrush I can use as well?"

"Yep. You can use the same one you did last time, it's still in the guest bathroom. Go there and have a shower and everything, I'll leave Aria's clothes outside the door."

I nod gratefully at him and slip out of the bed. As I'm about to turn the door handle I realise I've no idea where the guest room is, I just can't remember, god I'm horrible with directions. I sheepishly turn around to face Wyatt and he immediately catches onto what I'm about to say.

"Let me guess, you can't remember where the guest room is?"

I nod and scratch the back of my neck in embarrassment.

He sighs. "Of course you can't. You're absolutely horrible with directions, I'd never let you navigate me anywhere," he chuckles as I scowl at him. "No need for the face, green eyes, I'm only telling you the truth," he teases. This causes me to huff at him and cross my arms but this just makes him laugh further.

"You look cute when you're mad," he says, still laughing.

After finally sobering up, Wyatt tells me where the guest room is, twice because he doesn't trust I'll remember, and also says to be ready and in the dining room in half an hour — he reminds me where it is twice as well — because Anna will be mad if we go to breakfast any later than that.

I hurry off to the guest bathroom, not getting lost for once, thanks to Wyatt's overly thorough directions, brush my teeth and have a quick shower, using whatever shower gel is at my disposal, it just so happened to be strawberry scented so I was pretty happy.

By the time I'm done and have wrapped a towel around myself, there is clothes outside the door like Wyatt promised. It's nothing fancy, just a plum coloured long-sleeve top, faded boyfriend jeans and a tan belt. The clothes fit fine, albeit the jeans are slightly too long, meaning I had to roll the ends so they cut at my ankles and the top is a bit tight in the chest area but overall they're a pretty decent fit.

Obviously, I don't have any makeup with me so I'll just have to go without but, luckily, I don't have any spots at the moment so that's okay, I'm actually kind of glad because I'm really not in the mood to bother with makeup in the first place.

I blast my hair with the hairdryer already present in the bathroom and decide to put it in a messy bun, using the hair bobble I keep around my wrist.

Once I'm ready — it took me just under thirty minutes so I hopefully I shouldn't make Anna mad — I head for the massive staircase that even my directionless self can't miss. Again, thanks to Wyatt's overly thorough instructions I find my way there without too much hassle.

I step into the room to find everyone already seated so I quickly make my way over to the empty seat next to Wyatt. Once seated I let my eyes scan the room, all Wyatt's siblings are here as well as Camilla and a stern looking man with sharp features who has a striking resemblance to Wyatt. The main similarity being their eyes, he's the only other person I've seen with eyes remotely as strikingly blue and electric, I'm assuming he's Wyatt's father. His hair is dark but lighter than Wyatt's, it's slicked back into a neat and tidy style that just screams 'business'. He also has stubble on his jaw but it's well maintained, overall you can tell he likes to keep tidy and grooms himself regularly — or has someone who does that for him, I wouldn't put it past the Kings. He's definitely not bad looking for a man of his age. I guess this confirms why the King children are all so good looking, it's in their genetics.

Everyone's already eating so I help myself to a slice of toast and a cup of tea but I can't help feeling a stare burning into the side of my head, almost as if it's scrutinising my every move, let me be the first to say that I hate it.

I subtly nudge Wyatt in the side. "Is that your dad?" I ask under my breath.

He nods stiffly. "Yes, he got back yesterday. It's the first time everyone — well except Harper, she's still traveling all over the place — has been in the same house in almost a year so Anna was adamant on us all sitting together at every meal whilst everyone is in once place, she's knows it won't last long."

I nod. "Why is he staring at me?" I ask, growing more uncomfortable by the minute, I hate any sort of attention, especially if it comes from someone so intimidating.

Wyatt sighs and shrugs. "I'm not sure, I'll never understand that man. Probably just because he doesn't know you. I don't think he's intentionally glowering at you, he's just always got that sort of look on his face," Wyatt explains in a low whisper.

