Dissipate

Mike only had eyes for Brooklyn as they gleamed. “Hey, gorgeous. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.” He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

Lower, Mike spoke to Brooklyn, but I still heard him. His deep voice carried. “Are you ready? Aiden gave me exactly three minutes.”

Brooklyn chortled. “I am.” She turned to me and blew me a kiss. “You look beautiful. I’ll see you at the party.”

Mike looked up and stopped. “You’re about to make someone’s night, Kenzie.”

Frowning from confusion, I muttered, “Thanks.”

How was I going to make someone’s night? All of these insinuations had my mind racing with possibilities.

They left and I was alone. The sound of my own heart beating was louder than the clock on the kitchen wall. “It’s okay, Kenzie. It’s only Aiden. Until yesterday, you weren’t giving any serious thought as to something more. Being a friend is better than nothing.”

But could there be something more than friendship? I really hoped the answer was yes.

I paced through the kitchen, trying not to nervously run my fingers through my hair, when a knock came from the door. “Kenzie, it’s Aiden.”

Practically sprinting, I made it to the door in record time. It had seemed like a lifetime ago since the gym this morning. Aiden stood behind the door and a brisk breeze came in.

He greeted me in his usual way. “Hey, stranger.”

Aiden’s eyes roamed over my body and his expression didn’t change. He was unreadable. I backed away as self-doubt made its way back into my mind. Maybe the changes didn’t look as good as I thought. He stepped in and rubbed a hand down his face, still not saying anything. My lower lip tried to tremble so I bit down on it.

Nervously, I rambled and gave Aiden an out in case he didn’t want to take me with my new look. “It’s okay if you’ve changed your mind about me going to the party. I have some homework I can work on. There’s no pressure.”

I backed away. Aiden shook his head. “No. Shit. Wait.” He stepped toward me. “Kenzie, you look stunning. I wasn’t expecting this and you. Well, you distracted me.”

A smile crept back on my face. “Good or bad.”

“Good. Definitely good.” There wasn’t any hesitation. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

We walked out to the car, but this time Aiden had his hand resting on the opposite hip as he brought me close to him. I was going somewhere with a guy on a date. A date! And to top it off, Aiden thought I was stunning. Exciting jitters spread throughout me as I tried to memorize every moment of this experience. Opening the passenger door of his black Jeep, I saw flowers. There was a bouquet of pale-pink roses sitting in the passenger seat.

I held them up while putting them to my nose. They smelled heavenly with their sweet smell. “Are these for me?”

“They are.” Aiden’s hand reached out for me. When it was mere inches from my face, he retracted it and took a step back. There was something more he wanted to say. There seemed to be hope that maybe he did want to see where things went.

Taking another whiff, I peeked up. “Thank you. No one has ever given me flowers before.”

“You’re welcome. I—” Abruptly he quit talking, then walked halfway around his car before stopping. Glancing at me, I started to get in the vehicle, not sure what to say.

Was he changing his mind?

Before I had a chance to get in, Aiden was back at my side. “Can we go back inside and talk for a minute? This didn’t go the way I had planned.”

There was an awkwardness that fell on us. I wasn’t sure what was going on.

I was a little confused as I laid the flowers back down on the seat. “Umm . . . sure. What’s wrong?”

“We’ll talk inside.”

In silence, we walked back to the door and made our way to the living room. His hands nervously rubbed up and down his jeans. Aiden was acting strange and I had no idea what to expect at this point.

I flipped on the brown wrought-iron lamp that gave the place some additional light. Deciding to remain quiet, I sat on the couch and put my hands in my lap. It gave me something to fidget with.