Page 28 of Reclaimed

“Are you hungry? I need to do some shopping but there should be a frozen pizza in there somewhere.”

“We can go together. It’ll be our first official outing.”

“How romantic,” I tease.

“It’ll be just like high school.”

I meet Aiden at the fridge and retrieve a bottle of water, offering him one. “I wouldn’t know.” I take a refreshing sip.

“You didn’t walk around the only store open past ten o’clock with your boyfriend?”

The small of my back meets the edge of the counter. “I didn’t have a boyfriend.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Girlfriend?”

I laugh. “Not until after I graduated.”

“Wait, you date girls?”

“I like to keep an open mind, but it’s been a few years now.”

“That’s cool.” He twists the cap off his own water bottle. “Why didn’t you date anyone in high school?”

“My parents were strict and I wasn’t interested. I was kind of a nerd.”

The conversation pauses while Aiden throws in the pizza and discards the wrapper in the trash. When he turns around, he rubs the back of his neck.

“I didn’t date much either. I was kind of a shy kid.”

I squint my eyes. “I don’t see it.”

“You wouldn’t now. I grew out of it.”

“So what you’re saying is you’ve since dated lots of girls. There’s enough threats going around, I don’t need some unrequited ex showing up to reclaim her long-lost lover.”

Aiden pulls a face of horror. “What I’m saying is I’ve never had a serious relationship and that scenario is never gonna happen.”

The timer on his phone rings out, effectively ending the conversation.

“Time to rinse.”

Aiden drags one of my kitchen chairs to the sink and I plop down onto the seat. “You know, I can manage. I could have hopped in the shower.”

“But then we’d miss getting to know each other better.”

“We’re about to spend the foreseeable future together. I’m sure there will be plenty of time to trade embarrassing stories.”

The faucet runs as Aiden adjusts the temperature. “Well now I can’t wait to pull them out of you.”

“Ha! Good luck with that, Powell. My lips are sealed.”

The warm water hits my hairline from the handheld sprayer in Aiden’s grip. He gently rinses my scalp, and I can’t help but notice the way his gaze flicks over my face every few seconds as if he’s checking that I’m still okay.

His tenderness twists something in my chest.

I’m content to enjoy his ministrations, confident I won the argument, but Aiden steals the last word.

“We’ll see about that.”

---