Perfect Night (Mason Creek)

After cleaning the floor, I pulled my jeans back on and tidied up the bathroom I’d used. That was where Aiden found me, bent over the lip of the tub scrubbing it with a sponge I found.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

I clutched my chest to catch my heart where it had nearly leaped out of my chest. I hadn’t heard him coming. “It’s okay.”

I turned around and it was a damn shame he was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. Evan had never looked this good.

“Have you eaten?” he asked.

Funny, I didn’t know and had to think about it. “Actually no.”

“I don’t have much. I do have hot dogs and a pie my mom brought by.”

My mouth began to water. “Apple?”

“Yeah. She dropped it by earlier on her way into town to take eggs and produce the grocery store bought from the farm and sold to the town.”

“Hot dogs and pie, sounds like a winner to me.”

I went downstairs after finishing and washing my hands. He was grabbing a bag of buns when I walked into the kitchen. I sat on a bar stool, resting my elbows on the table, and placing my chin in my hands.

“Do you cook?” I asked.

“Are you questioning my hot dog skills?”

“No. I’m just curious. I assume your mom did most of the cooking.”

He handed me a plate with a hot dog and pointed at the fixings he’d left out. “I got a crash course when I moved out on my own. Buying takeout every day gets old.”

“YouTube?” I asked, adding ketchup.

“Sometimes. More often, I’d just call Mom and she’d walk me through it.”

“That’s cool.”

He looked at me then and I caught the pity. He remembered that I didn’t have a mom anymore and hadn’t had one for a long time. I waved him off. “It’s fine.” Though it wasn’t. Losing Dad had also brought the hurt from Mom’s passing back too. “Is that pie I smell?” I asked to change the subject.

Clearly, I hadn’t known how hungry I was until I bit into the hot dog. It tasted like a slice of heaven. I moaned without realizing it.

“You were hungry,” he said. I’d taken another bite and agreed silently to his amusement. “And yes, that is the pie. Mom thinks its sacrilegious to nuke it in the microwave. Thus it will be another ten minutes heating up.”

That was fine by me. I gave him the thumbs up. By the time I finished one hot dog, he’d eaten two.

He checked his smart watch and I hope that wasn’t a hint that I should leave because I wanted pie. “You should stay,” he said.

I was stumped for a second. “Stay here?”

“It’s late.”

“It’s Mason Creek not LA. I’ll be fine getting home,” I said. Though I’d broken up with Evan and no longer had an excuse not to find out what it was like to be with Aiden Faulkner. The boy I’d secretly loved half my life.

“I know. But it will make me feel better if you do. Otherwise, I’d have to drive behind you all the way home and who knows who would see me doing that and make assumptions.”

He was right about that. “Or you could stay here, and I could call you when I arrived.”

“I could do that, but you know I wouldn’t.”

I narrowed my eyes teasingly. “You wouldn’t be blackmailing me, would you Aiden?”

“Who said anything about blackmail? Chivalry isn’t dead, you know.”

“Okay,” I said, and angled my head just a little as I prepared my next question. “Where would I sleep because that sofa looks ancient?”

“You can take my bed. It’s the only one in the house.”

I grinned because I had a feeling where this was going. “And where would you sleep?”

“On the sofa.” he said all innocent-like.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“And if I said I could stay but we share the bed, what would you think I meant?”

“That we could be adults and share a bed to sleep in.”

I bit my lip. “Do you have enough pillows to build a wall.”

“In the middle?”

I nodded, while holding back a laugh.

“No, but I think I can keep my hands to myself.”

“Do you? You couldn’t keep the paint to yourself,” I teased.

“That was an accident. You took it too far.”

“I wasn’t the one that tackled me.” I laughed.

“You stopped and it was too late.”

When our laughter subsided, his face got serious. He reached out and I swore my heart stopped for a second time that night. This time not from fear but anticipation.

His thumb wiped at the corner of my mouth. “You had something there.”

My pulse raced and my face flushed. My entire body felt like molten lava. I had to do something to stop all the physical reactions I had toward this man. “Pie?” I asked, breaking the moment.

He too had been in his head and I longed to know what he’d been thinking. “Oh yeah.” He turned and got an oven mitt to bring out the warm apple pie.