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WHAT IF
IVY
“Hi!”
“Uh, hello.”
I stood beside Aiden and waved at the girl who was holding a box of—
“These are cupcakes.” She shoved them in Aiden’s hands and smiled at both of us. “I’m your neighbor, Mia Miller. Nice to meet you.”
“Aiden Stone,” he said firmly. “This is Ivy and—” His phone rang in the kitchen and offered an apology to both of us, “Sorry, I’ve got to take that.”
As soon as he was out of the earshot, Mia looked at me and said, “Your husband is so hot!”
I shook my head, heat creeping up my neck. “Aiden is not my husband.”
She raised her brow and looked at the man on the phone in the hallway and back at me. “He wants to be by the way he was looking at you.”
I turned redder. She looked a few years younger than me, with shoulder length dark hair and bright green eyes that twinkled with mischief.
“Mia!” Someone yelled her name, and it was amusing to see Mia turn red when she turned around to see a man near an expensive, sleek car. “I brought your favorite pudding.”
“No need to yell, James. I’ll be right there.”
James was dressed in a suit, even in the heat, and walked inside the house next door. He seemed good-looking enough, but by the way Mia was gawking at him and rubbing her goosebumps, it seemed that he was special to her.
“And that was James. As you saw.” She chuckled nervously.
“You like him.”
“Wha—I don’t even…” When she saw my straight face, she sighed. “It’s a silly crush. It’ll go away when I get older.”
Ha, that’s what I thought too, but look at me!
“How old are you?”
“I’m seventeen, which my father likes to remind me every time when my friends sneak in some beer cans during sleepover.” Her phone started ringing, and she pulled it out from her pocket to see the collar ID and rolled her eyes. “Speaking of, my father invited you two for a dinner. A warm welcome dinner for being our neighbors, he said, but I’m sure it’s his plan to be geek about his antique collection. Feel free to bring your earplugs!”
I chuckled and noted the dinner date as she sprinted to her house, patting her hair down before entering her house. I was glad that the neighbors were friendly and Aiden would fit right in. So would I, when I move in.
“Who was on the phone?” I asked, walking into the living room and finding Aiden pacing with a frown on his face as he typed on his phone. “Did something happen?”
He shook his head. “It was from the hospital. I need to check up on a patient who was sexually harassed. Make sure he is okay during the investigation.”
I knew Aiden was listed as a clinical therapist in a hospital, but I never understood the true grounds of it until hearing those words. Listening to patient’s trauma, their sadness, grief, anger and guiding them to their better mental health must have been hard. Especially when he had to leave for work on his off day.
“Will you be okay?” I asked him.
Aiden gazed at me and smiled. “Don’t worry about me, Petal, I’ll be okay.”
I trusted Aiden and knew he could take care of himself. If he was not okay, he would have told me. So I nodded, squashing down my anxiety.
We had to move the neighbor welcome dinner to some other day. Aiden asked to drop me off at Hayden’s house, but I didn’t want him to take a detour.
“I’ll take a cab.” I kissed his lips and fixed the collar of his shirt, stepping back. “Now go do what you do best.”
He smiled down at me and my heart stopped and started with a pounding beat when he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me again. “I won’t be late,” he promised, pulling away, leaving me breathless and cold without him.
What if Mia was right? What if… I wanted him more than just… No. I needed to slow down.
