Page 87 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

I’d begged him to explain. All those calls and texts that went unanswered. Just thinking about how pathetic I’d been made me cringe. “Aiden, please just go.”

“Not until you at least tell me when you’re coming back. If you won’t talk to me here, we can set up a date when…”

“I’m not coming back.”

He laughed. “Of course you are. You can’t exactly do better than me.”

I wasn’t sure what made me madder. That he thought my comment about not coming back meant back to him, or the fact that he said that I couldn’t do better. Because I was pretty sure a slimy used car salesman in his late fifties would be a better catch than him. I shook my head. The joke was on him. I had found the most generous, sweet, caring man I’d ever met. Aiden wasn’t an ounce of the man that J.J. was.

I needed to shut this shit show down. “I’m transferring to the University of New Castle. I just got my acceptance letter. There is nothing left for me in Cali. And I think it’s about time you went back.”

He laughed. “You’re seriously running away from SMU because you’re mad at me? Throwing away your future over a misunderstanding?”

“God, if you use that word one more time…”

“Fine. Mistake. It was a mistake. And I already told you I’m sorry. So let’s get on a plane and go home.”

Becca touched my shoulder. I knew there were customers. I knew this was inappropriate. I wanted this to be over as badly as she did.

“This is my home,” I said. “I don’t have anything else to say to you. Please, just leave, Aiden.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me one-on-one.”

“Please go.”

Becca tried to get my attention again.

“Now, Aiden.”

He shook his head. “Not until I get….”

“She asked you to leave,” J.J. said as he stepped up to the counter. His normal smile wasn’t there.

Becca hadn’t been concerned about the customers we were scaring off. She’d been trying to warn me that J.J. was coming. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him look so serious. I couldn’t read him at all.

“I think you should respect the lady’s wishes,” J.J. said and then turned back to me. “Hey, Mila.”

He rarely called me by my name. Jellyfish Girl was his go-to. Or when he was being sweet he’d call me

gorgeous or beautiful. Hearing him call me by my actual name made me feel even more tense. But him just being here was a relief. “Hi.”

“You ready to go?” he asked, completely ignoring Aiden. He must have known who it was. He must have sensed how uncomfortable I was. He was trying to remove us from this situation as best he could. But nothing was that easy with Aiden-bitch-face.

“So this is the guy that you think is better than me?” Aiden asked. “Give me a break.”

I stared at the two of them. J.J.’s skin was bronzed from the sun. He towered over Aiden. And everything about him exuded strength and charm. Aiden? He was dressed in a polo shirt tucked into khaki shorts and preppy boat shoes. The look was completed with a Rolex from his old man that he’d probably never be able to afford on his own. He was a tool. He looked like the kind of guy that deserved to be slapped before you even knew him.

J.J. didn’t respond to his jab. He just stared at me, waiting calmly.

It was a few minutes before my shift ended, but we were making a scene. Customers were staying away. “I’m going to head out, okay, Becca?”

“We still have to divvy up the tips,” she said.

“Hold mine for me until later. Or just keep them.”

“You’re not even going to look at me?” Aiden asked J.J. “You steal my girl and won’t even look me in the eye like a man?” He flicked J.J.’s shoulder.

J.J. finally turned to him. “Yeah…you’re not going to want to touch me again.”

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