More With You (13 page)

I can’t control the smile that breaks across my face. Aiden, for as much as he likes to pretend to be a hard ass, is really sweet.  My mind wanders to what it would be like to be his.  To have him be the one who is always there to pick me up or make sure I have a good hangover regimen.  A soft knock at the door brings me back to the task at hand, Advil.

I hear the door open. I look up to find that Allison looks just like I feel.  She slowly drags her feet until she reaches the bed.  She climbs in next to me and burrows under the covers.

“My head hurts,” she mumbles.

“Ditto,” I say, trying to limit the conversation.  My head is pounding, and the movement to drink the water and Advil did not help.

“The guys are making breakfast. Liam says we have to eat. It will help soak up the alcohol,” she whispers.

“I don’t think I can eat,” I tell her.

“I know me either. That’s what I told him, but he said it would make us feel better. I’m hiding out in here so maybe he won’t make me.”

I snort at that. Liam has never, and will never, make Allison do anything.  He caters to her and will end up begging her to eat.  He will so track her ass down.  Hiding with me won’t stop him, that’s for sure.

“What’s so funny?” Allison asks.

Before I can answer, my brother is at my door.  “Hey, you two.  You ready to eat something?”

Allie and I groan in unison and I hear Liam laugh. “I promise you will feel better after you eat. I didn’t go crazy, just made pancakes and bacon.  Come on, let’s go.”

“We don’t want to,” Allie whines.

“Baby, you have to. The food will help soak up all the alcohol,” Liam tries to reason.

“It hurts to move,” she mumbles.

“I can carry you, beautiful, but I really need you to eat,” he says this as he leans down and scoops her up in his arms and heads for the kitchen.

Thinking I’m off the hook, I lay back down and throw the covers over my head.  More sleep. I just need a few more hours and I will be good to go.  I hear a low chuckle, and immediately I know it’s Aiden.  It’s like my body can sense when he is near me.

He pulls the cover off my body. “Let’s go, angel.  We need to get some food in you,” he tells me.

“No.  Don’t wanna move.  Hurts to move,” I mumble, while reaching for the blankets that he just stole.

“Sorry, no can do. You need to eat, and since Allison was unable to walk, I am here as your personal travel arrangements,” he says, pulling the covers out of my hands.  My brain is still slow to register in my post alcohol state. Which is why when he leans down and scoops me up in his arms, I’m unable to protest.  Well, that and it feels nice.  Almost like I was here just recently.

“This feels like Deja vu,” I say out loud.

Aiden laughs softly before placing his lips next to my ear. “That’s because I had you in my arms last night, angel,” he whispers.

I stiffen at his words. Holy shit, did something happen between us?  Shit. Shit. Shit.

As if he can read my mind, he says, “Relax, crazy girl.  I carried you to bed last night and tucked you in.  Nothing happened.”  He drops a kiss on my temple just as we round the corner into the kitchen.

“Here is our other underage alcoholic,” he teases as he gently places me in a chair that Liam pulls out for me. Aiden proceeds to pour me a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee. Once he sets them in front of me, he places two pancakes and a couple of pieces of bacon on my plate. Finally, he takes the seat beside me and begins making his own plate. 

I chance a subtle look at Liam and Allie to see if they notice all the attention that Aiden is giving me. They don’t. I stare down at my plate, trying to wrap my head around all the emotions that are bouncing around. I want Aiden, and he is giving me all these mixed signals.  GAH!  I just need to ignore what my heart is trying to say, and focus on what I know is right.  Aiden is just being nice, a good friend.  That’s all.

Aiden leans in close to me. “Did you take your Advil, angel?” he whispers.

Nodding my head, that is still pounding. “Yes, thank you,” I reply quietly.

Aiden nods and goes right back to eating. I pick up my fork and begin to eat. Chewing hurts my head. Hell, who am I kidding? Breathing hurts my head.  How anyone can do this, drink themselves silly on a regular basis, is beyond me.  It’ll be a while before I indulge again.  I hate feeling like ass.

