Page 25 of A Little Bit Wild

“No, I’m glad that you’re here. I really did just forget to invite you this morning,” I tell her, and she seems to relax slightly.

“So, what’s up?”

“Are you alright?” I ask her quietly, and her eyes shoot to mine.

She can’t seem to stand still. Her fingers keep flexing and twisting in the sleeves of her shirt.

She looks away, swallowing hard, and worry starts to grow inside me.

“Aria, what’s going on?” I ask; all thoughts of telling her that I want her more than I want, my next breath leaving my head as I take a step closer to her and pull her into my arms.

“Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll fix it,” I promise, and she tenses in my hold.

“I…” she starts, and I hold my breath as I wait for her to finish that sentence.

TEN

Aria

“I… I like you,”I blurt out. “A lot.”

Great. I couldn’t just leave it at I like you? Just had to add that a lot in. Why do I hate myself?

I close my eyes, wincing. Man, I wish that I was better at this. I wish that I could be smooth and charming like Kye. He probably thinks that I’m a total dork.

Why would he be interested in someone like me? Oh my gosh, did I just ruin everything?

I find the courage to peek at Kye, and my mouth almost drops open when I see him grinning at me.

“If you start laughing right now, I will die of embarrassment,” I inform him. “I mean, telling a guy that I like him is way out of my comfort zone,” I ramble on, and that only has him grinning wider at me.

“Your mom would be so proud of you then,” he says softly, and my heart melts at his words.

He’s right. She would be proud of me for admitting that I liked Kye. She would be proud of me for doing so many things that terrified me this whole week. I always wished I was brave like her, and I got that wish this week.

I know that she would love Kye and approve of us being together. She would have been pushing me to him all week if she was still here. Tears start to sting the back of my eyes, and I blink, clearing my throat as I try to stop them from falling.

“Thanks,” I whisper, and his grin softens.

“And for the record, I love you too,” he says, and this time my mouth does drop open.

My heart seems to stop beating in my chest, and the only thought in my head is that I would like to get off this rollercoaster now.

How did we go from me being terrified to tell him that I liked him to Kye telling me that he loves me?

“Whoa, hold up. I didn’t say that I love you. I said that I liked you.”

“A lot,” he interjects.

“Like,” I stress, and he just smiles at me knowingly.

Oh, he’s lost it.

Is this how dating usually goes? Oh my gosh, we weren’t even dating! I was paying him to hang out with me. Except, I never actually paid him for this last week…

Have we been dating this whole time? I’ve never been out with anyone before, but I always assumed I would recognize when I was on a date. I thought the guy who asked me out would say the actual word, which would be a big indicator, but Kye never did that.

Do people really fall in love so fast? Is this crazy?

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