Henry appears a moment later and frowns at us. I jump away, but Aidan doesn’t move. We hadn’t been doing anything, but our close proximity feels wrong. Maybe it was the fact Aidan and I only made one whole outfit combined. It could have been Aidan’s ridiculous body, with abs that rippled like water rescinding over sand. That morning, I took Henry’s outstretched hand and let him lead me to his bedroom. I didn’t look back, but I’ve always wondered what the look on Aidan’s face was.
Henry is gone from my head. Aidan takes his place, and my hand stills. This is wrong, but it’s bad in a delicious way. My hand moves, and in my head, it’s Aidan’s hand moving over me. Aidan, with his lopsided smile, lies beside me in my bed and reaches down.
My phone pings and a light glows from my nightstand. With my free hand, I reach over and peer at the screen, shock rolling through me for a second time tonight.
Aidan: Hi.
Panicked, I look around my room as if somehow I’ve been caught. There is nothing there but darkness and the glow of the moon peeking around the drawn curtains. Slowly sliding my hand from my pants, I wipe it across my comforter and start typing.
Hey. Date over already?
Aidan: The date ended shortly after I saw you.
The alley. I knew it.
Never took you for a minute man.
Aidan responds with the middle-finger emoji, then the three dots appear, so I wait for more.
Aidan: You looked disappointed when I saw you tonight.
Disappointed in what?
Aidan: Me.
Hardly.
Aidan: In what, then?
I wasn’t disappointed. Just surprised.
Aidan: Gotcha.
He doesn’t say anything else. Three dots don’t appear. I wait five minutes, then turn off my phone.
In the darkness of my room, I reach back down and bring myself to the high I was seeking. I christened my new bed all by my damn self.
10
Aidan
This is exactlywhat I needed. Cold beer, greasy bar food, and the Yankees on every TV in my vicinity.
“We’ll have another round,” Rob tells the girl who dropped off our baskets of burgers. With a full mouth, I stare at the screen closest to me. It’s the bottom of the ninth and we’re tied four-four with the Dodgers. I want this win more than I’ve wanted anything in my life. In this moment, anyway.
Finishing my bite, I wash it down with the dregs of my beer and grab a handful of fries. Just as I toss them in my mouth, Rob utters one of those information seeking sentences I would rather ignore.
“Best hasn’t been around much lately.”
A caveman-like grunt winds its way around my mouthful of fries, but it doesn’t deter Rob.
“Thought with her divorce she’d be around a lot more.”
“Why do you care so much? Do you want to date her? Break the rule?” My voice is sullen. I wipe my mouth with a paper napkin and ball it up, then toss it on the table.
Rob glances at me, then back to the screen. “Maybe. She’s cute. She has that smart-girl vibe. The older I get, the more I appreciate smart girls.”
“I was kidding,” I mutter, beyond grateful for the fresh round of beers the server is dropping off. Grabbing mine, I drink until it’s half gone.
