Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Aiden
So, it turned out that the haunted castle was simply just an abandoned castle in big need of a clean-up. No ghosts or hauntings as far as I could tell. Oliver and I had even gone at night, much to my horror, but there luckily wasn’t anything that went bump in the night.
After sleeping in and having brunch with Oliver in town today, I felt like the castle was a distant memory, even if it had only happened the night before.
Oliver seemed determined to show me every part of his small town, and I kind of loved it.
I had friends back at home, but it was freeing just doing what I felt like for a change.
Here, I wasn’t expected to be the same boy I had been years ago.
There wasn’t anyone who told me how they knew I loved certain things, because I had as a child and they seemed to think that would always be the case.
Yes, I was thinking about the café owner Willow, who never asked me what I wanted from their menu, because, in her words, she knew me.
I’d never hated tuna sandwiches as much as I do now.
Could I have told her no and said what I really wanted?
Yes, but I had this urge to please those around me, so I just shut my mouth and nodded like she was completely right, and tuna sounded amazing no matter how often my dads took me there.
With Oliver, he asked, he learned with me who I was.
This had to be what Hilda had talked about, this feeling of starting over, exploring who I was, or simply who I wanted to be.
I couldn’t wait to see how I would feel at the end of the year, but for now I wanted to stay in town and get to know Oliver a bit more.
Oliver’s arm was locked around mine like usual, so when he stumbled on one of the stones, I was there to help him right himself.
It made us both fall into a laughing fit, until I felt a tug in my chest, like my body was alerting me to something close by.
I tended to trust my instincts, so when my gaze swept our surroundings, it crashed with a brown-haired guy nearby.
I gasped, way too loudly. It caught Oliver’s attention and I knew he saw the same guy, but I couldn’t be sure, since my eyes wouldn’t leave the stranger’s. He had green eyes, and… Holy…. I was attracted to him!
Without a conscious thought, I let go of Oliver’s arm and closed the distance between us.
The guy did the same, his eyes kind, hopeful, and full of longing.
I didn’t even think as I crashed my lips against his, it was like my body had taken over and everything inside of me needed him, like air, like water.
No thought about him being a stranger, or dangerous even crossed my mind.
Nope. My lips met his and it felt so right.
I felt his arms around my waist, the secure feeling of being this close to him, and then, nothing.