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My blood boiled. “I’m not a child, Aiden. Stop treating me like one.”
He gritted his teeth, trying to keep a casual smile on his face in case anyone did happen to stumble across us. “You were a child when I met you, Layla. The child of my best friend.”
“And Igrew up.” I crossed my arms, well aware of what it did for my cleavage. I was determined to make it as hard as possible for Aiden to dismiss me. “That’s what time does, Aiden.”
“Time doesn’t change what your dad’s friendship means to me.”
That was harder for me to argue. I knew my dad had been one of the few people in Aiden’s life who believed in him, who helped him find his path, who saw through the attitude and bluster of his young twenties self and recognized his potential. And I couldn’t pretend that my dad wouldn’t want to kill Aiden for touching me because he would.
But I just couldn’t bring myself to care. It was the most reckless I’d ever felt. I’d always been careful with my family’s feelings. I wasn’t a good girl in high school exactly, but I was better than some. I knew how much they loved me, and I never wanted to disappoint them. It was a terrible thing, to want something so badly you were willing to break the hearts of the people who loved you most, but that’s where I was.
And I needed Aiden to be there, too. But I wasn’t going to beg.
“Fine,” I said coolly, and shoved my hands in my own back pockets in a deliberate mirroring of him.
“Fine?” Aiden repeated, his expression still wary.
I shrugged, trying so hard to look casual I figured I’d lapped it and showed my desperation. “I can’t make you kiss me again if you don’t want to.”
The muscle in his jaw twitched and I tried not to smirk. He wanted to. He wasn’t going to admit it with words, but his body language wasn’t as discreet.
“But,” I added, in case he thought I was going to make this easy on him. “If you aren’t going to touch me, you don’t get to have an opinion on who does, got it?”
Aiden’s eyes darkened. “I can’t agree to that.”
I curled my fingers into fists in my pockets. “You have to. You don’t get to have it both ways.”
Again, the crowd roared. While it was too loud to bother with speech, we stared at each other. The words we couldn’t speak flowed between us, unhindered by what was and wasn’t acceptable to say.
When the noise finally died down again, Aiden said in a low voice I’d never heard before. “Layla, I can’t touch you, but I’ll be damned if I let Gold or any other asshole in the Cross Media team have what I can’t.”
A delicious, dark thrill went up my spine and all through my body. I refused to melt though. Instead, I shook my hair back and raised my chin. “That decision isn’t yours to make.” And with that, I turned on my heel and walked away.
The rest of the game, I couldfeelthe weight of his gaze, boring into the back of my head. I didn’t encourage Andrew–I didn’t want to be an asshole–but he was a tactile guy with everyone. And every time his shoulder brushed mine or he tapped on my leg to make a point, I felt the tension in Aiden’s gaze ratchet up.
I wasn’t surprised to see a scowl on his face when he boarded the bus and saw me sitting next to Andrew. He took his place next to Maureen in the front, and I wondered if now he could feelmygaze as I drank in the sight of his rigidly set shoulders and tense neck. I saw Maureen shoot him a look and lean in to say something, but no one else seemed to notice. Everyone else was happily drunk and making plans to continue the party.
“Ned’s,” Andrew announced. He pointed at Joe, “Ned’s?” Then Gloria. “Ned’s?”
One by one, everyone nodded their agreement. “Ned’s?” Andrew asked, so close that instead of pointing, he tweaked the bill of my ballcap.
“Ned’s,” I agreed.
“Hey, Boss.” Andrew raised his voice so that it reached Aiden and Maureen in the front row. They both turned around. “Ned’s?” he asked them both.
“No,” Aiden said shortly, and turned back around.
“Ned’s,” Maureen repeated with a nod, and she turned back too. Again, I saw her say something to Aiden that he responded to with a curt shake of his head.
“What’s wrong with the boss?” Andrew asked, lowering his voice this time so that only Joe, Gloria, and I could hear the question. “Is he a closeted Marlins’ fan?”
Joe and Gloria shrugged. I did my best to imitate their bemused expressions. Inside though, I wasn’t confused. I was disappointed. If Aiden wasn’t coming, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go anymore. It had been a fun day, but it had been a long week. I wanted to head home, get into my most comfortable sweats, and make Liv listen to my play-by-play of every second of the interaction with Aiden.
And then I wanted to get into bed and think about how I was going to get him to kiss me again.
CHAPTER14
AIDEN
