“I mean, I’m not an expert or anything at it.”
He rubs his palm over his mouth and mumbles something I don’t catch.
“I just act like myself.” I shrug. “And try not to be awkward. We talk all the time; he asks about my day, and he says he loves hanging out with me after we’re done gaming. He even calls me princess. So that must mean something, right?”
He drops his hand and nods. “Okay. That’s definitely something.”
“Oh!” I dive for my cellphone and open the text thread with Brandon and then shove the phone into Aiden’s hand. “You can read our last few messages if that’ll help you. You can tell me where I’m going wrong. What I’m miss?—”
He ignores the phone. Instead, he grabs my wrist as I pull away, and he holds me in a loose-but-firm grip that prevents my escape.
“First thing you need to do,” Aiden says gently, “is to stop blaming yourself. There’s nothing wrong with you. If he can’t appreciate you being yourself, then he doesn’t deserve you.”
I nod. “Okay. Easy enough.”
The corner of Aiden’s lip hitches in a subtle smirk. “That’s my girl. The second thing you need to do is relax. You know I’ll take care of you.”
Oh, sweet hell. I hate it when he praises me. Okay, that’s a lie. I love it, but I hate the weird, uncomfortable feeling that follows the giddiness.
I nod since I can’t form words now. Pleased with my response, Aiden releases my wrist, dragging his tattooed fingers over my skin before dropping his attention to my phone. He reads the last messages with Brandon, his eyebrows pinching together with each passing second.
I watch his face as he reads, cataloging every micro-expression, twitching, to his lips curling in a slight frown or ticking into a smirk. He rubs his pierced nostril while fighting back a laugh as he continues reading the messages.
When he finishes, he raises his head with a grin. “Oh, pretty girl,” he coos. “You’re not flirting with him at all. You need to be more clear about your interest.”
“But I am flirting with him.” Maybe I’m not doing the best job, but I feel like I need to defend myself here. Even though I literally said I need feedback not even two minutes ago. But whatever.
Aiden huffs a laugh and covers his face with a hand. “You barely responded to his questions.” His laughter increases, and he can barely get out, “It’s adorable.You’readorable.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I fold my arms over my chest and roll my eyes. “Laugh it up, big guy. But you’re supposed to help me, not laugh at me.”
Aiden shakes his head, his cackling dying down enough for him to suck in calming breaths, and he drops his hand. “I’m not laughing at you. Like I said, you’re adorable, and I clearly have my work cut out for me. You need to be a little more obvious and give him a chase. I can help you with that.”
“How?”
He leans closer to me, his smile turning mischievous. “I have an idea. It’ll push boundaries, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“Oh, crap,” I say. A mischievous Aiden is always a shit-starter Aiden. “What’s the idea?”
“We make him jealous. Once you tell him you’re dating someone, it’ll kick that primitive side of his brain to chase after you.”
I blink. “But I’m not dating anyone . . .”
Aiden smirks. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’ll be datingme.”
FOUR
NOVA
My jaw drops,and I stare at Aiden like he just grew two heads and spewed out gibberish. He may as well have when he said we’ll be a couple.
This isn’t the type of help I had in mind.
Tell me how to flirt? I’m all in.
Tell me what guys like to hear? Hell yeah.
But dating each other to make Brandon chase me? That’s a terrible idea.
