Chapter 22
“Okay, last bar of the night!” Anna exclaims.
“That’s what you said at the last one, Anna.” I laugh. Anna certainly hasn’t changed. She has always been the life of the party and tonight has been no different. She has a quality about her that makes anyone feel like they can join in on the fun, even if said person was content reading in a corner like I was in college. She was the one who influenced me to let go, relax, and partake in some sort of social interaction.
“I know, but I promise this is the last one,” she says as she enthusiastically texts someone, a smile permanently stuck to her face.
We make our way into the small dive bar off the coast. It has been nice to finally let loose with my best friend. It has been a long time coming, and tonight has been a blast. As Maid of Honor, I feel it is my duty to get the bride as drunk as possible without getting sick, and I am definitely succeeding… and I am getting just as drunk in the process.
“Okay, Anna, I love you but I think I only have one more shot in me. After that, if I have any more, I’m going into blackout mode.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s get that shot in you!”
We make our way over to the bar with the posse of bridesmaids and some of Anna’s other friends behind us. The bartender is tipped off that we are a part of a bachelorette party due to Anna’s veil headband and large sash that reads “Bride to Be.”
“This round is on the house, ladies.”
“Thanks, handsome.” Anna winks at the bartender and throws back the shot.
“Down girl, you know that you’re the one getting married, right?” I say to Anna, downing my own shot.
“Oh calm down, this is seriously the last time I am ever going to get to flirt with another guy in my life. I love Dan more than life itself. Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
I roll my eyes. “I know you do. You’re lucky, Anna. And I am so happy for you and Dan. Not many people’s relationships last as long as yours. I wish I had that.”
“Oh, I bet you are going to have that, Hales. I’ve seen the way Charming treats you.”
My pulse quickens. I try to rid my mind of thoughts about Aidan. His smile. His eyes. His body. He texted me earlier to make sure I was okay and said to text if I need him at all tonight.
“He worships the ground you walk on,” Anna continues. “Believe me. A man doesn’t look at a woman like he looks at you for no reason.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better,” I say, trying to convince myself of those exact words. He is just acting. That’s his job.
“No, I am saying that because it’s the truth.” Anna purses her lips and taps me lightly on the arm. She turns toward the bartender. “Hey handsome, can we have two more shots?”
“Coming right up,” the bartender responds, grabbing two shot glasses and the bottle of Patron.
“Actually I’ll just have water, please,” I yell at the bartender. I whip my head back to Anna, “Seriously, I need to stop drinking. I am way past my threshold and besides, it is my duty to watch after you as your Maid of Honor.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll just take the shot for you.”
“Have at it.” I laugh at my best friend as she takes two shots in a row. Her threshold is most definitely higher than mine. Mental note: make sure that she starts drinking water ASAP.
The next thing I know, Anna is squealing with excitement as she bolts toward the middle of the dancefloor. I follow her to her final destination: the arms of her groom. Dan looks just as inebriated in his own right, but I watch them as they smile at each other–those aren’t drunken smiles. It is as if they sober up in each other’s presence.
I slowly sip my water. My mind is getting cloudy. I am entering a kind of haze. A haze that hasn’t been present in three years. I close my eyes, trying to lift the haze with my positive thoughts of being sober. As much as I love letting loose, I hate feeling out of control.
“Hey man, can I have a double shot of Jameson?”
A chill runs up my spine. There is only one person I know who orders that drink, and he is the last person I want to see tonight. “And a shot of tequila for the lady here.”
“No thanks,” I say without even looking in Robert’s direction.
“C’mon, Haley. We’re celebrating. Our best friends are getting married.”
“I said no.” My eyes shoot daggers at him. Sense my tone, Robert. “What are you even doing here, anyway?”
“Dan has been texting Anna all night, and she texted him your ladies’ location. Figured we would stop by after the last bar we went to.” Of course Anna and Dan have been texting all night. They couldn’t stand not talking to each other for a night, let alone a few hours. The other groomsmen and bridesmaids are out on the dance floor, looking like college kids at a house party, completely uninhibited with no worries in the world. And here I am, just as drunk, but sadly I can’t escape one thing that has been my constant worry this entire weekend. Unfortunately, he isn’t leaving my side. My breathing becomes erratic when I don’t see Aidan right away. I’m not going to give Robert the satisfaction of knowing that he is annoyingly getting under my skin.
