CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
AIDEN WAS STANDING THERE IN THE GRASS WITH sneakers and running pants, looking natural—the way I loved him. Or at least, the way I used to love him.
He looked me up and down, and when his green eyes met mine, I could see how sincerely sorry he was. “Can we talk?” he asked.
I looked back at the house party, glad I’d shut the door when I walked out. I didn’t need to become tonight’s second show. And I didn’t want anyone to see my heart break. Shoot, even I didn’t want to witness that.
Walking across the soft grass, I stopped in front of Aiden, my lip already trying to quiver. But I tightened my mouth so that it wouldn’t. Looking at him after actually witnessing him kiss another girl…it was a surreal moment. Like maybe this was all a dream. I nodded, letting him know he could talk.
“You look pretty,” Aiden said quietly, bending his head toward mine. “I always liked you dressed down like this.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, unable to blink away the tears before they fell. He wasn’t allowed to compliment me.
“I should have told you about Mary,” he said, his handsome face breaking. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
There was a stabbing pain in my chest, and I stared down at the grass, wishing I could just sink into it and forget about Aiden and Mary. I hated her name in his mouth. I hated her in his mouth.
“I never wanted to hurt you or lie to you. I never meant to—”
“How long have you been dating her?” I asked, my voice croaking from the choked-back tears. I wouldn’t look up at him. I couldn’t.
He sniffled. “A month.”
I gasped, stepping back from him, my hand at my neck. “A month?” But it only came out in a whisper. “Aiden, a month!” I covered my face with both hands, unable to keep it together. All the time he’d been with me, making out and cuddling, he’d been dating her. He was with somebody else. It hurt too much to comprehend. “Did she know? Did she know you and I were…”
His arms were around me, holding me. His warm whispers were in my ear, saying he was sorry. But I just cried. I didn’t hug him back. I didn’t reach for him.
“Tessa,” he murmured, his hand protectively at the back of my neck. “I’ll do anything. Please, I’m so sorry. I love you.”
I choked, gasping for air as I pulled back to look up at him. “What?” I breathed. “What did you say?”
Aiden’s face was streaked with tears, his normally green eyes now red. “I love you, baby. I love you so much. Please.” He reached up to touch my arms, but I couldn’t react. I didn’t know how.
“You can’t hate me, Tess,” he pleaded. “You’re my everything. I need you.”
Confusion pulsed through me. “I saw you,” I murmured. “I saw you kiss her.”
“I know.” His voice cracked. “And once that happened, I broke it off with Mary. I promise you. I don’t know what I was thinking. It was just…Mary was at school, she was there. And in a way, it was like being with you, Tess. Especially since things between us had been so weird—”
“Oh my word,” I squeaked, and backed out of his hands. The realization hit me. “Aiden, did you…did you sleep with her?” Please no. Please no.
His breath was jagged. As the boy I’d loved since the moment I met him stared back at me and nodded, everything left me. Everything I ever cared for was suddenly ruined. I felt…completely betrayed. Completely alone.
Aiden started saying something, but I wasn’t listening anymore. I was looking past him, into the street. I wanted to go home.
“I love you.” He kept saying it, as if it made everything else go away. As if it exonerated him. Or Mary.
I narrowed my eyes, thinking of her. Thinking of how her sneaking behind my back made her the ultimate snake. How she tried to ruin the Smitten Kittens for me. She was the fake SOS. If she could ruin my (sort of) relationship, she could ruin SOS.
“I’ll do anything, Tess. Please.”
On the corner, I saw a sedan turn onto the street. It was a sensible car. Something reliable. It slowed down just as it passed under a streetlight and I saw him. Immediately I smiled in relief, and suddenly I could breathe again. It was Joel.
Without a word to Aiden, I ran past him, my sandals slapping against my heels. I ran right into the road and put up my hands to stop the car. Joel braked violently and peered out of his windshield until he realized it was me.
He leaned his head out the driver’s-side window. “Holy hell, Tessa. Are you trying to get killed?”
I laughed then, shaking my head. I was so relieved to see him that I didn’t care that he almost ran me over. I was ready to go home.
“Tessa?” I heard Aiden call from the lawn behind me, but I didn’t turn. I couldn’t look at him right now. There was no such thing as Aiden.
“I need a ride, Joel,” I said, rubbing absently at my low back. “I just really need a ride home right now.”
Joel looked past me toward Aiden in the grass. He understood. “Get in.”
I exhaled and started walking around the car. But before I climbed in, I looked back once at Aiden. He raised his chin to me.
“I won’t give up, Tess,” he called, his voice thick. “I’ll make this up to you.”
I blinked heavily, unwilling to listen, then yanked open the door to Joel’s car.
“Looks like I missed a great party,” Joel said as we drove toward my house. “I mean, ex-boyfriends on the lawn and cheerleaders running out into the streets. Sounds like a hoot.”
“It was definitely unforgettable.”
“Things involving you usually are.”
My face warmed, and I looked sideways at him as he drove through the darkened streets. He was smiling, staring out the windshield. There were light splatters of rain on the glass as it started to drizzle, and Joel clicked on the wipers and turned up the heat. We didn’t listen to the radio.
“I didn’t know you were coming to the party,” I said after a while of car silence. “Kira didn’t mention it.”
