Page 28 of Hot for Her
Frowning, his eyebrows dipped then raised. “Under the circumstances, I think that’s understandable. In all of my twenty-four years, I’ve never known anyone to be a victim of a violent crime.”
Somewhere my brain registered that he was older than I’d thought, calculating the six or seven years between us. Not that twenty-four was old. I was almost eighteen. But I would’ve guessed twenty-one or twenty-two at most.
There was a lot we didn’t know about each other. And we were out of time to do anything about it.
Aiden pulled into the front parking lot at the hospital and moved to shut off the engine. I placed my hand on his.
“You don’t have to go in today. You’d probably just be stuck sitting alone in the waiting room forever.” And Drew’s mom or sister was likely to ask which high school he went to or how we knew each other, both of which would reveal more than I wanted to.
He frowned but left the Jeep running. “I’d like to at least make sure you get inside safely. What about a ride home?”
“I’m sure people have heard what happened by now. My mom knew already and she hardly leaves the house. Camille’s dad is the local sheriff. He was there last night. She’ll probably be here and she can take me home.”
The lines deepened in his forehead. “Camille as in the friend who ditched you and failed to bring you home last night?”
“Yes, but—”
“Go inside. Check on your friend. When you’re ready, call or text me and I’ll pick you up and drive you home.”
He’d already done so much. I bit the inside of my cheek. “I don’t have your number.”
He reached for my phone, probably to put his number in my contact list, but I hesitated.
“It’s just a phone number,” he said quietly, visibly wounded by my behavior.
“Okay.” I opened the screen to the add contact page and handed it over. “I’ll text you later and let you know I’m home safe. That work?”
Without removing it from the headrest, he rolled his head to the side and locked his gaze on mine as he took my phone. “It’s not my first choice. Honestly.”
“I’m sorry,” I replied quietly, taking my phone back when he handed it to me.
“So now what?”
I resisted the urge to sink my teeth into my bottom lip. “What do you mean?”
What looked like a smile tugged at his lips. But it was off. Not a happy expression, more like an amused and slightly annoyed one. “I mean, do you ever want to see me again?” Before I could answer, he huffed out a strange sound. “Sorry. This is new for me, Emersyn. I’m just wondering how not to fuck this up. Or if I already have.”
I gave in and let my teeth pull at my bottom lip. His eyes fell to my mouth.
“You haven’t. What you did for me, staying with me at the hospital, taking care of me last night, you definitely haven’t fucked anything up. I think…right now…I really just need to focus on Drew. It’s all so much and I’m struggling to process everything at once.”
I prayed I didn’t sound like a dumb kid making him wish he’d never spoken to me at the carnival last night.
He nodded. “That makes sense. I’m sorry. Promise me you’ll text me and let me know how he’s doing and that you got home safely?”
I nodded. “I will. And thanks again, for…everything.”
I forced what half-hearted version of a smile I could manage at him before closing the door and heading inside the hospital’s emergency entrance.
It wasn’t until I passed through the hospital doors that I realized I’d left the hockey jersey behind.
After I updated my mom,who was angry as expected but did muster up some genuine sounding concern for Drew, I messaged Mrs. Anderson, who said Ethan could spend another night. She said the boys were having a blast camping in their backyard and my entire body heated thinking of the camping I’d done with Aiden.
According to the nurse at the ER registration desk, Drew was no longer in the ER, but had been moved to the ICU, which I knew from my mom’s visits meant Intensive Care Unit and was not an ideal place to be.
After stopping at two more nurses stations and taking one long elevator trip, I found the waiting area for Drew’s family. His mom wasn’t there but Stacy stood to greet me as soon as I arrived.
“Hey, Em.” She wrapped me in a hug and I squeezed her back. Her hair was shorter and her previously bleach blonde locks were dyed a more natural shade of brown. Apparently she’d made some changes while away at college. In all the chaos, I hadn’t noticed last night.
