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She laughed.
She might not know if she can trust me, but she laughed.
And I’ll take it.
The walls of her bedroom are white, the bed yellow, and everything in between follows the same trend.
I’m about to say something about all the yellow, but she turns on me as soon as we’re alone. “So, let me make sure I understand this.” Her eyes narrow as she stares at me for confirmation, so I nod. “You thought I was making plans to get back with Garret at the same time we were...getting to know each other. You assumed I was lying to you, left to go hang out with your friends, got drunk, and told your ex-girlfriend to come over?”
Her lips pinch together as she leans toward me, waiting for me to acknowledge what she’s said. I’m not sure where this is going, so I keep my mouth shut and nod again.
“Then I showed up and confronted you, and after I left, you kissed your ex, but you stopped it?”
I could say that technically Sam kissed me, but I’m not that much of a dumbass, so I nod again.
“Then you realized you may have been wrong about the texts and wanted to ask me about it, but I didn’t answer your calls.”
Another nod.
She takes a deep breath. “So you traveled up the entire east coast and came to the city just to see if we could try...” she gestures back and forth between us, “whatever this is?”
I take a step toward her. “I want ‘whatever this is’ more than fucking anything.”
She stares at me for what feels like forever before taking a step closer. I don’t dare move, not wanting to mess up whatever’s happening to make her possibly give me another chance. Claire studies me as she says, “You hurt me,” and takes another step.
“I know,” is all I can think to say. I can barely breathe with her scrutinizing me, and the less space left between us, the more my words seem to get caught in my throat. When she keeps staring at me, my heart falters. I can’t lose her before I have her. “I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I jumped to conclusions. I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.” My words feel like a desperate attempt, but they won’t stop. “We can take things slow—we can go back to being friends—just don’t shut me out.” Sighing out a breath, I add, “Please let me prove to you how much I mean it.”
Her eyes stay locked on me as she takes one final step, closing the space between us completely. My nerves ignite with her this close, and when she presses her lips against mine, the kiss breathes new life into me.
I suddenly don’t feel like I was on a train for 30 hours.
I don’t even feel like I was in the damn city all afternoon.
This makes every second I spent in that hellhole worth it.
90
Claire
It may be a small kiss, but I know Aiden understands what’s behind it. It tells him that there’s hope for us. When I got out of class today and saw him sitting at the entrance, I felt hope. I may not have wanted to feel it, but it was there like a trick candle that can’t be completely put out.
My lips are still close to his when I say, “Haven’t you heard? I could never shut you out.”
He lets out a breath of laughter, but a frown quickly follows in its wake. “I’ve heard that you should.” Running a hand through his hair, he steps around me and sits on the edge of my bed. “I want to do this right for you.” He glances up at me, and adds, “For us.”
He’s still looking at me with so much vulnerability, and I know I have to forgive him. I have to give us a chance—because even after all the pain he’s caused, I want him here.
And I don’t want to be his friend.
“We’ll have to figure out how to see each other,” I point out. I still have a year of school left, and that’s if I don’t go to grad school. A spark ignites in those blue eyes at the sound of my words, and any remaining ice inside of me immediately thaws.
He’s serious as he says, “I’ll visit whenever you want.”
He answered so quickly, that it catches me by surprise. “You will?” I’m not used to anyone being so willing to go the extra mile.
He gives me an incredulous look. “Claire,” he says as his lips quirk into a smile. “I’ve already gone to fucking Florida for you, and that was before you knocked me on my ass.” Dropping his gaze, he goes on to say, “Now that I’ve fallen, I think it’s safe to say two hours on a train won’t be an issue.”
At the word fallen my skin runs hot, and I walk over and climb on top of him, my legs falling to either side of him as I straddle him on my bed. He lifts his eyes to meet mine, surprise clearly written in them before he seems to breathe out a sigh of relief and wrap his arms around me.
