It reminds me of when he touched my mouth with those fingertips.
I finish the last note, and the room fills with the sounds of clapping. I love it here. It’s easygoing and I feel good, but right now, I’m on the edge of my seat as I reach for the napkin.
My breath is gone once I read what he’s written.
I’m sorry,
-Aiden
I blink. Then again. And then I squint at his handwriting. Irritation rattles through me as I glare at his napkin. If I were still ten, I would smell it to see if it smells like him, but now I just want to ball it up and throw it at him! Is this some kind of pity apology? When I snap my gaze up to find him, I see him walking out with his arm around Stella.
Oh, hell no.
“I’ll be back in five!”
I get up quickly and run as fast as I can in heels toward the exit. The cold hits me as soon as I push the doors open. I regret not getting a jacket first, but for some reason, when it comes to this guy, I don’t make good choices. I don’t see him at first, but then I catch him as he’s opening the door to the truck for Stella.
“Aiden!”
He whips his head toward me as he draws in his brows. I hear Stella ask, “Who’s that?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about it. Stay in the car.” I stomp toward him as he shuts his sister’s door. “Yeah?”
I hold up the napkin. “What is this?”
He looks at the napkin and then at me, his brow still furrowed. “Shelli, it’s cold as hell—”
“Answer me!” He glares, looking every bit as frustrated as I feel. He then shrugs out of his jacket, and I snap, “I don’t want that.”
“I don’t care,” he says flatly. He steps to me, wrapping his jacket around my shoulders as his eyes bore into mine. He doesn’t step back like he should. His eyes stay locked with mine as he says, “It’s an apology.”
“You think you’re cute? This is not cute!”
He shrugs. “It’s a little cute.”
“Not cute!” I insist, and he shrugs. “You don’t have the balls to talk to me?”
“I didn’t know how to approach you.”
“Why?” I ask, my heart in my throat.
“’Cause I don’t.”
“That’s dumb! I’m approachable!”
“Yeah, as approachable as a ravenous lioness,” he scoffs with that stupid little charming grin of his.
Oh, he infuriates me! “Again, not cute.”
“Hey, that was clever.”
“Ugh! Aiden, why are you apologizing?”
He narrows his eyes before he slips his tongue out to lick his lips. The simple motion drives me absolutely foolish, of course. “I don’t know of anyone ever asking why when someone apologizes.”
“Um, in this situation, it’s warranted! It seems real out of the blue, when not a couple hours ago, you didn’t look the least bit apologetic.”
He shrugs. “I don’t like how things went down.”
“Why? Because you saw me crying? I wasn’t crying over you,” I snap, and his gaze darkens.
“Never said you were.”
“Just seems funny that now you’re apologizing after you saw me crying.”
“You crying has nothing to do with this apology. I felt like shit when you walked away anyway.”
“But you had no problem saying I wasn’t being ladylike.”
“Because I was pissed, and you weren’t.”
“So?”
“So…” He shakes his head. “What do you want from me, Shelli? I’m trying to apologize—”
“I want it to be real. I want it to be truthful.”
His face twists in confusion, and I feel stupid. Why am I out here? He isn’t supposed to matter. “I am being truthful. I mean it. I thought about you all day. It was wrong how things went down. We both said things we shouldn’t have, and it escalated.”
“Whatever.”
“Can you just accept my apology? Please?” he asks firmly. “Listen, I suck at this kind of thing. I don’t apologize for things because I don’t usually feel guilty, but I feel wrong about earlier. I never should have spoken to you the way I did or made you feel less than your worth—”
I scoff, even if my heart is pounding like a motherfucker. “I know my worth, and you made me feel nothing!”
He blinks twice and then nods. “Good, I’m glad. I wasn’t out to hurt you. My anger got the best of me.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Why?”
“Because your anger has been getting the best of you since you saw me at my house.”
He licks his lips once more, slowly nodding. “I don’t know how to talk to you because I’m still upset with how it all went down.”
“And you think I’m not?”
He shakes his head. “Shelli, seriously, you could ruin my life.”
“But I wouldn’t,” I stress. “Yes, it wasn’t ideal how we ended up in bed, but it’s done.”
“You’re right. But still, it’s sort of a mess, and I don’t want this hostility between us. Our lives, our families, are too intertwined for it to be like this.”