Page 203 of Challenge Me

He swallowed and looked down. “I mean—well—uh—It’s—”

I breathed a laugh, hoping he’d ease up a bit. “Relax, man. You came all the way here. Don’t give yourself a heart attack already.”

“Right. I guess . . .” His fingers tapped, then froze, then tapped again. “I was never sure what to say. I admired you. Back then.”

“Oh. You probably shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah, I mean, we were both screwed up. It was a . . . weird connection we had.” Suddenly, he grabbed my hand. His was cold, like a freaking ghoul.

“Jesus, Aiden. You’re freezing.”

He yanked his arm back. “I came here because I thought, after all this time, maybe I should tell you—”

“Man, I should’ve eaten,” Amir groaned as he appeared from the back. He let out a big yawn, and when he looked at me, I saw how tired he was.

I held out my hand. “Give me your keys.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m making you passenger princess tonight.”

“Oooh.” A silly grin tilted his lips as he reached into his pocket. After setting the keys on the counter, he looked at Aiden. “Oh, hey. You’re new. I’m Amir.” He went in for a handshake, but Aiden just stared at it with his mouth slightly open. Amir glanced at me, raising a brow.

“Hey,” I said, drawing Aiden’s attention back to me. “Are you staying somewhere?”

His expression was tighter than before. He shifted, scratching his arm. When his eyes flicked to Amir again, I wasn’t sure what to think.

“Aiden.”

His entire body flinched, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I should probably go.”

I gently grabbed his forearm and rotated it. With the tattoos, all I saw inside his elbows were swaths of black and the splatter of stars.

He jerked his arm back and jumped to his feet. I followed, feeling wrong about letting him leave.

“Can you give me a sec?” I smiled at him, which seemed to help somewhat. When he nodded, I angled my head to have Amir follow me to the pool table.

“What’s his deal?” he asked quietly.

I opened my mouth, but instead of speaking, I sighed. Aiden had wandered to the other side of the counter, but he wasn’t going for the drinks. It was a small relief.

“Remi?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Childhood crush maybe?”

“That’s . . . strange.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“You look worried.”

Running a hand through my hair, I turned my attention to Amir. “I am, but I don’t know what to do about that. I haven’t seen the guy in fifteen years.”

“Well, let’s get him a place to stay.”

“Really?”

“It’s not much, but if you feel like there’s something wrong, you should listen to your gut. Go talk to him. I’ll stay here.”