Dating, by it's definition, was something she liked to think she'd be good at. She wasn't clingy, didn't enjoy public displays of affection, was never one to expect grand gestures, and despite her mostly feminine leanings had never once squealed at receiving flowers or anything shiny. Sure, she did enjoy flowers and jewelry, but like she had once told Arron she preferred those types of gestures be made privately in such a way that whatever special moment might occur wasn't out there for everyone to see. She was a performer at heart, but the type of performer who was there to highlight the real show as opposed to being it, which was why she didn't mind all that much that Aidan's approach to things was more measured and methodical as compared to the traditional and obvious approaches she was used to.
It constantly left her wondering where she stood with Aidan, but she'd found ways to work around that. She came second to school -- which was to be expected considering they were both grad students -- and so the fact that he would choose spending time with her over a week-long legal residency that could help forward his potential career ambitions (and she assumed, even without him saying it, that his goals were far more laid out than hers could ever be), Aria was just straight-up shocked. For all the jokes that she'd cracked about being 'so Cali', she was still afraid that they'd get to that cabin and he'd discover that for all her wanting to be the kind of girl he could open up to they'd have little else in common outside some pop culture staples and her insistence he give her a shot.
No matter how much she tried to remind herself that the trip was suggested as a way to get to know each other better, it was hard for her to not be slightly hopeful that it was a good sign. When she'd told Ben about their plans he'd reacted with the kind of knowing wink and elbow nudge that someone far more experienced than Aria might have taken as a sign, but she brushed it off because she knew that Aidan most likely wasn't sweeping her off to some winter wonderland to attempt to seduce her. No, much as she considered herself an expert on reading people, Aria Dixon could say with perfect confidence that he was still a mystery.
She liked it like that, though. It was something that Aidan had going in his favor that Arron never would, that element of surprise. While Arron, like Aria herself, was up front with his feelings, Aidan kept to himself and it made her feel like she really had to work at puzzling out his intentions. The car ride up to the mountains had been fun despite her lingering worries, and although he had the edge when it came to skiing her skills at making s'mores trumped his.
That didn't mean there wasn't some heavy flirting going on, but then again she flirted with most everyone. It was a reflex, like her (defensively) telling Arron nothing romantic was supposed to be going down on when he decided to call Aidan 'Mr. Oblivious' because it seemed a lot easier than explaining that Aidan's version of wooing was less overt than his. It may not have involved white wine, chocolate-covered strawberries, smooth jazz, and other cliches, but that was fine with her.
When it came time to share a bed Aria wasn't concerned. For reasons she couldn't fathom, he had gotten it into his head that she thought he'd try something, an assumption which when voiced had made her laugh so hard that tears came to her eyes and she was rendered speechless. It was a more overblown reaction than he deserved, and her explanation that the idea hadn't even crossed her mind might have offended him slightly (she didn't want to risk it by mentioning that a) he wasn't Arron and b) she was used to sharing a bed in a platonic fashion) but it was the truth -- he had never given her a reason to think he would attempt anything even vaguely sexual without asking first. That was why she never once warned him of her habit of being a serial heat seeker.
And oh, did Aidan radiate such nice warmth.
Dead to the world, Aria had no idea that Aidan was awake. However, his going stiff affected her enough to make her shift closer.
Outside the bed was cold, and she wasn't willing to let go that easily.