“He’s fine,” Preston assured us. “It didn’t rupture or anything. He’s more aggravated than anything. We might have to throw another one of these, or he’s going to be real salty.”
“Well, it kinda looks like it was a success, so…” Aspen trailed off, shrugging. “Might be a good idea either way.”
“Oh, totally,” Preston agreed. “Our profit margins are sky high.”
“Oh!” I finally realized. “Lazaro. Yeah, I hooked up with him last year.”
They both paused, slowly turning to stare at me. I felt like a moron, until Preston flicked up an eyebrow, grinning a little bit.
“Me too,” he said. Aspen snorted.
“Me too,” he repeated, before taking a sip of the soda I’d brought him.
“Small world,” I finally said, after a stretch of silence.
“Small enough,” Preston agreed.
They chatted a bit more, about the club and their classes and mutual acquaintances, while I mostly hung back and let them. I couldn’t tell if Aspen was feeling him or not. I was relieved when a girl I didn’t recognize called for Preston from a little distance away.
“Duty calls,” he said, sighing a little, before tilting his head, his eyes locked in Aspen’s direction. I might have been unsure about Aspen’s feelings, but there was no ambiguity about Preston’s. The way Mr. Perfect was looking at him was full of obvious interest. “I have to take care of some stuff, but… We should talk more, Aspen. Later,” he tacked on.
“Yeah, okay,” Aspen responded. He was smiling, relaxed again. Fuck. I only wanted him to look that way for me.
Before I could try and snare his full attention back on me, the way it’d been before we’d been so rudely interrupted, Aspen dug into the pocket of his dark jeans, forcing my eyes to flicker down there. He had such a cute, tight body. Firm and toned in all the right places, with a slim waist, and a perfectly sculpted butt. There was no fucking way I was letting Preston Beaumont get to him. I’d burn down the whole damn stupid cornfield before I allowed that.
“Ah, I have to take this,” he said, after pulling out his phone and looking at the brightly lit screen.
“Go ahead,” I said, and he gave a little nod before walking off in the direction of the barn. He raised his phone to his ear, but hewas already too far away once he’d answered for me to hear any part of the conversation.
I stood around for a bit, trying to enjoy the catchy beats of the techno music playing from the dance floor. I looked around to see if there was anyone I was interested in talking to, but nothing felt appealing. All I wanted was Aspen.
Deciding there was no avoiding it, I shrugged at myself, and headed off toward him. When I got to the barn, I noticed there was still a handful of people loitering inside, seated on hay bales or stools, but he’d gone around the side. I quietly followed the path he’d taken, and peeked around the corner to watch him.
“Yeah, Mom.I know. I know. I sent it, okay?” There was a pause, where he took in a deep breath and stared up at the sky, but his back was to me, so he didn’t notice me watching. “Yeah, I… Yes. No, I know.”
My fingers curled around the worn wood of the barn wall, my brows furrowing together. He sounded unhappy and stressed, but I was sure that was only because he thought he was alone. He was the type of guy to say he was okay no matter what was going on, because complaining would feel like a weakness. Even I could tell that.
“It’s okay… It’s fine.” Another pause. “Yeah, Mom, I need to go. I’m… Studying. Yeah. Okay, I love you too, bye.”
Once he’d shoved his phone back in his pocket, he let out a frustrated groan, before dragging his palms down his face, during which time he also turned around. When he lifted his hands from his eyes and spotted me, he jumped back, startled. Apparently, I had a knack for scaring the shit out of him.
“Jesus, Caelyx!” He griped. “Give me a fucking heart attack, why don’t you?”
“Sorry, Cupcake,” I said. “I was just waiting for you to get done.”
He sighed, pressing a hand to his chest, probably to really drive home the idea that I’d nearly sent him into cardiac arrest.
“You weren’t listening to my phone call, were you?”
“No,” I lied. “I just walked up.”
I’d caught the tail end of it, and I thought I’d mostly gotten the gist. He’d sent something to his mom that she hadn’t gotten yet? I wasn’t sure why that would make him sound so agitated and harassed, but I didn’t think lingering on it would help anything.
“Alright, well… I’m done, so let’s go back,” he suggested.
“Or,” I said quickly, “We could just stand here for a minute.”
Behind the large barn, the soft rustling of the cornstalks in the breeze had actually started outweighing the distant music. The quiet, along with the soft beams of moonlight, almost made it feel like we were the only ones out here. And maybe that wasn’t what he wanted, but if I could convince him to stay with me here, in this little bubble, even if it was only for a few minutes, then it would make the entire night worth it.
