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I left.
He chased me down with his car.
And I actually got in to let him explain.
I don’t think I even heard a word he said. As I sat in the passenger seat, I was completely consumed by thoughts of the two of them together. It didn’t take long for me to freak out. I wish there were something else to call it, but it was definitely a freak-out. After screaming at him to let me out of the car at least ten times—not my finest moment—he finally pulled over.
That was how I found myself in the most desolate bar in Beacon. The flickering neon light was right there in front of me, and with nowhere else to go, I decided to go inside to try and collect myself. I thought my day couldn’t get any weirder, but of course, the universe wanted to take one last jab. Enter Aiden Lewis.
As if my thoughts have the power to summon him, Aiden bursts out of the bar with enough force to make me jump. He looks left and then right before he spots me leaning against the wall a few feet away, and his posture immediately relaxes.
One hand holds a brown jacket as the other runs through his loose waves. “You’re still here.”
Thank you, Captain Obvious. “For now.” I’m starting to wish I didn’t drink everything in that cup because I’m feeling it, and if I’m going to make it to Florida, I need to at least get on the right train.
I’m compelled to collect myself as he walks over to me. He already thinks I can’t do this on my own. The least I can do is stand up straight.
As he walks toward me, I can’t help noticing how striking he is. His dark hair with those deep blue eyes, his tattoo, his tall, muscular build. They all add up and make it impossible for him not to draw attention. Once he’s close enough, he asks, “Change your mind?” with the corner of his mouth quirked and an arrogant glit in his eyes.
“No.” I think I’m trying to stand up too tall because I feel my chin jutting out. I collapse a bit and add, “I’m figuring out my next move.”
“Your first move.”
My eyes narrow, but I don’t say anything to that.
He sighs like I’m exhausting him. “Do you even have a car?”
I watch a cute couple walk past us because it’s easier to keep my eyes on them than it is to stare back into Aiden’s deep, blue, judgmental orbs. “No. I don’t exactly need one at NYU.” Once the couple weave around the corner and out of sight, I dare to bring my eyes to meet his. “I can get an Uber.”
“To the train station?” he asks with a furrowed brow, “It’s right around the corner.”
Opening the Uber app on my phone, I let out a huff. “I can’t get a train to Florida from Beacon. I have to go to the station in Poughkeepsie.” Which I only just found out, but he doesn’t have to know that.
He blinks. “Poughkeepsie.”
“Yup,” I say dismissively, still focused on my phone as I debate grabbing a few essentials, but the bag I packed for the weekend is somewhere in Garret’s car, and that’s not happening.
Aiden shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “For Christ’s sake,” he mutters before looking back at me. “You’re going to drive out to Poughkeepsie so you can take the fucking train to Florida?”
My shoulders lift in a shrug as I finally stop looking at my phone long enough to register the incredulous expression on his face. “I like the idea of taking the train,” I say, suddenly feeling like I need to justify myself. It’s cheaper than flying, and it will give me time to think.
I’m relieved when he leans his back against the wall next to me, breaking our eye contact. The way he looks at me is too intense. It always has been. Even before that night, I could never hold his gaze at school. “So, Florida.” He says it like the entire state has offended him by existing. I’m about to ask him what he has against Florida when he kicks off from the wall and says, “Well, I guess we’d better get going.”
7
Aiden
She’s bluffing. There’s no way she’ll travel the entire east coast on a random Thursday night. No fucking way—especially since I don’t hear her footsteps behind me. Turning to look back at her, I raise an eyebrows impatiently. “Coming?”
That seems to snap her out of it. She hurries after me, but I don’t wait for her. As I keep walking, I expect to hear the sound of heels behind me, but her footsteps are clunky. Once she’s next to me, I glance down and notice she’s wearing boots with her dress and have to bite back a smile. What the hell did she think she was going to do tonight? Scale the damn mountain?
“What are you doing?” she pants, still struggling to keep up with my strides. I’m taller than her, but that doesn’t make me slow down. If I can wear her out and make her abandon this crazy idea, all the better.
“The train isn’t going to pick us up, Claire. I’m driving us to the station.” Maybe, just maybe, I can get her to back down by pushing her to go.
It’s risky.
But it might work.
