“Jack’s Emma?”I repeat, now well and truly lost.
“Yeah, Emma.You two have a similar sense of humor.And by that, I mean you’re weird as hell.”
“Why, thank you,” I tell him.“Being normal sounds so… boring.”
“You are anything but boring.”He says it with a laugh, and it doesn’t sound like a bad thing.
His hand goes to the passenger door handle before I can grab it, and when he opens the door, I wonder if he dates boring girls.
For the first time, I wonder maybe if being boring would be better than whatever it is that I awkwardly am.
Nah.I brush the thought away.
If boring is his type, then we’d never work anyway.
The friend zone isn’t a bad place to be with Aiden, not a bad place to be at all.
“You look really happy,” he observes as he slides into the driver’s seat.
I shrug, but it’s true, I’m beaming at him.
“What?”he asks, laughing a little at whatever he sees in my expression as he starts the car up again.
“I’m just glad that of all the people that could have volunteered to help me out, it was you.You’re a good friend, Aiden.”I pause dramatically.“This would be a lot more of a meaningful statement if I knew your last name.It would have more gravitas.”
“Gravitas,” he repeats, sounding a little stunned.
Well, if he can’t handle my ten-dollar words, then he certainly couldn’t handle me as a girlfriend.Takes two to friendzone!
Or something.
“This is where you tell me your last name, Aiden,” I tell him gravely.
He doesn’t laugh this time.“It’s McAllen.I should have done a better job introducing myself, huh?You screamed at me when you first saw me.”
His hand reaches across the center console for mine, and then he’s bringing it to his face, pressing my knuckles to his lips.
All the breath leaves my lungs.
“It’s wonderful to meet you, Sylvie Barlow.I’m Aiden McAllen.”
I can’t breathe.
No one’s ever kissed my hand before… not like that.
No one’s ever put butterflies in my stomach like that, either.
“How’s that for gravitas?”he asks, cocking his head.
I let my hand drop back in my lap and clear my throat.“Extremely gravitased.Expert-level gravitased.Gravitas approval is given.”
He laughs, and I make myself join him.
It’s time to bust out my vibrator tonight from whichever moving box it’s hiding in, because ain’t no way I need to react like that to a kiss on my knuckles.
Not from Aiden, and not from anyone.
“I think Freud isn’t quite right for a girl cat name.We need to keep trying,” I force out, needing to change the subject.
