“Hi, Aiden,” his mom smiled. “Did he find you outside the Holm building?”
I could only gape at them. “How did you know?”
She laughed softly. “Ever since that one guy was found dead there last month, he keeps “saving” people from the same destiny.”
OMG. Someone had actuallydied?!
Oliver gave his mom a stern look. “How about thanking me for saving all of these people from dying? Instead, I get questioned and asked why I’m helping out. It doesn’t make any sense.”
I couldn’t help but smile his way. “Thank you for saving my life, Oliver. Without you I would’ve likely died tonight and left my dads childless.”
“See!?” he gestured wildly with his hands in my direction. “This is what I mean! I deserve this kind of reaction, not whatever laugh you just did.”
His mom just rolled her eyes at him and turned to face me. “I can offer you the same price as the Holm offered, since I know that’s what Oliver already promised you.”
“Um,” I began, not knowing if I could accept the offer now. She obviously only did it because Oliver had made me a promise without their consent on it.
“It’s fine, Aiden,” Oliver assured me. “This is our slow season, lots of empty rooms anyway.”
“If you’re sure,” I said, smiling at his mom. “Thank you.”
“No problem,” she took my card and handed me a key when the payment went through. “You can thank me by keeping Oliver occupied.” She gave me a wink and waved us off.
I had no idea what she meant by that wink, but Oliver quickly grabbed my attention, literally, like he actually grabbed my arm and started walking to our left.
What had I gotten myself into?
It turned out that Oliver was the perfect travel guide. He made the wise decision that after my bag was safely in my room, we would visit the town center and eat lunch together. I found myself enjoying his company, and when we sat way too close for normal comfort while eating in the cramped style restaurant, I realized I liked being near him, like he somehow calmed me. No one had ever had that effect on me. Was I attracted to him? Was this what attraction felt like?
“That was when I realized I was allergic to garlic,” Oliver finished whatever story he was in the middle of. I just smiled and nodded, acting like I’d paid attention, when all I could do was wonder if this man was the first one I could see myself with romantically, but even though he was nice and handsome looking, I still felt no desire to kiss him. Maybe I just needed to get to know him better? He certainly seemed set on the idea of us spending every day together while I was here.
“What about you?” he asked, pinning me with his intense stare.
“What about me?” I questioned, having again lost track of our conversation.
“Do you have any allergies?”
“Um, no, not that I know of.”
“Hmm, lucky you,” he muttered, angrily stabbing a piece of chicken.
I smiled at his antics. Maybe we could stay friends after I returned home. I still had a year left of my self-discovery journey, but Oliver was someone I knew I would never forget.
An hour later, we walked down the busy street and did some light shopping, meaning Oliver shopped for some random things I felt were unnecessary but that he deemed important, so I just shrugged and helped carry the bags.
“And that place up there.” He pointed to what looked like a castle. “Is where I want to take you tomorrow. It’s supposedly haunted, how cool is that?!”
“Hmm, cool,” I agreed, not really liking the thought of going anywhere near it.
“Not to freak you out or anything, but uh.” Whenever someone said that, you either had a spider in your hair or someone was watching you creepily. I really wanted it to be a spider. “There’s something about you I like, and I don’t often like people.”
“Oh.” That surprised me.
“Yeah,” he grinned. “Not in a creepy way, more like a partner in crime, kind of way.”
That made me relax. “I like your company, too,” I admitted, glad he wasn’t hitting on me. I hated having the I’m-not-attracted-to-you talk. People always took offense to it, like I could somehow control my attraction to them.
“Come on, partner,” Oliver said, grabbing my arm again and steering me further down the road.
