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Aiden comes up to me and wraps his arms around me, and I instinctively pull him closer and rest my head on his chest, relieved that he’s okay.
“You okay?” he whispers to me while everyone laughs at the ridiculous idea that he was arrested.
“Yeah. You?”
He tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Better now.”
I silently thank God that my head is buried in his chest, or else he’d see the bright blush and lunatic smile I’m sporting.
“Why didn’t you answer your phone you asshole?” Annalisa scolds. “You had us worried sick!”
Aiden releases his hold on me but keeps one arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I snuggle into him, relishing his closeness and warmth.
I don’t know what we are. It’s not like we went out on a date, or have even kissed. But being with Aiden feels natural—it’s comforting and warm and exciting, and makes me feel safe.
“I dropped it somewhere,” he admits.
“Dude, that sucks,” Noah says. “Some hobo is gonna hear all my voice mails and instantly fall in love with me. I’m gonna have to change my number so that I don’t get hobo stalked.”
“You’re not going to get hobo stalked, Noah.” Annalisa rolls her eyes.
“My phone is password protected anyway,” Aiden states.
Mine is now, too. After I dropped it at the Halloween party and Aiden returned it after going through it all, I learned my lesson. Except, that is how I got Aiden’s number, so not having a password wasn’t all bad.
“Why did it take you an hour and a half to get here? It didn’t take us that long,” I ask, wondering if he did actually get caught up in a high-speed police chase.
“They blocked the main roads in and out of the Tracks. I had to go the long way around,” he explains.
“The real question we should be asking is ‘What the fuck?’” Noah exclaims.
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“Noah’s right,” Julian says. “The cops have never shown up in all of the Tracks’ history.”
“And with that many, it’s obvious they were called. They didn’t just stumble on it,” Mason adds.
“Funny how they showed up after Ryan’s ass was whipped and he and his friends had cleared off the Tracks. . .” Annalisa trails off, leaving us to pick up her thoughts.
“You don’t think—”
“I do,” Annalisa answers Charlotte.
“But if he called the cops, he can never go back to the Tracks again. They can never use that spot because now the cops know about it. Don’t he and his friends make their money from there?” I muse.
“I think in the moment, he was more pissed at Aiden and at losing, and like everything else he does, he let his hot-headedness and anger fuel him,” Julian reasons.
“Calling the cops is definitely the type of bitch move Ryan would pull,” Mason agrees.
I shift my head on Aiden’s chest to look up at him. “Would he do that?”
Aiden’s mouth is set in a hard line as he thinks over the possibilities. “He probably did.”
A chorus of swears passes around the circle we’re standing in.
“What are we gonna do about it? We have to get that asshole back!” Annalisa presses for revenge, probably glad that she has somewhere to direct her anger after the confrontation with Luke earlier.
Everyone else approves and starts thinking of ways to get Ryan back, but I tense, an action that doesn’t go unnoticed by Aiden since my side is pressed against him. This is just like my vandalized car all over again; everyone thinking of ways to get Ryan back and me not wanting them to do anything about it.