“Nice dress, by the way.” I feel Robert’s eyes glide the length of my body. I squirm a little, immediately hating myself for putting on this dress–or rather, Anna picking out this dress and me going along with it. I can hear her words ringing in my ears over the loud music: “Trust me, Hales, this black, short, strapless one is the dress to wear tonight. You are my hot friend. You need to dress the part, little missy. You are dating the hottest man in the universe, right?” I suddenly wish I had one of my cardigans to cover up. Why the hell is Robert scanning my body, anyway? I know Julia couldn’t come out tonight with us, news that was music to my ears. At least the universe was on my side on that front. With Robert, not so much.
“Thanks.” I cross my arms over my chest, hoping to hide some of my cleavage.
Robert inches closer to me and nurses his drink. Even when he doesn’t say anything to me, his mere presence is suffocating. “You never wore those kinds of outfits while we were together. I guess being out in L.A. has changed you.”
I finally make eye contact with the man I once thought I was going to love forever. Right now, all I feel is hate. And despite what some might say, I can assure you, love and hate are not the same thing. “Let’s not start this, okay?”
“Start what? I’m just making conversation.” He finishes his drink and gestures to the bartender for another one. How many has that been tonight?
“A conversation I don’t want to have.” I shift my weight to my other foot and prop my hand on my hip. My feet are killing me. I am half-ready to take these heels off right now. I am just scared that without the physical pain distracting me, I would have to face the emotional pain on its own.
“What? I can’t even compliment you anymore?” Robert scoots even closer, closing the necessary space between us. It is amazing that at one point, I didn’t want there to be any space between us. Oh, how times have changed.
“Not when the compliment is laced with an insult.”
“A little close, aren’t you?” I could listen to that deep, dare I say it, possessive voice all day and night. The suffocating air lifts as Aidan stands right next to me. His arm slides around my waist and his hand squeezes my side as he stares down my ex. I thought my eyes were daggers. I was clearly wrong– that was nothing compared to Aidan’s piercing blue eyes, which turn dark as he glares straight at Robert.
Robert instinctually backs off a little. “Just keeping Haley company since you weren’t around.”
“Hmmm.” Aidan’s jaw clenches, clearly annoyed with Robert. His hand doesn’t move. Not an inch. “Well, I’m here now.” Aidan squeezes me closer into his side, making it undoubtedly explicit that I am here with him.
Robert scoffs, finishing his second drink. “Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Where were you, anyway? Girls swarming you at the door?”
“Thankfully, no. I had to find the restroom. Not that it’s any of your business.” I’ve never felt so much tension in my life between two men, and it has only gotten worse as the weekend has progressed. “But, I knew my girl could take care of herself.”
Robert flinches slightly when Aidan utters the words my girl. I know it’s a power play. He is marking his fake territory and it is working. So much so that Robert taps the bar counter twice, awaiting his next escape from reality. I am so confused about why he is acting like this. He was the one who ruined everything in the first place. Now he’s acting like I am still his. But I’m not his anymore. I am Aidan’s…well, sort of.
Then the Tazmanian devil known as Anna swoops in and grabs my hands. “Excuse me, Charming, but I need to steal my best friend. Our song just started and I really need her to come shake her fine ass on the dance floor. You don’t mind, do you, handsome?” Anna bats her drunken eyes at Aidan and smiles.
“Not at all.” Aidan finally releases his hand from my waist. My body suddenly aches for his hand to return back to that exact spot. Must be the drinks talking.
Anna leads me out to the middle of the dance floor. Our favorite song from our college days is on and we start doing our own little dance routine. It’s like we went into a time machine and we’re celebrating the end of midterms. The only exception? The guy who used to be behind me, holding onto my waist and dancing, is standing over at the bar, drinking yet another double-shot of whiskey, next to this dreamboat actor that I get to call mine for the weekend. If someone were to imagine something surreal, this situation would pop up in their mind. The haze of the alcohol is settling in and I feel my body fully relax, with no regard of how I look, who I am dating, or what is going on in my life. I was fully out of my own head and in the moment. Anxiety gone. It is like a curse has been lifted.
