coursing through me.
“I don’t know, man.” Liam runs his hands across his face. “Distract her, maybe? Look, I know she’s gonna meet someone, and I'm going to have to deal with it, but not like this. I don’t want her first time to be some two week fling in the summer. She deserves better than that. I just want her safe.”
She’s still a virgin! I had my suspicions, but it isn’t my place to ask those kinds of questions. “I can’t stop her from hooking up,” I tell him through gritted teeth. I could, oh hell yes, I could. But that would be wrong. Hales isn’t mine. No matter how much I want her, I have no right to keep her from finding someone else. I chose to not act on these feelings I have for her to make sure she would always be a part of my life. Now I need to man up and accept that she’ll be with someone else, and by the sound of it, a hell of a lot sooner than I was prepared to see.
Liam loudly exhales. “I know you can’t stop her, but try and distract her. I know I tend to lose myself in Allie, and I’ll try to not let that happen, but if you can just hang out with her, you know? Don’t give her the chance to go searching for someone. Maybe we can at least protect her from a fling for her first time,” his voice is desperate. I see it eating him up inside at the thought.
If he only knew what his words were doing to me. The anger coursing through my veins at the thought of my Hailey with someone else, someone who doesn’t love and respect her. Yeah, I’m pissed all right.
I hear the girls laughing as they push their loaded down cart out of the store. Liam and I rush to them and take over, loading everything in the Pathfinder. I return the cart to the corral and slide in next to Hailey. I am sitting a little closer to the middle than I should, but I suddenly need to feel close to her. I need to get the image of her and some no-name douche bag out of my head. I swear, if anyone tries to hurt her… I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts and calm down.
Aiden seems to be acting off. I can’t really put my finger on it. I don’t know what could have happened while Allie and I were in the store, but I can feel the tension coming off him in waves. He slides in, sitting a little closer than he normally does. I inch closer to him and rest my hand on his leg.
“Hey, you all right?” I whisper softly.
His stares at my hand on his leg, I start to pull away, but he places his on top of mine. He gently strokes his thumb across my knuckles. He leans down in the seat so our shoulders are touching, never taking his eyes off our hands. He releases a heavy breath. “Yeah, I’m good, angel,” he whispers back.
I melt. Every damn time he calls me angel, I melt. I don’t try to make conversation. I don’t really want to say anything that I might regret, or that Allison and Liam can overhear. I adjust my position, rest my head on his shoulder, and close my eyes. I want to climb in his lap and demand he tell me what’s wrong, but I can’t. So instead, I touch him as much as I can get away with. We have a good thirty minutes until we reach the beach house, so I’ll pretend to be napping until then. I feel his head rest against mine as he whispers, “Rest, angel.”
My plan of pretending to sleep? Well, I did actually fall asleep. It was worth it though, because of how I am woken up. I hear Aiden whisper, “Wake up, angel. We’re here.” I open my eyes and see that he is close, so close. He lifts his hand and cups my cheek. “Sorry to wake you, baby, but we made it.”
I nod, because, holy shit, speaking is not something that my brain can handle at the moment. Aiden has been treating me differently. The last few months we have flirted more, but he has never called me baby. And just recently he has started calling me angel. I like it a lot. Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is this really happening?
Aiden
“I don’t know, man.” Liam runs his hands across his face. “Distract her, maybe? Look, I know she’s gonna meet someone, and I'm going to have to deal with it, but not like this. I don’t want her first time to be some two week fling in the summer. She deserves better than that. I just want her safe.”
She’s still a virgin! I had my suspicions, but it isn’t my place to ask those kinds of questions. “I can’t stop her from hooking up,” I tell him through gritted teeth. I could, oh hell yes, I could. But that would be wrong. Hales isn’t mine. No matter how much I want her, I have no right to keep her from finding someone else. I chose to not act on these feelings I have for her to make sure she would always be a part of my life. Now I need to man up and accept that she’ll be with someone else, and by the sound of it, a hell of a lot sooner than I was prepared to see.
Liam loudly exhales. “I know you can’t stop her, but try and distract her. I know I tend to lose myself in Allie, and I’ll try to not let that happen, but if you can just hang out with her, you know? Don’t give her the chance to go searching for someone. Maybe we can at least protect her from a fling for her first time,” his voice is desperate. I see it eating him up inside at the thought.
If he only knew what his words were doing to me. The anger coursing through my veins at the thought of my Hailey with someone else, someone who doesn’t love and respect her. Yeah, I’m pissed all right.
I hear the girls laughing as they push their loaded down cart out of the store. Liam and I rush to them and take over, loading everything in the Pathfinder. I return the cart to the corral and slide in next to Hailey. I am sitting a little closer to the middle than I should, but I suddenly need to feel close to her. I need to get the image of her and some no-name douche bag out of my head. I swear, if anyone tries to hurt her… I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts and calm down.
Aiden seems to be acting off. I can’t really put my finger on it. I don’t know what could have happened while Allie and I were in the store, but I can feel the tension coming off him in waves. He slides in, sitting a little closer than he normally does. I inch closer to him and rest my hand on his leg.
“Hey, you all right?” I whisper softly.
His stares at my hand on his leg, I start to pull away, but he places his on top of mine. He gently strokes his thumb across my knuckles. He leans down in the seat so our shoulders are touching, never taking his eyes off our hands. He releases a heavy breath. “Yeah, I’m good, angel,” he whispers back.
I melt. Every damn time he calls me angel, I melt. I don’t try to make conversation. I don’t really want to say anything that I might regret, or that Allison and Liam can overhear. I adjust my position, rest my head on his shoulder, and close my eyes. I want to climb in his lap and demand he tell me what’s wrong, but I can’t. So instead, I touch him as much as I can get away with. We have a good thirty minutes until we reach the beach house, so I’ll pretend to be napping until then. I feel his head rest against mine as he whispers, “Rest, angel.”
My plan of pretending to sleep? Well, I did actually fall asleep. It was worth it though, because of how I am woken up. I hear Aiden whisper, “Wake up, angel. We’re here.” I open my eyes and see that he is close, so close. He lifts his hand and cups my cheek. “Sorry to wake you, baby, but we made it.”
I nod, because, holy shit, speaking is not something that my brain can handle at the moment. Aiden has been treating me differently. The last few months we have flirted more, but he has never called me baby. And just recently he has started calling me angel. I like it a lot. Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is this really happening?
Aiden
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