There's not much talking like there usually is when I'm dining with the Kings. Instead, everyone seems on edge, just like myself, as if they too are finding this just as uncomfortable.

Wyatt's dad clears his throat from the head of the table and immediately everyone's heads snap to him. "Well, who might you be, young lady?" He asks, looking directly at me, his expression hard, making me gulp.

I desperately want to look away from his cold stare but I force myself to keep eye contact, not wanting to appear as scared as I'm feeling. Wyatt said I need to be fearless so here goes. I push my discomfort and fear aside as I reply. "I'm Aurora, Wyatt's friend," I say politely, my voice surprisingly clear and calm for the number of nerves rushing through my body. I make sure not to mention the whole tutor thing because I remember Wyatt not wanting his mother to know so he most likely doesn't want his father to either.

He nods. "Well Aurora I'm Alastair and might I ask why are you here so early in the morning? Did you spend the night?" I'm not sure if the tone he's using is accusatory or just his way of finding out more about me.

I'm at a loss for words. How am I supposed to reply? I can't mention the tutor thing and I most certainly don't want to mention the deal I made with Wyatt. Luckily, Wyatt speaks up, saving me from immense embarrassment.

"Relax father," he says in a slightly bitter tone, almost as if he's trying not to spit out the word, I'm sure I'm just imagining things though. "It's not like that. Aurora is just a friend. We were partnered for an maths assignment and lost track of time last night," he lies smoothly. Wyatt's lying abilities never cease to amaze me, he's just so convincing, I definitely want him to teach me. Wait, can you even teach someone how to lie? I sure hope so.

"Right," he says and takes a bite of his food. His expression remains stoic so I'm not sure if he believes Wyatt but I get the feeling he does.

"Aurora, lovely to see you again sweetheart, ignore my husband, he's always a bit grumpy, that's just him," Camilla says from where she's sitting to Alastair's right. I give her a small smile as Mr King grumbles under his breath and I sip my tea, glad at least one of Wyatt's parents is welcoming and nice. However, I can't help but remember what Wyatt said regarding his mother and how there's more to her than what meets the eye. I can only hope that it was said with positive intentions but I know that's not the case.

I refuse to let a frown of confusion take over my features as Camilla continues to speak. "The photos you posed for looked stunning, Aurora. I'm so excited to release them, especially the ones of you and Wyatt. They're probably some of my favourite modelling pictures, the clothes looked perfect on you both and when you were together the pictures looked absolutely breathtaking. I'd love it if you'd model for me again in the future, sweetheart, perhaps as a full time career. With a few lessons from myself you'd be unstoppable but I'm getting ahead of myself, best to wait until you've unfinished school or at least until exams are over," she concludes with a smile.

It takes me a minute to process what she's said but when I do I can feel myself paling. It never occurred to me that my photos with Wyatt would go public. I'm such an idiot. What if people from school see them? How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?! And on top of that Camilla wants me to take up modelling as a full time career. What the actual hell!? I was absolutely shit when Wyatt wasn't with me, how did she ever think I could model as a profession?!

Wyatt seems to notice my sudden panic as he scrapes his chair back from the table, the sound created making me wince. "Well we best be off," he starts in a rush. "Don't want to be late for school, come on Aurora." He tugs my arm trying to get me out of the room quickly before I start to panic even more.

The use of my full name surprises me, he never uses it. Seeing as he must be serious, I get up as well but make sure my chair doesn't make that same horrible scraping noise Wyatt's did. "It was lovely to see you all again," I say politely as I make my way to leave. I cast Nathan and Zack a smile each and they both return my smile with grins much bigger than my own.

As we walk I feel the panic in my chest rising. This can't be happening. It just can't. But I can't stop Camilla releasing the photos, she has to, it's for her job.

"Green eyes, calm down," Wyatt says calmly. "We can sort this out but right now I need you to take deep breaths. Can you do that?"

I nod and do as he says.

"Good," he says soothingly. "Just like that, green eyes, everything will be fine, I promise."