It seems like forever before his response drops in, but finally, it does:
I’m finishing up here, but then I’ve got to go home and eat my post-game meal.
Aiden Wentworth is typing …
Are you hungry?
Oh my God. The butterflies that appeared when I saw him on the ice are back en masse the second I see those words. I excitedly text him back:
That depends. What is the offer?
Aiden Wentworth is typing …
The offer is dinner with me. Tonight.
Chapter Eight
As I turn into the visitor parking space and put my car in park, I cringe.
Scarlett. What are you doing?I ask myself.Why are you putting yourself in this position? WHY?
I swallow hard as I stare down at my steering wheel. I accepted Aiden’s offer to have a late-night dinner with him. I was downright GIDDY that he asked. I know we can only be friends. Iknowthat. Yet here I am, putting myself in a place where my hopeless crush on him can only grow.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I say, pressing my head against the steering wheel. Why am I doing this to myself? Do I live for torture? Because that’s what this is. I’m going into the apartment of a man who admitted he would ask me out if circumstances were different.
But they will never be different enough for us to date, unless Aiden plays for another team or my dad moves on to a different coaching position.
Two things that I don’t want to happen or even look likely to happen in the near future.
So what am I doing here?
I know I want to be friends, and I definitely feel like Aiden is becoming one. But should I have a friend I wish I could date?
I mean, how would it feel if he started seeing someone else? Would I still want to be friends?
I jerk my head up.Oh, Scarlett, SHUT UP.
I blink. My whole life I’ve been so good with rules and boundaries. I follow them. Live by them. If a red flag is thrown, I’m off running the other direction in search of green ones.
This is the one time in my life I’ve chosen to ignore them. There has to be a reason for that, right?
It’s not like I’m committing a crime. I’m just being a little … reckless, perhaps?
I want to enjoy his company. Flirt with him. Be reckless.
But I only want to be reckless with Aiden. Even if it ends up hurting me.
Okay, green-flag, moralistic, rules-loving self, you can shut up now. It’s time to do something you want. SomethingAidenwants.
And suffer the consequences later.
I text Aiden and let him know I’m here. He texts me back, telling me if I go towards the lobby, I’ll be able to pull him up on the video monitor and then he can let me in.
I step out of the car and walk up to the main entrance, and sure enough, there’s a video monitor next to the door. I try to settle my anxiety, pausing to inhale and exhale, and then I call up Aiden.
Within seconds, his gorgeous, smiling face appears on the screen and my anxiety is instantly replaced by excitement.
“Hey, glad you could make it. Come on up. I’m on the thirty-first floor, number 3105.”
