Chapter 43 Annalise
Chapter forty-three
Annalise
I’m only a few steps from the group when I’m suddenly pulled into a tight hug by Josh, and he’s walking me backwards and into an alcove.
“I'm happy to see his trick worked, but maybe we can clean up some of your running eyeliner before everyone here knows your glow is from getting laid, not just your stunning makeup. Hmm?”
I pull back, shocked and slightly embarrassed. “Are you serious?” His raised eyebrows say all I need to know. “Fuck. Help me! I can't see it, and Aiden has my phone.”
With quick and precise movements, he's wiping the evidence away from under my eyes and blending my makeup with the tips of his fingers.
“Much better!”
“Ugh, you're a lifesaver!”
“Someone has to look out for you since your fiancé’s attention was obviously focused elsewhere,” he says with a wink.
“Oh no. Not you too.”
“Oh yes, I get to enjoy this. My aunt hasn't stopped talking about how romantic he is. If he wasn’t already with you, she said she’d be trying to hook me up with the 'sexy stallion.'"
“No way she said that!”
“Oh yes, she did...” He laughs out. “The five glasses of wine may have played a factor, but still.”
“We are never telling him that nickname. It would go straight to his head!”
“Say less. If there were such a thing as a memory tonic, I would take it just so I could unhear those words from her mouth.”
When we make it back, Aiden is already there, a fresh glass of wine in his hand and waiting for me.
“Everything ok, Honey?” he asks, pulling me into him like we’ve been separated for hours, not minutes.
“Great, now that I'm not walking around with eyeliner running down my freaking face,” I whisper. “Something my boyfriend didn't bother to tell me before I rejoined proper society.”
I can feel his body bounce with silent laughter beside me. He would think people knowing what we were up to is funny.
“Aiden!”
He snaps up, and I come up empty, not recognizing the voice or the beautiful blonde with long model legs who is now standing in front of us.
“Oh my gosh, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She pulls him into a tight hug, clearly comfortable with their bodies pressing together. “It's so good to see you.”
“Hey, I didn't know you would be here tonight!” Aiden finally says with all the joy of seeing a long-lost friend.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw you up on stage, top of your classes.
But then again, I shouldn’t be surprised, you always were the best at everything.
” Her voice turns dangerously flirty, and I cough on the taste of her boldness with me standing right here.
Clearly, if she saw him on stage, she heard him call me his damn fiancée.
Am I really owning that? Yup. Because, right now, fuck her and her audacity.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you standing there,” she croons before extending her hand to take mine. “I’m Olivia, an old friend of Aiden’s, maybe even his first.”
She’s saying the word friend, but her tone tells an entirely different story. And as she bats her fake lashes, I’d like nothing more than to knock them off her face. But I’ve been playing political games my whole life, so instead, I smile brightly and take her hand.
“Oh, Olivia, it’s so nice to meet you. I’m Annalise, Aiden’s fiancée.”
Her head whips to him, “Fiancée, wow. I mean, congratulations.” She then glances back at me, “Such a lucky woman.”
“Olivia,” Aiden cuts in, “What are you doing here? Are you here with someone?” He asks as he looks around the room, like he’ll spot someone else from his past waiting for her.
“Just a friend,” she says with a wink that has me uncomfortable all over again. “Speaking of, I really should be going. It was so great seeing you.”
She gives him another hug and walks away without another word.
“She was friendly,” I can’t help but say.
Aiden looks sheepish, a look he never wears, and it leaves me with a pit in my stomach. “She’s an old family friend.”
Uh huh.
Now is not the time to get into whatever that was, so instead I turn and talk with James’s and Antonio’s moms, along with Josh’s aunt.
Unfortunately, they are all gushing about how sweet Aiden’s public claim was and ‘how bad he has it’. Any other time, I’d be blushing, but instead, I wear my practiced smile and wait to change the subject.
Girls' talk turns into group talk until Aiden pulls me away to the dance floor.
“This feels familiar,” he teases as he spins me and pulls me in close for a slow dance.
“Weird, I don’t remember us talking this much,” I joke back, but he catches the hesitation in my voice and tilts my chin up to look at him.
“Talk to me, Sweetheart. What’s going on?”
“Who is she, really?” I ask, not out of jealousy, but needing the truth.
“I already told you—” he starts in a defensive and almost annoyed tone. Immediately, I pull out of his arms.
“Ana, wait!”
“Aiden, I don’t care if you hooked up or even if you were engaged, but I will not stand here and be lied to. So, when you decide to tell me the truth, you know where I’ll be.” My voice is calm but sure before I turn and walk away.