I am convinced that when I look over at the bar, I’ll see Aidan looking down at his phone or looking completely bored out of his mind. He is seriously a trooper for going through this whole charade with me. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to skip out on this whole ordeal, go home and sleep. He has to hang out with people he’s never met before and pretend to be in love with me. That’s a lot to ask of him.
But to my surprise, Aidan’s eyes are only fixed on one thing–me. I immediately get flushed when I see that perfect smile and realize that I’m the reason for it. The heat in my body isn’t going away. I’m blaming it on all the dancing.
“He’s so into you!” Anna yells in my ear over the music blaring out of the speakers.
“Yeah, okay!” I respond sarcastically, trying to act unphased.
“Yeah, okay nothing, Hales.” Her eyes move from me to where the bar is located. Where the man of my fricken dreams is located. “Tell me something, if he isn’t into you, why is he making his way over here right now with his eyes fixed on you the entire time? Did I mention that his eyes look dangerously hungry?”
I am too chicken to look. “You’re crazy.” My heart is racing with hope that what she’s saying is true. Even though it has only been five minutes, my body is craving his touch. Craving everything about him.
I am in trouble. It is a tangled web we were weaving, but for some reason, I want to get caught in it. I want the web to swallow us whole.
Hands that I am becoming way too familiar with wrap around my body and now Aidan is the one behind me, protectively encasing me in his arms. I let my body sink into his, knowing that no matter what situation we are in, I am safe when I’m near him. He has been my savior since the day I met him. When I had no job, he took a chance on me. When I needed him to pretend to be my boyfriend, he did so without hesitation. Despite my protests about Anna’s claims, deep down, I want them to be true.
I turn my body and bravely move my hands up Aidan’s chest until they clasp behind his neck. It scares me that this feels so natural. Like we’ve been doing this for years. Is it possible to have this type of connection with someone in such a short period of time? It’s like the roots have been there since the day we met. And now this monster of a tree has taken form, trying to withstand any storm–any doubt of our relationship.
Aidan leans down and whispers, “God, I wish I could read your mind right now, Hales.”
“Why?” I suddenly become self-conscious because I’m afraid that he could actually read my thoughts.
“Because you are looking up at me like I’ve never seen you look at me before.” He smirks that devilish smirk of his. Like he knows a secret I’m not privy to.
“Oh, yeah, and how’s that?” Uh oh. It’s like he was Sherlock Holmes and he cracked the case. It’s like he can read my mind, and he is just putting up a pretense that he can’t.
“Like you want to…”
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Anna chants loudly. The bridal party, with the exception of Robert, starts following suit. She’s the bride and leader of the pack, after all. Now they are all chanting at Aidan and me.
Meanwhile, I desperately want to know the ending to Aidan’s sentence. Like you want to… My heart is throbbing with anticipation and wonder of all the possibilities that could end that statement. Because if I am being honest with myself, there is a running list of words or phrases in contention for those endless possibilities. It’s like a fun game of Mad Libs that I am yearning to play with Aidan. I don’t know if that’s the alcohol talking or if those are my honest feelings on the subject. Everything is starting to get blurred.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Anna keeps chanting.
My eyes widen at Anna and I mouth, What are you doing? Although on the inside, I am secretly hoping that Aidan will actually kiss me because he wants to, and not because it’s out of necessity.
Aidan most definitely is a mind reader because the next thing I know, he is cradling my face in his hands and kissing me. My mind flies back to the kiss we shared at the premiere afterparty. It starts off soft and slow and innocent. Anna is cheering, as is the rest of the crowd. Another mental note: kill Anna later. After a sufficient amount of time elapses, I start to pull away, but Aidan just pulls me closer. If I thought my heart was throbbing before, I wasn’t nearly prepared for what my pulse is doing now. Shivers course through my body as Aidan’s tongue comes in contact with mine. This kiss is no longer slow and innocent. It is explorative and uninhibited. It is morphing into a kiss that weakens my knees and makes my thoughts even more cloudy than before.
When he finally pulls back, I whisper, trying to ground myself in reality, “Necessity?”
Aidan pulls his eyebrows together, then smiles and whispers in my ear, “Absolutely not, Hales. I wanted to kiss you.”
My heart leaps, but I can’t admit that to Aidan. I don’t want to scare him with the fact that I am, despite my best efforts, falling for him.