Chapter 26 #2
Large hands grab Aiden’s arms, which forces him to release his hold on me while they wrench his arms behind his back as they start dragging him back into the venue.
Aiden is screaming for them to back the fuck off, but they just keep moving.
Another guard comes up to help control the situation as Aiden tries to find an escape.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I reach for Aiden, but another guard comes up to my side and stops me.
“You wait here; I’ll return your precious fiancé soon.” Then he turns to Aiden. “Stop fighting. I’ll have Tony wait with her.” The look on Aiden’s face is deadly, but he turns and growls out, “Let’s get this over with.” These guards will pay with their lives, I have no doubt about it.
Tony looks about as concerned as an already gutted fish, pulling out his pack of smokes and lighting one up. He steps closer to the building and leans against it before telling me good luck. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I roll my eyes and ignore him.
A black town car pulls up, and I walk to the back seat. The door opens as I approach, and I am confused because if Gage is driving the car, who is already sitting in the back?
“We meet again, Arianna. But this time, I am going to win.”
Before I can scream, the man from the night outside the arena steps out of the car and covers my mouth with his other hand at my neck, pressing a needle deep.
Dizziness and nausea consume me as black fills the corner of my vision.
My muscles feel weak, and I am falling against this man. I try to move my arms to push him away, but it’s not working.
Aiden. Aiden.
He’s my last thought as the darkness claims me.
SIXTEEN YEARS OLD
Sitting on the iron bench in the garden, surrounded by blooming rose bushes and fireflies, I look up when I hear footsteps coming closer.
“Still crying over my stepbrother, Ari?” Aiden asks, a hint of annoyance breaking through his otherwise stoic voice.
I wipe the tears from my cheeks and glare up at him. Brodie left this morning for boarding school, like he does every fall. Junior year was beginning next week. But with each summer ending, knowing he is leaving and still doesn’t know how I truly feel, the pain cuts deeper.
And yes, it’s my fucking fault I am a coward who can’t admit how she feels to the boy she loves. But I would rather sit here and stew in my ignorance-is-bliss mentality than risk losing him.
Longing for your best friend to notice you as something more is awful.
It wouldn’t be so bad if…
I didn’t also secretly harbor confusing feelings about the man standing in front of me, and that makes it even worse. Brodie’s stepbrother is completely off limits.
Despite how much I want to deny it, Aiden is sinfully hot. The embodiment of every bad boy on TV that girls can’t help but drool over because, let’s face it, the bad boy is always hotter.
Tall, dark, and handsome was a sentence made for him. The tattoos staining his skin, the dark curls framing his face, and the eyebrow piercing were a lethal combination. And the smug bastard knew it.
But Brodie was my best friend, and that meant something. I was waiting…
How long would I have to wait for him to notice me? Would he ever?
Aiden stops just in front of the bench and towers over me. He tugs on my wrist, urging me to stand in front of him. He and Brodie both had a growth spurt over the last year, and now I came up to their chests at best.
Aiden smirks a little before he says, “I don’t know why you cry, Ari. Brodie will be back for fall break.”
Anthony had sent Brodie to boarding school every year since middle school. When Aiden moved in, we thought he might go too, but Isabelle advocated for him to attend my school because she wanted her son close by. She had a heart, unlike Anthony, even if it was slowly rotting away under his care.
I huff and glance away. “You know why, but you don’t understand, Aiden. You would have to have feelings to understand.”
Aiden uses his hand to turn my chin and tucks my loose hair behind my ear. He looks at me for a moment, searching my face, almost coming off soft, before closing himself off again.
“I see you looking at me, Arianna, when you aren’t looking at my brother.” The confession shatters something inside of me. Unsaid words and longing looks hidden under a facade of hatred are finally acknowledged in the small space between us.
No. No. No. This can’t be happening today. Not right now. Not when I haven’t told Brodie how I feel. I can’t shut that door completely, and being with his brother would surely do that.
No matter how much I want Aiden. I think I want my best friend more.
Or really, how much I want them both. Shame fills me because if I know one thing, it’s that having them both would never be possible. They're both too possessive, too dominant, too everything.
I try to shake away from his grip, but he holds me tight, bringing one arm around my waist to prevent me from leaving. “Do you ever think about kissing me?” he asks quietly, his low voice almost sounding sad, like he knows my answer will be a lie before I even say it.
Because it will be. He knows. I know it.
Of course I think about kissing Aiden. But I’ve thought about kissing Brodie longer.
I shake my head. I’m not ready. Today cannot be the day that I give up on my dream of one day being more than friends with Brodie. “Aiden…”
But he presses on, not stopping his confession.
“Have you ever had someone kiss you before, brat?” He rests his forehead against mine when he asks, and I study his soft lips and wonder if they would feel as harsh as the words he normally sends my way.
But when he whispers, “Let me teach you…” my heart stops.
Tears fill the corners of my eyes, and I try to blink them away, but one falls to my cheek. In the garden, surrounded by the flowers, vines, and sunlight, Aiden kisses the tear away.
“Ari… give me a chance.” It’s as close to begging as I have ever heard from Aiden. A pit opens in my stomach because I can’t. No matter how much I want to.
“Aiden, I can’t.” More tears fall, but he doesn’t kiss them away this time.
“Because of him.” Aiden’s voice is flat. “I know you want this, Ari. I’m always watching you, and I fucking know. When you aren’t watching him, you look at me. Every single time.”
I sniffle and wipe more tears away. “I can’t close the door on something I have always wanted. It started long before you even moved in. He came first.” My voice breaks as I realize I’m possibly destroying a future with Aiden to wait on a man who may never see me.
“Please don’t do this,” Aiden pleads one more time.
A deep and utter longing begins to consume me before he even steps away.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, and he lets me go.
As I walk away, I turn back for one last look. Aiden has flowers in his hand that must have come from his back pocket. He is crushing the petals between his fingers and letting them fall to the ground. A mask drops over his face, an emotionless mask that I’m not sure will ever come off again.
So I look up and whisper to the night sky, “Please don’t let this be the end...”