Page 142 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“Okay.” She smiled back and returned inside.
“Go,” I said to Aaron. “Your apartment is right there.” I pointed at his door. “When’s the last time you slept?”
He regarded me in silence. His hermeticism was higher than usual.
Naomi and Grant laughed again, and Aaron winced almost imperceptibly, but he did.
“You like her.” I was done with thethere is nothing to talk aboutnarrative Aaron kept spinning whenever I asked him about Naomi. She was in denial about Aaron, but there was a palpable tension between them, a new and different kind of tension.
Aaron’s jaw flexed.
“You’ve liked her all this time,” I pushed. “Haven’t you?” It was more than evident at this point. He was exhausted and sleep-deprived, and still, he wanted to stay out here and keep watch with the excuse of it being work when I knew he just wanted to check on Naomi.
Aaron’s affection for Naomi had been noticeable for a while, especially after witnessing the tender way in which he had carried her back to the car when she tripped outside of William’s lastpremiere we attended and then took her to the hospital. And his reaction to seeing her kissing a guy at Lily’s wedding told me everything I needed to know.
Chatting with Naomi after the wedding, she mentioned Aaron was upset that day because of the optics. To the world, they were still dating. And Aaron said she’d make him look like a fool for acting that way. But I knew better than to buy that story because Aaron doesn’t give a fuck about what people think. He was jealous. Period. And something told me Naomi had done that to taunt him, even if she denied it when I asked.
If she had, it worked.
Ultimately, the wedding kiss incident led to Aaron asking Naomi to officially end the fake relationship, which had attracted some media attention since its announcement. He was tired of it, for sure. But Naomi complied and leaked the news of them “going separate ways but remaining on good terms” since it had served its original purpose anyway.
Aaron sighed and met my gaze. “From the first moment I saw her.”
His admission didn’t come as a surprise, but it stunned me, nonetheless. “Does she know?”
A small, tired laugh left his lips. “She’s as clever as they come.”
“Billie!” Grant shouted before I could ask anything else. Having this window of communication with Aaron was rare. “We’re running late, girl! Let’s go!”
Aaron jerked his chin toward the glass door, his dark blue eyes heavy with feeling. “Go.”
There was something Aaron wasn’t telling me.
Grant was kind enough to give us the whole class despite starting fifteen minutes late since we were his last clients of the day.
Naomi loved it. She’d been great, too, and was planning to join me once a week, claiming she didn’t have the time or budget for two weekly sessions.
Grant left, and Naomi and I went to the bathroom to wash up. But when we stepped out of the gym, we saw Aaron crouching against the window across from us. His phone was on the floor a few feet away from him.
“Aaron?” Naomi’s voice was filled with panic as we hurried his way. “What’s wrong?” She knelt on the floor beside him and placed her hand on his arm, but his hands remained on his face.
“Aaron, what is it?” I insisted, picking up his phone from the floor.
His eyes were red-rimmed and brimming with tears. The only time I’d seen him like this was when Caleb died.
Oh, no…
“It’s my father,” he said with a broken voice, confirming my suspicions. “He’s gone.”
“Oh, Aaron.” Naomi hugged him, and her weight forced him to sit back. Aaron’s father had been sick for years, but his health had deteriorated quickly in the past few months. It’d been weeks since I last asked Aaron about him. It’d become easier for me to detect when Aaron was worried about him. But I’d been mistaken to think it was all because of Naomi.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, choking on the words as hot, sudden tears streamed down my cheeks. I looked away because Aaron’s pain was overwhelming, and if anyone knew what losing a parent felt like, it was me. The unexpected news blasted a bomb of emotions inside my chest.
Naomi stood and helped Aaron to his feet.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, embracing him. I cried against hischest, and I could feel his tears pooling at the top of my head as our bodies shuddered almost in unison.
A barely perceptible sob escaped Naomi’s throat, and she covered her mouth as if to stifle it. It appeared as if she was trying to show strength, but if she was, she’d lost the battle. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she hugged us both, and we hugged her back.
