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Zero.
After a deep breath, I lift my head from the table and stare up at him. He’s wearing jeans and a t-shirt, his brown jacket in hand, like the night I saw him in the bar—before I knew he’d break me. Even after everything, I can’t fight how attracted I am to him. His dark, blue eyes still make me feel like he can see everything beneath the surface, and I’m forced to swallow the lump in my throat that forms at the sight of him. Glancing around at the bustling street, I try to steady my nerves before looking up at him again. “What are you doing here?”
He’s calm, but there’s still a fire burning inside me, and the last thing I need right now is for Aiden to make me feel worse than I’m already feeling.
“We need to talk,” he says without taking a seat.
I get to my feet because no guy is going to tower over me as he talks to me. “No, we don’t.” I start to collect my things, throwing them into my bag with a little too much force.
He sighs. “Would you just listen to me?”
“No, Aiden. You made me think you wanted more, you made me want more, then what do you do? You fuck me, drop me, and run back to your ex. So, no. I don’t think I need to listen to anything you have to say.” I’m practically panting by the time I’m done, but I do my best to hide it. He visibly winces when I curse, and I take a small amount of pride in it.
“I didn’t—I thought you were—”
Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I ask, “What did you do with Sam?”
His face falls, but he says nothing.
“What did you do with her?” I ask again.
Running a hand through his hair, he says, “We kissed, but it wasn’t—”
“I have to go to class,” I say as I turn to leave. That’s all I needed to hear.
“Claire!”
There’s a desperation in his voice that’s hard for me to ignore, but I don’t turn around. Keeping my head down, I walk as fast as I can, weaving through the sea of people that suddenly feel like my greatest defense.
83
Aiden
“Claire, would you just talk to me?” I call after her as she zig-zags through the masses.
Damn, this girl is quick.
When we hit the crosswalk, it’s green and she picks up her pace to a jog.
So do I.
I’m not losing her. Not when I’m this close to finding out what happened. “Claire!”
She’s almost to the entrance of the school when she glances over her shoulder at the sound of her name. For a second, I think she may take off sprinting, but her shoulders sag as she stops and turns.
When I catch up to her, she’s staring at me with uncertainty behind those eyes. “Aiden, we have nothing to talk about.”
“But—”
“No.” She shakes her head firmly. “I have to go to class. I want to go to class. I need some normalcy today, and I don’t want to be distracted right now, okay?”
I want to blurt out all the things I’m dying to say, but all I hear come out of my mouth is, “Okay.”
She falters slightly like she was expecting to argue with me more, but then she just says, “Thank you,” and turns and walks away.
I stare after her like I’m standing in wet cement. Unable to tear my eyes away from her, I watch as she makes her way into the building and out of sight.
She doesn’t look back.
