Page 36 of The Midseason Fakeout

A body shifts next to West, and I immediately glance over to find Aidan. He’s staring straight at me, and I nearly trip on the last stair. When I regain my footing, he has his hand on my elbow, his commanding gaze threatening to turn my legs to Jell-O again.

“I told you,” he says to Kenna. “Two-sip jersey chaser.”

I laugh at his playful teasing.

“I’ll take it from here.” Aidan throws his arm around me, as natural as can be, and just like that, it’s as if what happened in the bathroom is forgotten.

Not that I could actually forget. I have a feeling I’ll be bringing up that image a lot in the future…when I’m alone in my room.

We may act like everything is fine, but on the inside, the tension between us is like a hundred-pound battle ax poised to fall. He walks me straight through the house and out the front door. The chill night air feels great on my flushed skin. It also knocks some sense into me.

I took that way too far. The whole moving the bed and the moaning… It was too much. What happened was my fault.

Our reaction was normal though, right? We don’t need to make a thing out of it. So Aidan had his fingers circling my nub? We’re good. Totally good. We don’t need to talk about it at all. I, especially, should wipe away all the memories of him saying to “Take his dick.”

That’s definitely the first thing I should erase.

“I—”

“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “That was… I don’t… God, you must think I’m…”

We’re steps away from Aidan’s Charger when he pulls me to a stop and makes me face him. “I was going to say that I’m sorry I made that part up about you being drunk. It was the quickest excuse that came to mind to get you out of there.”

Of course that’s what he wanted. He probably wants to take me home and forget anything ever happened.

“But maybe you are a little drunk because you should try finishing a sentence.”

He gives me a half grin, and I stare down at the toes of my shoes so I don’t think about how handsome he is. “I’m too embarrassed to finish every ridiculous thought that pops into my head.”

He grips my chin and makes me look at him. “That was a complete sentence. Good start.”

“Ha-ha,” I deadpan.

“Well, at least you gotone,” he says, leading me toward his car again with a smirk on his face.

He thinks it’s funny that I got all turned on from the joking? The acting out? That has to be it. He was just being helpful in the bathroom, and now he’s mocking me. “Just so you know, I could’ve finished myself,” I snap as he leads me to the passenger seat.

I turn away to buckle in, and when I turn back around, he’s leaned completely into the car, nearly in my face. “Just so you know, I—” He cuts himself off with a groan and then slams the door before moving to the other side.

When he gets in, the tension is thick for a whole different reason as anger flushes my body. I cross my arms in front of my chest. “So glad I ruined my first college party.”

“You’re actually supposed to end your first college party pissed,” he grumbles. “It’s a rite of passage.”

“Hallelujah, I can do something right.”

He’s quiet as he pulls out of his parking spot next to the curb. The engine fills the dead air between us like an angry bystander, the sound doing nothing to help my nerves.

“Just so you know,” he starts again, “I wanted to help you. In fact, I wanted to dive my fingers inside your pussy and have you clench around me when you came, but—” He shakes his head. “I was taking it slow.”

My whole body heats again. I think I understand now. I’m not the barrier between Aidan and the girls who throw themselves at him, I’m becoming one of those girls. Someone who’ll distract him from what he should be doing. “Next time, don’t bother.”

His head whips toward me, and then he slams on the brakes. The tires squeal relentlessly beneath us, and I shoot my hand out to brace myself on the dash.

“The fuck, Aidan?”

“The fuck, Aidan? The fuck, Bails!” he throws right back at me. “Was that not what you wanted? Was it not me that made you run to the bathroom so you could rub one out? What the hell is wrong with me finishing what I started?”

Nerves skate up the back of my neck. “Because I’m not one of those girls who fawns all over you. Your distraction. The thing that’s going to take you away from football. I had it handled.”

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