The guys send us off to lounge while they clean the kitchen. I can definitely get used to this treatment. It’s usually Allie and I cooking for them. They always help clean up, but it’s a rare occasion that they do both. 
Ah, the joys in life
.

Allison decides she wants to take a nap, so she and Liam go to their room. I am too comfortable to move. I am curled up on the couch. It’s a rainy day, so there is not much else to do.  Once I’m awake, it’s hard for me to go back to sleep no matter how tired I am.  I’m weird like that. 

Aiden comes into the living room and I automatically lift my legs, inviting him to sit with me on the couch.  I keep reminding myself that we are friends and we have done this exact thing a thousand times.  He takes a seat on the opposite end of the couch and I rest my legs on his lap.

“We watching a movie?” he asks me.

“Yeah, but you can pick,” I tell him, tossing him the remote.  Aiden grins and starts flipping through the channels.  My head is turned towards the television, but my eyes are trained on Aiden.  He is gorgeous.  His brown hair is messy.  I can tell he just ran his fingers through it after his shower this morning. I love his thick locks.  My fingers itch to touch him.  To run my fingers through his hair.

Aiden settles on the Lifetime Movie Network. I smile. He knows me so well.

“For me?” I ask and bat my eyelashes.

Aiden just smiles and winks.  He picks up my left foot and begins to massage it.  This is new; he’s never done this before.  Friends can give friends a foot massage, right?

I lie there with his hands on my feet, working their magic. I’m trying to concentrate on the movie, but I can’t.  I close my eyes to try to calm my racing heart.  I focus on taking in deep even breaths.  I feel my body relax and I start to drift off to sleep.

I slowly wake up and open my eyes. I see that the television is muted and the house is quiet. I lift my head and I see that Aiden is still at his end of the couch. He’s awake and he’s watching me.

“Hey. Sorry I fell asleep on you,” I say my voice raspy.  I could really use something to drink.

As if he can read my mind, Aiden leans over, plucks a bottle of water from the coffee table, and hands it to me.

“Thanks,” I say, taking it from him and chugging half of it.  Much better.

“How was the movie?” I ask, my voice now back to normal.

Aiden shrugs his shoulders. “I’m not sure, I didn’t finish it,” he says.

“I glance at the television and see that it is, indeed, still on.” I look back at Aiden and raise my eyebrows in question.

“You looked so peaceful, I didn’t want it to wake you up.”  He shrugs.  “I know you didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and needed to rest.”

“So…uh…what did you do?” I ask. I’m not sure how to take his last statement. Do friends just do that? Do they go out of their way to make sure the other gets rested after a drunken night? He’s in the same spot as when I fell asleep. Did he…did he watch me?

Aiden’s face flushes slightly. “I watched you,” he says softly. 

He watched me!
  I open my mouth to respond, and no words will come out.  I’m stunned speechless.  I open and close my mouth again, still nothing.  I know I look like a damn fish right now, which is totally embarrassing, but… Holy Shit!  Aiden watched me sleep for, what, like an hour?

“You could have moved. I probably wouldn’t have woken up,” I tell him.

“Yeah, that really wasn’t an option for me. Why would I want to move, when I can be close to my angel when she’s sleeping?”  he asks.

Fuck me!
  He is totally being serious right now, and talk about fucking swoooon!  He has no idea what he’s doing to me.  His words affect me like nothing else ever has.  He affects me like nothing or no one else.  How much longer can I hide my feelings for him?  Better question, what the hell is going on with him?  Friends don’t say those kind of things to friends.  The lines are blurring more and more every day, and I don’t know which way is up.  I feel like I’m drowning in the sea of Aiden Emerson.  The only problem is, I can’t decide if I want to sink or swim.

I realize I have lost myself to my internal freak out and that Aiden is still watching me. I need to say something, but what the fuck kind of response do I give to that?  I take a deep breath and go with all that I can say, without telling him I am madly in love with him and have been for a while now.  I dig deep and pull out my southern hospitality.

