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Aiden looks up at me then, and even like this—frazzled and confused and slightly dazed—it breaks my heart to look at him. Ican feel every kiss and every touch all at once, all of it rushing back with one look. He swallows thickly as he rises to stand, staring at me like I’m a ghost.
“Wanda’s?”
I nod. “She took an Uber.”
“An Uber,” he repeats flatly. He looks down at her with a knitted brow. “You took an Uber?”
She pulls his phone out of her pocket, handing it back to him sheepishly. “I found the address in your phone.”
“You found the... Jesus Christ, Sophie. That’s all the way across town. Do you have any idea how dangerous this was?”
She looks down at her feet, shifting her weight from one to the other. “I’m sorry.”
“Why did you do this?”
“Because... I thought you were going to give me away.”
This visibly takes him by surprise. “What? Why on earth would you think that?”
“I heard you talking to Aunt Iris this morning,” she mumbles. “You said you were going to bring me to her house.”
Aiden sighs, running his hands down his face. “Tovisit, Soph. Not to stay. Your aunt and I... we’re trying to find some common ground with you. We’re trying not to fight so much.” He ducks to cup her chin gently. “I wouldnevergive you away. Do you understand? Never.”
“That’s what Cassie said,” Sophie answers, her voice trembling. “But I was scared.”
“I’m sorry,” Aiden says wearily. “I was going to talk to you about this tomorrow. I had no idea you even heard the conversation. But you have to understand that there is nothing you could do or say that will make me send you away. Okay?”
I can tell it’s difficult for him to acknowledge me. I can see it inthe way he stares over Sophie’s head for a moment or two before finally turning my way stiffly. “Thank you,” he says. “For bringing her back.”
“Of course,” I say awkwardly. “I wanted to make sure she got home safely.”
“Right.” His jaw works subtly. “Of course.”
I rub my arm, still feeling awkward. “Okay. Well. I guess I’d better leave you guys to it then.”
I start to turn back toward the stairs, finding it incredibly difficult to keep looking at him. I hope that with time, my brain can at least smudge the memory of his face, because if I have to recall his perfect face every other day, I might go insane.
Aiden surprises me when his hand darts out to snatch my wrist, pulling me back. “Is that really all you want to say?”
“What?” I glance down at his hand holding me before meeting his eyes. “What do you mean?”
His eyes seem to burn as they hold mine, the brown a dark, warm honey and the green a rich, bright seafoam. I don’t think my brain could forget those if they tried, unfortunately.
“Iris and I did have a long talk this morning,” he says. “She had a lot of interesting things to say.”
“O-oh.” My pulse quickens. “Really?”
“Yes. Really. Apparently someone plopped down across from her at a café and convinced her to call me and work things out.”
“Oh, well... I figured it was the least I could do.”
“But what I don’t get is... Why?”
“What do you mean, why?”
“I mean, if you wanted to toss us aside, if we were more than you signed up for—why would you care about what happened between Iris and us? Why would you insist that she try to work things out with me?”
“I—”
