“I can carry my own stuff, JD.”
“I know,” I say again, just like I did this morning, and I’m rewarded with a small smile. What is it about this girl?
Debbie waves from the window as I lead Aurora to my truck.
“You wanted to talk. So here I am.”
I pop the tailgate and hop up, holding my hand down to her. She looks at it like it’s a rattlesnake about to strike.
“Aurora, I don’t bite.”
She tilts her head at me, the lopsided bun on the top of her head falling to one side, and she bites her rose-colored bottom lip. It’s the sexiest thing I think I’ve ever seen. She doesn’t take my proffered hand and opts to haul herself up until she’s sitting with her feet dangling over the edge of the tailgate. I sit down beside her. The smell of grease and cooking oil from the diner sticks to her clothes, but the scent of her—something like cherry blossom—penetrates through the lingering aroma of fast food. I inhale it and absorb as much of her essence as I can.
Turning my head slightly to view her profile, I’m struck by how the light of the diner’s neon sign makes her blue eyes sparkle like stars.
“I never gave Cam his keys. I don’t know how he got them. You know I have a strict policy that everyone who comes to any of my parties has to leave their car keys at the door with whoever is appointed that job for the night. They can’t get them back until I’m sure they are in control of themselves and not wasted.”
Aurora tips her head up to the night sky. “That’s what Cam always said. Why did you tell Dustin and Prescott that it was your fault?”
I hop down off the tailgate, making the truck bounce a few times. I step in front of Aurora and put my hands on either side of her hips, wanting her to look me in the eye.
“Because I do feel guilty as hell. Cam was my friend. It was my party and my responsibility. I am the guy my teammates look to. I’m their leader on and off the field. I take that role very seriously. I not only let a teammate down, but I also let my friend down. And he paid for it with his life.”
Aurora cringes, so I cradle her face in my hands, wanting so desperately to take her pain away.
“I don’t know how Cam got his keys. Riley and his girlfriend got into a big fight that night and I was handling that when Cam apparently left. I swear on my life, Aurora, if I could go back and stop him, I would.”
A tear slips down her cheek and over my thumb. “I miss him so much,” she whispers. “I’m sorry I punched you.”
I wipe the remaining tears from her gorgeous face and place my hands on the tops of her thighs, the heat from her jeans-clad skin scorching my palms. “I’m actually glad you did.”
She shakes her head, that lopsided bun falling to the other side of her head. “You are so weird.”
“I am thankful. If you hadn’t punched me, we wouldn’t be talking right now. And I’ve wanted to talk to you for such a long time.”
Her breath catches and she props back on her outstretched arms, those aqua eyes watching me with confusion. “Why haven’t you then?”
My thumbs rub circles on her jeans, and I feel the slight tremble in her muscles alerting me to how much I affect her even though she’ll never admit it.
“You know why.”
“Jackson,” she breathes, and the sound of my first name from her lips has my heart constricting. “My life is fucked up.I’mfucked up.”
“Does it have anything to do with that guy you were talking to?”
She sits back up and eases my hands off her legs. “No…yes…maybe a little. I’m still dealing with things about Cam, and I just got some news that may turn my life inside out—more so than it already is. I have school and work. My plate is full, JD. I don’t have anything left to give.”
She’s wrong, but I’m a patient man. I’ve already been waiting for her for three long goddamn years.
She jumps off the tailgate and picks her bag up from where it’s sitting on the asphalt. “Thank you for telling me what happened at the party.”
I can’t allow her to walk away. Instinctively, I know this may be the only chance I will ever get to start chiseling away at the almost impenetrable wall that Aurora surrounds herself with. I have to play this opportunity carefully and slowly. Good thing I’m an excellent strategist—a result of years of playing football.
“You can’t have enough friends, and I would really like to be your friend, Aurora.”
She gives me a skeptical look, but her eyes shelter something like hope. “Friends?”
I nod yes.