“Thank you,” I say barely above a whisper.

Aiden squeezes my leg in reply just as Liam and Allison walk into the room.  Liam plops down in the recliner and pulls Allison down on top of him. 

“The weather is shit today, man,” Liam says to Aiden.  “We only have a few days left. I hope it clears up before we have to leave.” 

“I don’t see that happening. I watched the weather earlier, and they are calling for rain the next three days,” he says solemnly.

My mouth is moving and words are spewing out before I can comprehend what I’m saying. “Maybe we should just pack up and head home. You three have to pack and sign the lease for your new condo, anyway,” I remind him.

Aiden’s grip on my leg tightens and I can see his jaw clench. Did he change his mind about living with Liam and Allie?

“Probably not a bad idea.  We can’t enjoy the beach with it pouring down rain,” Allison says.

“Well it’s two o’clock now, do we pack up and head out today, or leave first thing in the morning?” Liam asks.

“We’re getting low on supplies, so maybe we should just go now,” Allie says to him.

“All right, beautiful, let’s get packed.  What do you say we leave here around four?  Will that give you guys enough time to get packed?”

“Sure,” I say, and Aiden just nods his head.

I lift my legs off his lap and jump up off the couch.  I head to my room to pack and get a little distance.  Distance from the man who holds my heart in his hands and has no idea.

What the fuck! We’re leaving three days early. Three days! I’m not ready to let her go yet. Once we get back to Chapel Hill, we will be packing up and moving to Charlotte. And Hales, she’ll still be in Chapel Hill.  Three hours away.  I realize, in the grand scheme of things, three hours is nothing.  However, Hales has school and once training camp starts, my life will be live, eat, and breathe football.  I knew leaving her behind would be hard.  What I didn’t count on was feeling like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. 

I stomp up stairs to my room and begin throwing my things in my bags, slamming drawers as I go.  I can’t help but feel like I’m being cheated.  This was my time with her before we had to leave.  Time to work through these feelings and come to a decision.  The only decision that was made is that I’m in love with her. I’m packing my fucking bags to go home and move three hours away from the only girl I have ever loved. I don’t think anyone will ever compare to Hailey.

Apparently, through all the banging drawers, I didn’t hear Allie come into my room.  She is sitting on the chair in the corner, just watching me.

“What?” I snap at her. My anger has nothing to do with her, but she’s here.

“You want to talk about it?” she asks, not a bit fazed by my foul mood.

“Nothing to talk about,” I snap yet again.

Allison smiles.  “Ace, you’re my family.  I know when something’s wrong.”

“It’s nothing, all right,” I say in a much more clam voice, at least, I try to. 

“How about I give it a shot?” she asks.

She stands up, walks to the bed, and sits down. She pats the spot next to her. I sigh and sit down beside her. I bend over and rest my elbows on my knees while running my fingers through my hair. I’m on the verge of losing my shit. I mean literally breaking down.  I’m fighting like hell to not let my feelings show.

“This is how I see it,” Allison begins. “You’re in love with Hailey. You’re pissed off because we’re leaving early, which means you’re losing time with her.” She places her hand on my back and begins to rub soothing circles.  I don’t move my position.  I am barely holding my shit together.

“You’re pissed off because you thought you could work her out of your system. Spend a little time with her, realize the feelings were minor at best, and you could move to Charlotte without another thought except for how your friend is doing.  You’re scared because if your relationship with Hailey becomes more, what happens if it falls apart?  You lose her. She will no longer be a part of your life.  Or can she?  Will you both be able to move past whatever issues caused the break up and still be friends?” 

Fuck me! Ash just hit the nail on the head. “How do you…?”

“I told you, we’re family. I know you better than anyone, and I can read you.  I also went through the same situation of wanting someone I thought I could never have. I wanted Liam from the moment I met him, but I was too afraid that I’d be just another notch on the bed post for him.  Look how things turned out for us,” she says with a smile.