Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
He paused in front of me and gave me that Hollywood smile that made my stomach flip in ways my stomach shouldn’t have been flipping for him. “What else have you noticed about me?”
Your eyes.
Your smile.
Your laughter.
Your right dimple that appears when you laugh and smile too hard.
The way your nostrils flares when you’re annoyed.
The way you walk in zigzags.
The way you look at me when you think I’m not looking.
The way you chew your gum and blow bubbles with it.
Lots of things, Aiden. I notice a lot.
“Nothing,” I lied. “Other than the fact that you’re corny.”
“Come on, I’m not corny. I’m charming.”
I huffed. “Charming? Yeah, right.”
“I am. It’s true, and I think you know I’m growing on you. I’m like a mushroom.”
I arched an eyebrow. “A mushroom?”
“Yeah, you’ll see I’m a fungi after a bit of time with me.” He laughed so hard that he slapped his hand against his knee, bending over into a giggling fit like a complete goof. “Get it? Fungi? Fun guy?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Aiden. I get it.”
He laughed so hard that that silly, cute, adorable dimple of his appeared. That was the real Aiden. He wasn’t playing a role or acting as anyone else at that moment. He was being him in his truest, most authentic form.
“Can I tell you a secret?” I asked him.
“What’s that?”
“I missed you.”
“Enough to invite me up to your apartment?”
“Don’t push your luck.”
As we were walking that night, the night sky was dark. It was too cloudy to see many stars, but to be honest, I wasn’t looking up. I was too busy staring at Aiden. Yet I saw the shift in his personality as he looked down an alleyway. Two men were standing there arguing, one obviously intoxicated as he stumbled back and forth. His face was bloody, and it was clear that the two men had a bad altercation. A very unfair altercation, seeing how one could hardly stand.
The moment I zoomed in, I understood exactly why Aiden’s energy had shifted.
“Is that…?” I started.
“Yeah.” Aiden sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s Jake.”
Just as we were about to step in, I saw the sober man swing at Jake, and I gasped when he contacted his face. Jake went tumbling into the dumpster before falling to the ground.
“I don’t give a fuck why you don’t have it. All I know is you owe me my cash,” the stranger remarked. As he went to hit Jake one more time, Aiden rushed over and stepped between the two of them.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out,” Aiden ordered the stranger. “I think you’ve done enough damage here.”
“Clearly, I didn’t because he’s still breathing. And unless you want to look more like this fucker, I suggest you mind your own fucking business.”
“You have no clue how much I wished I could, but this is business that I have to mind,” Aiden said through gritted teeth. Jake spit out blood, and without thought, I rushed over to make sure he was okay.
“Hails, just wait on the sidewalk,” Aiden tried to order me.
“I’m not going to just leave him here,” I said, seeing that Jake was beyond stable enough to even sit up on his own. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and he could hardly even form a coherent sentence.
“Hailee!” Aiden barked.
“Aiden!” I barked back, not willing to fold.
He knew I wouldn’t give in, so he turned back to the man in front of him. “How much did he owe you?”
“Fifty bucks.”
“Seriously?” Aiden grumbled. “You’re kicking a drunk’s ass because he owes you fifty bucks?” He pulled out his wallet and started going through it.
The moment the man saw Aiden’s cash, he narrowed his eyes. “Did I say fifty? I meant two hundred.”
“Excuse me?” Aiden cocked an eyebrow. “It was fifty just two seconds ago.”
“That was before I realized Jake got blood on my sneakers.”
“There wouldn’t be blood if you hadn’t pummeled his face,” Aiden snapped.
“Two hundred bucks and I’m out of your hair.”
Aiden muttered something not so nice under his breath but gave the guy the cash. With a smirk and a bounce to his step, the guy wandered off. Aiden rushed over to Jake and me, and he helped me get Jake up to a somewhat standing position as he leaned against the two of us.
“Jesus, Jake. What the hell are you doing?” Aiden mumbled, irritation in every inch of his voice. Not many things rubbed Aiden wrong, but Jake was one of them. Especially in his current state.
“We gotta get him to the hospital,” I told him. “He’s pretty beat up.”
“No hospital,” Jake muttered.
“Don’t be a dumbass. We have to get you to the hospital,” Aiden explained.
“No hospital!” he said again, this time stern. “Take me to your dad’s.”
Aiden grimaced. “I don’t think he’ll want you there. You were supposed to be clean.”