“Oh,” Meadow jumps up, her voice bright and her eyes filled with mischief as she looks at Gemma, “I’ll help you carry everything back. We do not need another incident. Once during spring break was enough.”
I grumble, “You drop a few drinks, and no one will let you live it down.”
Mayer gapes at me and protests, “A few?”
All I can do is shrug because it was more than a few. Look, it wasn’t my fault. We were all dehydrated and had been partying for a few days. I was not at my best right from the start, and the nightclub was packed.
Honestly, I could have dropped more of them, all things considered.
I think Gemma tries to protest, but I’m already heading toward the bar. It doesn’t take long for us to get our drinks and head back to the table. When I see who is standing there like he has every right to be, I freeze.
Meadow is biting her lip, but I can see she’s barely holding it together. “You don’t want to talk to Officer Simmons?” The tease in her voice is easy to hear, and I shoot her a look.
Does she heed the look? Not even a little bit.
“I’m not sure why you guys don’t just fuck and get it over with,” she muses like it has a real possibility of happening.
It doesn’t.
Not in this lifetime.
Not with his family and my stake in GMH.
I think Aiden and I are about as close to Romeo and Juliet as the town of Storyville can get. Well, unless one of us got with York Simmons. Just thinking about it has me almost choking on my tongue.
“The mayor’s head would explode,” I remind her out of the side of my mouth while forcing my feet to move.
As I remember him pulling me over two nights ago, I practically slam the drinks down on the table. I’m so sick of seeing red and blue flashing lights behind me.
I grew up in Storyville. I learned to drive on our small-town streets. Then, I went off to college with my best friends.
Here’s the thing—in all that time, I never once got a ticket.
We decided to open GMH, which people started whispering about almost immediately, and now you would think I’m some sort of hardened criminal. Does every ticket go on my permanent record? Like an arrest record?
It’s a stroke of luck that I haven’t racked up enough points for me to have my license suspended. Is it intentional on his part, or has that just been a happy accident?
When Aiden looks at me, he offers a small smile, but there’s something off in his expression. It’s not like we’re friends and I can ask about it, but it does have me swallowing the harsh words that want to slip past my lips. He’s not wearing his uniform that protects him from such barbs when he decides to make my life a living hell.
“Hi Meadow,” he offers my friend the same small smile before nodding in my direction, “and Greylin.”
My name on his lips shouldn’t sound so good and it certainly shouldn’t have a shiver working up my spine. Nope. Not at all.
But there is something about his voice that has always gotten to me. It’s been true for a lot longer than I’m willing to admit.
When we were growing up, Aiden was only a couple of years ahead of us. We all kind of knew each other because the size of our town. Still, he wasn’t exactly part of our friend group or maybe we weren’t part of his? I don’t really know.
Aiden was popular in school, but it was probably because he’s the mayor’s son. When you live in a town like Storyville, things like that matter.
By the time we came back to our hometown after college graduation, Aiden was already a cop and had earned the respect of the people.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy growing up while blanketed in the shadow of his family. York was always more of the golden boy compared to Aiden. If you would have asked me back then, I would have bet money on him leaving Storyville and never looking back. Here he has to endure the expectations of the Simmons name.
Being the mayor’s son wasn’t why I had a crush on him in school. No, it was because of the kind of guy he was…and still is.
He’s loyal and kind. He’s generous with his time and energy. He’s smart, but not pretentious about it.
Honestly, the only thing he loses points on is his family. It’s something he has zero control over.