He looked sideways at me. “Uh…why would she?”
I scrunched my face, not sure what he meant. I opened my mouth to answer just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I didn’t know who it was, and there was no way I was going to look now. I turned to gaze out the window at the passing streetlights.
“So what did he want?” Joel asked, flicking on the turn signal and merging onto the highway.
“Aiden? To talk to me,” I murmured. “To explain himself.” My stomach turned as I thought about the pain on his face. The embarrassment.
“Did he explain himself?”
I didn’t want to answer because I didn’t want to believe it myself. And even though Aiden was the only person I’d ever slept with…he couldn’t say the same. I might get sick.
I rolled down the window and let the wet air hit my face, probably wrecking my makeup and hair, but at this point, it didn’t matter. Tonight changed everything.
“Our friendship is a problem for Kira,” Joel said suddenly, his voice low. I opened my eyes in the air. Slowly I brought my head back in the car and rolled up the window.
“I know,” I answered, looking down into my lap.
“But…” He paused and exhaled. “I don’t want to stop being your friend, Tess.” He glanced over at me. “I have a lot of fun with you.” He smiled. “Even when your hair is sticking up in all directions and you have makeup smeared under your eyes.”
I laughed, reaching up to smooth back the hair poking out on the sides. Then I swiped my fingers under my lids and sniffled. “Better?”
“Much.”
I cleared my throat as Joel turned onto my street and pulled up to the curb in front of my house. When he stopped, he cut the engine. The streetlight above us illuminated the car so that I could see pretty clearly. I could see his hazel eyes.
“It was an unsolvable problem,” he said as he exhaled, like he’d been waiting to tell me that.
I furrowed my brow, looking over at him. “I…” I wanted to tell him that Kira was out of control, that she was acting possessive and mean. “Joel, I’m not sure I’m the one to give you advice,” I said instead.
He laughed. “That’s probably true.”
We sat together in his car, parked in the street and listening as the rain tapped on the windshield. I let the night wash over me. The copy-Kitten exposing the couples. How they stayed together. How Aiden had come for me.
“Aiden slept with someone else.” I paused. “Would you forgive him?” I asked Joel, my head resting against the back of the seat as I watched the water pool and run down the driver’s-side window.
Joel crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”
I blinked quickly. I wished the rain would stop. It was completely depressing.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.
“Not Chris Townsend,” Joel answered, staring straight ahead.
“Nope. I pretty much burned that popularity bridge tonight, I think.”
Joel laughed to himself. “It’s kind of funny, me and you being all sad together. I’m pretty sure we’re the nicest people I know.”
I tsked and sat up, smiling at him. “You’re not all that nice, Joel. You make fun of me nonstop.”
He shrugged. “That’s because you can take it. Kira hated my jokes. In fact, she didn’t even think I was funny.”
But I didn’t believe that. His comedic timing was pure perfection; even Kira had to see that. But at the mention of her name, Joel seemed down again. I hated to see him like this.
“You and Kira are fine,” I said to him, nodding. “You’ll see.”
Joel turned to me, his eyes nearly amber in the streetlight shine. “What do you mean?” he asked. “Tessa, I’m not sure you—”
My phone vibrated again, making me jump. I sighed, unable to fight it much longer, and pulled it out to look at the number. “It’s Aiden,” I murmured.
“Want me to tell him to piss off?” Joel asked with a smile, holding out his hand.
I laughed. “No, better not. You’re way too classy for that.”
“Right,” Joel agreed. “Totally high class.”
I slid the phone back and grasped the door handle. “Thank you for the ride,” I said. “You saved me from humiliation.”
“I did?” he said, snapping his fingers. “Darn.”
I slapped his shoulder but then smiled. “I have to go in, okay?” The Smitten Kittens were probably wondering what had happened to me. I’d have to call them ASAP.
Joel smiled. “Okay. It’s always nice talking with you, Tessa. You’re a good friend.” He reached out to swipe a damp strand of hair behind my ear, and I tensed as a shiver ran down my back.
My breath caught as his hand paused on my ear just a second longer than necessary. “Uh…” I stammered, blinking quickly. “Thanks.” I pushed out into the rain, shutting the door quickly behind me.
My pulse was racing. I wasn’t sure what had just happened, but when he touched me like that, I…I…
I dashed up my driveway and paused under the porch awning before looking over my shoulder to the road. Joel waved once to me before turning on his car and pulling back into the street. And while I watched him go, there was one thing I was sure of.
Just then, that feeling I had—it was a lot more than just friendship.
(CODE PINK) SOS INTER-KITTEN COMMUNICATION
Dear Smitten Kittens,
Next weekend is the homecoming dance. We have a very sensitive sting operation in place to catch this knockoff Kitten, and please be mindful of your assigned position. This is one clever spy we’re trying to catch. (And for the record, I think it’s Mary Rudick. Just saying.)
Those of us not meeting at Tessa’s house before the dance should have the equipment in place at the gym prior to her arrival. Also, make sure to have both the police and emergency personnel on speed dial. And Izzie, remember it’s 9-1-1. Not 9-11. There is no 11 on the phone.
Good luck, Smitten Kittens. After this weekend, the real SOS will be back in business.
Keep smiling,
Leona ?