Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
AIDEN
I wake with the feeling of fingers brushing against my cheek. Nova’s scent fills my lungs and clears the drowsiness. I catch her wrist as she moves a stray lock of hair away from my closed eye.
She sucks in a breath. “Sorry.”
Cracking open my eyes, I turn her hand and kiss the middle of her palm. Her face flushes, and she digs her front teeth into her bottom lip.
“Don’t be sorry.” I give her a sleepy smile and glance at the windows. “What time is it?”
“Seven.” Nova tugs her hand from my grasp.
“In the evening?” I blanch. “Fuck, I must’ve been passed out all day. I’m sorry, pretty girl. Are you okay?”
Her soft laugh tightens my chest, making my heart race and skip a beat. “It’s seven in the morning. You should go back to sleep.” Her eyes soften, and she scoots off the bed. “You’ve been running yourself ragged lately, and I don’t—”
“You’re not going anywhere.” I catch her around the waist and drag her over the top of me.
Nova squeals and puts up a pathetic fight to get out of my arms. I grin and nuzzle my nose into her hair.
“Let go.” She huffs and raises her head, her eyes narrowed in a mock glare, but there’s no heat in it.
“Never.” I kiss her nose and thread my fingers through her hair, stroking through the strands and winding a lock around my finger.
Nova’s rigid posture relaxes, and she melts against me, her features softening and a tiny smile quirking her lips.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For last night.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there in the beginning. But you don’t need to thank me for helping you.”
“You don’t have to help me. I don’t want you to feel like I’m depending on you to be there every time it storms.”
“Where is this coming from?” I frown.
The answer sucker punches me in the jaw.
Shit. She overheard my conversation with Ryder. And all this time she’s been holding on to what she overheard, pretending everything is fine when I hurt her.
I push onto my elbow and sit up with her straddling my lap and looking everywhere but at me.
“What you heard me say to Ryder,” I say, choosing my words carefully. “I didn’t mean any of it.”
“I figured. But I still want you to know that you don’t have to do anything for me.” She flashes me a reassuring smile. “If I annoy you, just let me know, okay?”
I catch her wrist and lower her hand, then thread our fingers together. “You don’t annoy me.” I annoy myself. “And I had to sound convincing so he wouldn’t figure out that our dynamic hasn’t changed, and that we’re not—”
“Fucking.” Nova squeezes my hand, a blush crawling up her neck.
“That too.” I frown, realizing I was about to say that I didn’t want Ryder to know that she and I are in a relationship. The lines are blurred in my mind. I no longer see any of this as fake or a deal. It’s given me a taste of what it’s like to call her mine.
But that’s not how Nova sees it.
“What about Jaxon?” she says.
I raise an eyebrow. “What about him?”
She tugs her hand out of mine and fidgets with the hem of her shirt over her lap. “He saw me leave the safe house the other day. I think he was out there for a while and heard us.” Her blush reddens. “Well, he heard you.”
I sigh and relax into the headboard. “If he heard, he’s not bringing it up.” I shrug. “I’m not worried about Jaxon knowing.”
Nova eyes me, likely expecting me to go into detail about why I’m not concerned. It’s Jaxon’s business, and I’m not about to put it on blast, even to my sister.
“Is it because he’s married to Dahlia?”
I blink and straighten. “How do you know about their marriage?”
She smirks. “I saw them at the mall the other day.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I cover my chest above my heart, pretending that she’s wounded me. “I’m hurt. We talk about everything, and now you’re keeping secrets from me? I really am chopped liver to you.”
Nova laughs and slaps my shoulder. “You’re not chopped liver to me. You mean way too much for me to cast aside.”
I grin and cup her cheeks while leaning into her. “You promise?”
Her eyes fall to my lips, and she nods. “I promise.”
My heart swells until I can barely breathe through the overwhelming adoration I have for her. How she’s looking at me is almost enough to get the hit I need. But I know how I am. I need more.
Inching closer until our lips brush, I murmur, “Do you need something, pretty girl?”
She raises her gaze to my eyes and lets out a shaky breath. “Are you going to be busy today?”
I freeze for a few seconds, then my shoulders slump with a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I need to go to the safe house and figure out what the hell is going on and who these people are. I’m sorry that I’m not around as much.”
“It’s not your fault.”
I run a hand through my hair. I know it’s not my fault, but I can’t stop the guilt tightening my chest because all I want to do is be home with her.
There’s also the guilt of my friends getting hurt the other night, then not being home with Nova during the storm.
So much is piling up that I can feel myself spiraling.
Nova’s arms wrap around my neck and pull me out of my spiraling thoughts. She leans into the hug, tightening it until all I can focus on is her and how good she feels. “It’s okay, pretty boy. We’ll take this one step at a time together. Just like what we’ve always done.”
“Yeah.” My arms circle her waist, and I bury my face in the crook of her neck. “I just want to know who the fuck is coming after my friends.”
“There has to be something.”
I breathe in her sweet and fruity scent that never fails to center me.
Nova’s right. There has to be something and I’m just overlooking it. Because these people can’t just be strangers who have it out for us. This screams personal. Declan hasn’t updated us on who kidnapped and tortured him. He only said they were wearing masks and kept asking about my friends and me.
Something’s got to give, and I feel like it’ll happen soon. All I hope is that it doesn’t end in my friends’ blood.