AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She can’t get anyone to cover the store for two days,” he tells me. “Since we’re getting an Airbnb after.”
Please don’t remind me,I think woefully. Although, why sharing a rental with Aiden makes me squirm when welivetogether is beyond me.
“That’s too bad,” I say, meaning it, weirdly. “I know Sophie will be bummed.”
Aiden nods. “She’s going to come by before work on Friday.”
“Well, that’s good at least. Was it weird? The phone call?”
“I...” He purses his lips for a moment before shaking his head. “She sounded... grateful. That I asked. It might be one of the easier conversations we’ve had in the last year.”
“Maybe she sees that you’re trying to meet her halfway.”
“Maybe.” He glances over at me. “Thank you for suggesting it.”
“Ah, well...” I try to look nonchalant. “Just looking out for Sophie.”
And you,I don’t say.
I think maybe we both sort of run out of things to say then; a quiet settling over us both as we watch Sophie, who has moved on to the monkey bars. We stay like that until a woman pushing a stroller passes us to take the bench next to us, huffing as she drops a diaper bag on the ground beside her. “Do you guys mind if I sit here?”
“No, of course not,” Aiden tells her. “Please.”
The woman looks like she’s a few days short of a good night’s sleep, her hair tossed into a messy bun and her eyes lined with dark circles. “Thank God for the park, right?” She laughs as she fusses over the baby girl’s bow in the stroller. “I’d lose my mind if I couldn’t bring her brother here to burn off some of his energy.”
I lean over to get a better glimpse of her baby. “She’s adorable. How old?”
“Six months,” she tells us. “She’s a handful, but at least she’s stationary.” She nods her head toward a dark-haired little boy currently climbing up the ladder to the jungle gym. “Thatone never seems to get tired.” She gives us a kind smile then. “Which one is yours?”
“My daughter,” Aiden offers, pointing toward the monkey bars. “She’s over there.”
“She’s a cutie.”
Aiden smiles with gratitude. “Thank you.”
“You guys make such a cute little family,” she gushes, my cheeks instantly feeling warmer.
“Oh, we aren’t—”
“Daniel! What did I say?” She gives us an apologetic look. “Sorry. I need to go make sure he doesn’t break something.”
She leaves us there, pushing her stroller in a hurry to check on her son, who is now hanging upside down on the ladder, and when I finally find the courage to look over at Aiden, he looks as embarrassed as I do.
“I guess it was bound to happen,” he says with a shy sort of laugh. “No big deal.”
“Right.” I reach to tuck a stray tendril of hair behind my ear, looking down at the concrete. “It’s ridiculous though.”
Aiden cocks his head at me from the side. “How do you mean?”
“I mean...” I think, in my attempt to make things less awkward, I am digging a deeper hole into that very thing. “Well, obviously you’re out of my league. On a whole other planet, really. So I doubt many people would make the same mistake.”
“You think I’m out of your league?”
Jesus Christ, what have I done? Is it still too late to run away?
“I mean... objectively speaking, it’s obvious that you’re—”
“I don’t think it’s that obvious,” he says flatly. “Objectively speaking.”
