AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bueller.”
I blink. “What?”
She smiles sweetly. “My last name.”
“Oh.”
She shrugs, and it’s only then that I realize she’s nervous, too. Good signs all around. “Thought you might want to know that. Since we’re getting to know each other and everything.”
“Yeah, definitely. So, Aria Bueller, how has life treated you during the years I wasn’t here?”
Her laugh is an ephemeral thing, like the past few years have been tumultuous. It concerns me. But she runs her fingers through those mesmerizing curls, and I get a little lost for a moment. “…not much, really. When I got hired on at Billingsley, it was a godsend. You never know what will happen with private schools—the politics, the persnickety parents, all that—but they’ve been really great. It’s tense sometimes, though.”
“How come?”
She worries her lip for a moment. “The parents aren’t always the most open-minded people in the world, and if you cross one of them, it’s not easy to keep your job.”
I nod. “I’d like to apologize again for being so crass at the party the other night. If I’d thought about what I was saying, I wouldn’t have said it among mixed company like that.”
“Why did you?”
I like that she doesn’t let things go easily. That she makes me own up to my shit, even if only a little. But she’s gentle about it. I could have gotten her fired, had someone been upset by my comments, and I deserve more of a tongue-lashing than she’s given me. “Well, to be honest, the way you took off when you saw me wasn’t the nicest reception I’ve had since I’ve been back home, and admittedly, I was kind of offended. It’s not a good reason, but it’s all I’ve got.”
She half-smiles. “Since we’re being honest about things, I was a little offended you were still alive.”
I laugh into my cappuccino, blowing foam onto myself. “Shit.”
She laughs hard and passes me some napkins while blotting my sweater. As much as I like her touching me, it’s a little odd. But I’m not complaining. Then she catches herself and pulls back. “Sorry. Just a reflex. Kids are messy.”
I finish the job. “Yeah, my niece and nephew are, too. I get it. So, why were you offended that I’m alive?”
When she blushes, my breath catches in my throat. “You never called after, and—"
“We agreed not to!”
She grins. “I know, but it made it easier to think of you as deceased, rather than the guy who never called after the best sex of my life, so take that for what you will.”
My mouth is suddenly dry. “The best sex of your life?”
Her blush deepens, and if she hadn’t wished me dead, I might have let myself fall for this girl. “Yeah. But in all fairness to me, I don’t have a huge catalog of experiences to choose from.”
I can fix that. “Speaking as someone who has a shamefully large catalog of experiences, it was the best of my life, too.”
Her bright blue eyes widen as she stops breathing. “Really?”
Slowly, I nod, feeling all too vulnerable at the moment. I know how this conversation should go. I should seductively suggest another time to check and see if it still holds up as our best. We could go to my place. Or hers, either way. Her little house isn’t far. It would be so easy… but that’s what the old me would do. The old me would avoid this vulnerable feeling. Not the new and improved me, the one whodoesn’tjump into bed every chance he gets.
Sitting here with Aria, the old me resents the hell out of the new me.
I keep my voice low, just in case of prying ears. “If I’m being completely honest, yes. It was. You’re an incredible woman, Aria Bueller. I count myself lucky that I’ve had any of your time.”
I’m pretty sure she hasn’t taken a breath since we started talking about sex, and when she does, it’s a big one, like she’s clearing her mind. “Oh.”
“If I offended—"
“No. You didn’t. I just figured I was another in a long, long string of women. Nothing special.”
“No, you are.”
