By Chance: Fate Finds You

Five --{-@

As the sun warmed her face, Ari woke woth a deep yawn and stretched, bumping against the body next to her. A heavy arm came from under the pile of fabric and landed across her stomach and shoulder, followed by a muffled 'mmm.'

Oh s**t.

Oh s**t.

Shit s**t s**t!

Ari had f****d up. There was a stranger in her bed. Her car was at the club, her purse was at the club. Her f*****g phone! Making an effort to not panic, she eased out from under the tattooed arm and laid on her side.

She checked her surroundings, seeing clothes strewn around the room. Ah f**k! She hadn't had him use a condom! As a demigod, she couldn't pregnant or catch any diseases, but she was never sure if she could carry them and was always diligently careful in the past. Who or when Ari brought someone home in the past was never an issue, but she didn't like people staying the night unless she knew them. She was figuring out how to navigate the inevitable awkward conversation that was brewing in the theater of her mind, when a rustling of covers behind her made her freeze like a startled gazelle.

She slowly turned around, prepping to wake the dude next to her and ask him to leave, but stopped as he came into her view. Ari sucked in a tiny gasp, and then covered her mouth in hopes she wouldn't wake him.

He had rolled onto his back, the previously imprisoning arm slung above his head. His hair was combed back the night before, but now lay messily tousled. It was the darkest brown, and looked like it was kitten-soft. He had thick eyelashes that were long enough to nearly brush the skin under his eyes, with a jealousy-inducing swoop that Ari could only achieve with tools and s**t-ton of mascara. The sunlight coming through the window highlighted his high cheeks and defined jaw against the golden hue of his skin. His lips weren't necessarily thin or thick, but still had a pronounced cupid's bow, and slightly parted as he breathed deeply in his slumber. As she continued looking at him uninterrupted, he smiled and turned back onto his side facing her, snuggling further into the thick pillow. Her heart stuttered as she caught the full view of his face again.

He. Was. Beautiful.

Ari suddenly felt a little creepy, watching Bin sleeping. Especially since, despite the masculinity of his features, he also looked very young. She remembered she didn't know s**t about this kid, other than that he was a talented lay. Plus, she had to pee. Reluctantly tearing her gaze from him, she gingerly turned back over and eased herself out from under the covers and off of the bed. Something inside of her wasn't super eager to have him leave.

She was not making his ass breakfast, though.

She grabbed her black silk robe off of a hook on her bedroom door, and slid into it as she went to use the hall bathroom for privacy. When she finished, she grabbed an elastic hair tie from a little bowl on the counter and pulled her hair to the side, braiding it over her shoulder to hang near her chest. She went to the kitchen and grabbed the remote to turn up the music from the night before just a little. She got to work making some coffee, and grabbing a carton of orange juice out of the fridge when she finished. She unscrewed the little cap and brought the whole thing up for a couple chugs.

"Hey. Save some for me?"

Ari spit juice out like she was on a stupid sitcom, barely avoiding an embarrassing choking incident.

"Oh s**t, sorry! I thought I was pretty loud walking in here!" Bin exclaimed, coming forward to make sure Ari was okay.

Ari turned back around to grab a hand towel from the stove, and burst into laughter as she saw Bin coming toward her. Since she had grabbed her black silk robe from the door, that meant he had grabbed the remaining one.

The white one with pink and red roses, that came almost to her knees but barely covered his ass.

She laughed again, a little quieter, as she mopped orange juice off of her chest and chin. He stopped and looked down and the ground, chuckling and shoving his hands into the pockets of the robe. He looked boyish and shy, but not embarrassed. Rather, like he knew it was going to be silly but didn't mind it so much, but also couldn't look her in the eye. Ari finished wiping herself off, and put the carton and towel back on top of he stove, finally calming her giggles.

She got a panoramic view of this legs, not that the robe was leaving much to the imagination. They were well-muscled and shapely, with definition in the calves and the thighs, knees bowing outward almost imperceptibly. He shuffled his feet a little as he looked at them, seemingly unsure of what to do. As he looked back up, his mess of hair fell into his eyes and he flicked his head to the side to move it away, taking a long blink before smiling sheepishly at her.

Bin crossed the remaining distance between them, coming close to her as he picked up the juice she had put down. Ari gulped as she felt the heat from his chest on her arm, and jumped a little as he raised his hand to point at the kitchen cupboards.

