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“Okay, Anna.”
“Okay what?”
“We’re going to prove that Luke’s innocent.”
How we’re going to do that, I have no idea. But as a wise goof once said, it’s time to pull up our big-boy and -girl pants.
She rushes me and engulfs me in a hug. “Thank you, Amelia. You’re a true friend, you know that?”
The pang of guilt in my heart shouldn’t take me by surprise, but it does. I wonder if she’ll look back at my time here and remember me as a good friend or hate me for disappearing without a trace when the time comes.
“Of course, Anna,” I say, ignoring the tightness in my chest.
I hear Aiden’s voice from somewhere in the house, and the pit in my stomach intensifies. For all he knows, he thinks I was cheating on him with Mason. My heart races as panic sets in. I need to find him and set the record straight.
“I’ll be back later.” I leave Annalisa in the kitchen and search the house, hoping to find Aiden. He must know it was purely a coincidental incident he walked in on. He didn’t seem mad when he told me to stay out of the fight, but then again, who really knows with Aiden.
I find him alone in the basement, throwing empty cups into a garbage bag.
“Aiden . . .” I start, my throat dry. His gray eyes focus on me and I lose all words. “What happened up there . . . it wasn’t what it looked like.”
“You mean Anna didn’t tell Ryan to stab her?”
“Well, no, I mean, that did happen, but I’m talking about me and Mason. And the bed thing? I know that looked really bad but—”
Aiden puts down the garbage bag. “Thea, I know what Mason looks like when he’s blackout drunk. I saw you hauling him up the stairs and came to see if everything was all right.”
Relief washes over me. “You’re not mad at me.”
He strides over to me and my heart automatically speeds up with each step that brings him closer. He puts his hands on my waist and tugs me to him, forcing me to look up at him. My body acts on its own accord and my hands clasp behind his neck.
“I know who you are, Thea,” he whispers, his words reaching my soul.
“Plus,” he adds with a smirk, his thumb drawing lazy circles on my back, “I know your tendency to get yourself into awkward situations.”
“You know me, always trying to keep it interesting.”
“Honestly, I’m more surprised that you actually listened to me for once than I am at finding you on top of Mason.”
“What are you talking about? I’m a great listener.” I bite my lip. “But just to clarify, which specific case are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about up there, just now. I told you to stay out of the fight, and to my complete surprise, you actually did.” His hands tighten around my waist.
“Well, I didn’t listen to you about staying put upstairs with Mason, so I figured I’d make it up to you,” I joke.
“No, really, Thea.” He grows serious. There’s no space between us at all now; I’m pressed right up against him, feeling the contrast of his hard, sculpted body against the softness of my own. “The last thing I ever want is for you to get hurt. And I know you like to just jump in without thinking about it, but there was just something in Ryan’s eyes. Plus, everyone had their phones out and—”
“I know, Aiden,” I say, my heart squeezing and tightening at his words. “I know I need to start thinking things through. I don’t want to jeopardize my life here. I’m making the most of whatever time we have left.”
His face darkens. He doesn’t like thinking about it, and neither do I, and just knowing that makes my knees weak. I rise up on my tiptoes and Aiden’s already reading my mind because he brings a possessive hand to my face, his lips meeting mine halfway. The pressure of his mouth against mine is perfect and heat spreads through my body. Aiden gently guides me backward until I feel a wall press against my back, our kiss deepening until I am consumed by all things Aiden. My hand slides down his chest, feeling the contours of his body. It slips under his shirt, and his abs contract at my touch. I love that I can cause that kind of reaction from him.
“Put your clothes back on, we’re coming down!” Noah’s voice carries to us from upstairs.
With excruciating effort, we pull apart, catching our breath as Noah, Annalisa, Julian, and Charlotte make their way down the stairs. I fix Aiden’s hair since I messed it up, and we step apart just as they come into view.
“Why did you assume we had no clothes on?” I ask, hand on my hip.
Noah plops down on one of the couches. “Aiden was down here, then I saw you come down here. So naturally that means the two of you were probably getting it on.”
I open my mouth to deny it, but nothing comes out. He was right, gotta give him that.
Aiden ignores Noah’s statement and sits across from him. “Is everything okay upstairs?”
“Yup,” Julian answers. “Mason and Chase are passed out, the house is mostly clean, and Joey packed up his DJ equipment.”
“I want to visit Luke,” Annalisa randomly blurts out.
We all turn to look at her, and she looks uncharacteristically nervous.
“I just—I haven’t seen him since that day. He put me on his list of approved visitors, all of us, actually. I never considered visiting, but I think the first step in proving his innocence is just talking to him. If we can really dig, we can maybe find out what really happened.”
“You think he’s innocent?” Charlotte asks.
“We’re going to prove that he’s innocent?” Noah asks at the same time.
Annalisa looks at me, almost as if in confirmation, and I nod to reassure her.
“Yes. Yes to both of you. I mean, if you’ll help.”
“Of course we’ll help.” Aiden confidently reassures her, and everyone else chimes in their assurance.
If I can do one thing for Annalisa before I leave, at least it’ll give her some closure between her and her brother, and hopefully clear his name. It would be one step closer to reconciliation and healing between the two of them, and Annalisa deserves that, so after a bit of searching, we figure out jail visiting hours. Luke must have put us on the list thinking Anna would send us to talk to him on her behalf or something, but either way, it works out for us. Bright and early in the morning, we’ll drive the three hours to visit Luke.