“Ana—”
I’m halfway off the dance floor when I nearly crash into Mr. Michaels.
“Sorry, Mr. Michaels. I seem to be all sorts of clumsy tonight,” I say, but he shakes it off.
“You’re actually just who I was coming to see. Would you allow me a dance, Annalise?”
Surprised, I nod. “It would be my honor.”
“I hope you don’t take offense to this, but you looked like you needed a break, and not the kind my wife and her new friends would have been able to give you,” he says, spinning me once before we start stepping to the rhythm.
I sigh, embarrassed my personal drama is on full display, but relieved he’s giving me this small escape. He doesn’t mention it. Instead, he drifts into conversation about the most light-hearted, random things, and it feels like heaven.
Even Droopy makes his way into the conversation, and after laughing at my terrible plans to sneak him in, Mr. Michaels joins the scheming. He decides we’ll need to build a tiny home in the woods—somewhere I can live with Droopy, with no one any the wiser.
When the song comes to an end, I can’t help but hug him. “Thank you.”
He hugs me back gently and says, almost in a whisper, “I don’t know what really happened between you and your dad.
But I know you’ve always been a great friend to Josh, and I’ve seen you don a mask to make everyone around you feel better.
Those aren’t things bad people do.” He shakes his head.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is—I’ve never been a dad, but I’d be happy to be your uncle too, if you want.
And you know Susan is already in your corner. ”
A single tear slips free as I nod. “I’d love that.”
Only Mrs. Michaels notices us walking back, and she beams before pulling her husband into a hug.
As I fall back into conversation with my friends, I can’t help but notice there’s no Aiden in sight.
We spend the next hour laughing, dancing, and listening to stories about my friends when they were growing up. But when yawns start to overtake the conversation, we all decide to call it a night with the plan for me to ride back to Scion with James and the guys.
We’re almost to the doors when I finally spot Aiden, casually walking toward us from gods know where.
“Ana, I can take you home,” Aiden says, after I’ve given everyone my goodbye hugs, and they move to hug everyone else.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to leave yet. James said he has room.”
“Please let me drive you. I think we should talk.”
“Lee, you riding with us still?” Antonio calls, tussling his brother's hair as they start for the door.
Looking at Aiden, I can see the pleading in his eyes. “Thanks, but it looks like I’ve got a ride after all. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
He nods, and they all head outside; Aiden and I following behind them in an uncomfortable silence. He still opens and closes my car door, but the feeling now is vastly different from how it was a few hours ago when he was going through the same motions.
The car stays silent as we pull out of the parking lot and out onto the city streets. I’m questioning why I agreed to ride with him when he finally breaks the silence.
“I don't want to lie to you about this...”
“Then don’t.”
He lets out a heavy breath, like the weight of his admission is crushing him, “Olivia and I used to be together.”
I feign shock. “You don’t say.”
He shoots me a pointed look, not missing the sarcasm, “She was someone my parents pushed on me, and we dated for a bit.”
“A bit?” I ask at his vague description.
“Just over four years.”
My laugh is not kind or lady-like. “You were going to try to pass off four years as ‘a bit’. Seriously, Aiden? When did it end?”
He pauses before answering. “A year before I came to Scion. And before you ask, I’m the one who ended things, and no, I don’t want her back.”
“And why did you lie to me?”
He drags his hand down his face, “I didn’t want to upset you and ruin the great night we’d been having by making you think there was still something between us. But then I ruined everything anyway.”
“I don’t care that you’ve dated people before me, Aiden. We’re not in middle school. I’ve obviously dated people before you since you were friends with my ex.”
I hear him grumble, but I continue.
“But I’m not ok with you lying to me. I want more than that. I deserve more than that.”
His face falls with guilt, but I wait for him to decide where he wants to go from here.
“I’m so sorry, you’re right,” his voice is somber, “you deserve to have everything.” When I don’t speak still, he asks, “Will you forgive me?”
“No more lies.”
“Okay.”
“No, Aiden, I’m serious, say it.”
“No more lies,” he promises. “Now, can I please hold your hand?” He holds his hand open the same way he did the night we met, only now it’s a question. A prayer.
The second our skin touches, he pulls my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it before holding it to his face. “For the last hour, all I could think about was what I would do if our dance was the last time you’d ever let me hold you.”
“Aiden…it was an argument. Couples have those, ya’ know? But I’m still here.”
His eyes close for a second, relief softening every line of his face.
“You have no idea what you mean to me,” he whispers.