"Cup?" he asked, waving his hand to indicate all of he potential doors.

"Umm, that one there, " Ari said, pointing to the one nearest the refrigerator.

Bin opened the cupboard door, taking down two small glasses and setting them on the counter before filling them up and handing one to her. She didn't turn to face him as she took a tiny sip, but heard him gulp loudly four times before setting his glass down on the back counter with a satisfied sigh. When she turned around, he was leaning back against the tiled top, propping himself up on his elbows and smiling at her.

"Hey," he said quietly, "Last night was...yeah." He grinned wider, breaking eye contact with her and looking down again, "I have to go meet up with someone but," his voice got quieter as he put his hand up to hide how big he was smiling, "Could I, like, get your number?" he said as he bumped his big toe up and down on the linoleum.

Oh?

Ummm..." Ari fumbled.

She hadn't realized that she wasn't really expecting this. A quick exit, never to be seen again? Sure. A clingy dude with possible mommy issues? Maybe. But a guy who wasn't going to stick around all day and eat her food, but was showing interest in seeing her again? Didn't see it coming. Unless he was just shining her on. She looked at him again, he had his eyebrows up, reading her face, chewing on his lower lip.

Not shining her on.

Ari blushed and brushed a stray hair back behind her ear. "Yeah" she said softly, and was rewarded a sun-bright expression from Bin's face. If he smiled any wider, his face would have split in two.

She came closer to him, to open a drawer at the end of the counter, and fished out a pen and notepad without ever looking away from him.

"Sorry, I don't have my phone. Left it at the club."

She blushed even harder, remembering why she had forgotten everything at work. His expression turned sultry, showing that he remembered why as well. Ari had to look away in order to stop her heart from pounding, and hastily scribbled her name on the notepad. She ripped off the paper and handed it to him. He looked at it and grinned, then met eyes with her again.

"Ari, huh? I like that. Suits you" he said with an assessing look. He was definitely not helping with the heart rate thing.

"Yeah. I work a lot of nights, but..." she trailed off.

"S'cool" he shrugged. "I'm pretty easy," he said casually, winking at her.

Ari didn't know how to react to his nonchalant flirting, so she took another sip of her juice to cover up her awkward behavior. Bin huffed a quick laugh, then kissed her quickly on the forehead before turning and walking triumphantly back down the hall to her bedroom, leaving her standing stunned, glass still on her lips.

A few minutes later, Ari was just finishing doctoring up her coffee with milk and chocolate syrup, when Bin emerged from the hallway. He was in his own clothes, this time, and looked like he had washed up a bit. He came over to her casually, procuring the cup from her hand and taking a sip.

"Whoah!" he sputtered, "I thought it was coffee!"

"It is!" Ari grabbed the mug back and tasted it. "Mmm...it's perfect!"

"It's a cup of sugar!" Bin laughed. "Keep it. I'll grab one on the way."

Ari laughed as she followed him to the door. He opened it and stepped through the threshold, turning and pausing in front of her.

"Ari, I think I'd really like to see you again soon."

She blushed again. What the hell? What was this guy doing to Boss Ariyana? She wasn't a blushing type.

Bin didn't seem to notice, and came in close, putting his fingers under her chin and lifting it as he kissed her sweetly. Ari returned the kiss, nearly melting, and put her free hand on the side of his face. They kissed for a long while, and took their time ending the transaction before pulling away. Bin smiled once again, and left to wait for the elevator for a second as it came up to her floor as Ari leaned against the jam of the door and watched him. As the doors opened, he turned to wave before stepping past the person exiting and getting in. As he waved again, the doors slid shut, and Ari realized who had gotten out of the elevator.

Cady stood between Ari and the closing elevator doors, looking back and forth between the two with giant eyes and a jaw that was threatening to hit the floor. Ari jumped at the sight of her, putting her coffee to her lips and turning around to escape into her apartment. Cady ran after her before the door shut.

Not that it would have stopped her, she knew the code.

"Who in perfect creation was THAT?!" Cady screamed as Ari continued her shuffle of shame to the couch. "Ariyana! Was that the blind date??" Stood by the kitchen, pointing back toward the closed door. "You better f*****g dish. NOW."