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At first, I was a little annoyed when Aiden wouldn’t leave my side. After all, I was trying to put distance between us, and I naively thought it would be easy to do at a party. But no.
A couple of beers later, I didn’t care so much about it anymore. Life is too short to be annoyed, and the alcohol did the rest to loosen my tongue and soften my walls.
“Angel?” I repeat what Miranda called him. “Why is your nickname Angel? That’s weird for a guy, isn’t it?” I say before I could put a filter on my brain.
“Ha, not really. It’s a leftover from our Army days. We all still use our nicknames. Garrett is Mustang and Ethan is Brains, though, you really can’t tell he has one most of the time,” Aiden teases loud enough for Ethan to hear and gives him the middle finger from across the bar.
“What’s Axel’s?” I ask. I met Aiden’s other best friend, besides Ethan, when I first arrived. His wife Shelby was pushing his wheelchair, but despite his disability, he was rather jovial. I’m not sure what I expected. I had assumed from the comments I’ve picked up to find a depressed man, but he’s anything but. Unless, of course, he’s just putting on a show.
“Axel’s Army name was Hotdog. It’s given to those with unparalleled skills. Axel was always brilliant at everything which is why being stuck in a wheelchair and not being able to see anymore is so hard for him.”
Wow. My gaze wanders to Aiden’s friend, sad to see such a capable man struggling. It’s really not fair that he has to suffer so much when all he did was help make the world a safer place.
“So why Angel?” I eventually ask to steer the conversation back to happier grounds.
“Before we joined the Army, I had longer hair and was much chubbier,” he explains.
Jeez, I couldn’t imagine him any other way than he is now.
“The day we joined, all the other guys teased me, saying I looked like one of Michelangelo’s cherubs.” That makes me spit out the sip of beer I just took, and thankfully, I didn’t hit someone with the spray. Luck must be on my side for a change.
“Yeah, exactly,” Aiden comments drily. “Anyway, the name stuck.”
“You look nothing like an angel.”
He smirks. “Well, you do.” That brings back memories I’d rather not relive; especially not now when I’m actually enjoying myself.
Shaking my head to clear it, I don’t notice Aiden stepping closer until the wonderful scent of his aftershave hits me full on.
He leans in and in a low voice says, “The guys quickly learned that too. So it becameangel on the outside.”
“Why?” I ask huskily as my voice disappears with having him so close.
Aiden leans into me until his mouth is right next to my ear. Goose bumps shoot all over my skin at lightning speed. “I hope you’ll find that out for yourself before too long.”
A heat bomb explodes in my body as my stomach performs the most daring acrobatics.
My eyes rise to meet his. I feel his breath on me, and I’m tingling all over. Aiden reaches out and takes my hand. When our fingers touch, it’s there again… that electric jolt that happens every time. It lands somewhere in my chest, making my heart jump and my breathing turn erratic.
The world shifts around me, and for just a few seconds, everyone and everything disappears. It’s just Aiden and me.
And I know one hundred percent it’s the same for him. The depth in his eyes gets deeper, sucking me into a vortex of… love?
No! Just no.
I can’t go there.
Yet, I don’t pull away.
My jaw goes slack, the blood pounding in my ears.
Maybe if I close my eyes, it will break the spell… so far, it always has. And if I’m really lucky, he’ll have vanished into thin air, and all of this was just a dream.
I open them again.
Nope. Aiden is still there and hasn’t melted into the floor.
His eyes are still fixed on mine, drawing me in. The desire I see in them is dizzying. It deepens my own as my core approaches boiling point.
