that’s for certain.
“We’re looking for number seven,” Aiden says. I eye him, carrying my bags as if they are weightless when I know for a fact that they aren’t.
I grimace. How in the hell did he and Grayson end up out here, of all places? My mind whirls, trying to figure that out.
I keep my thoughts to myself, hitching the suitcases I carry a little higher.
“Right here,” Aiden nods. He steps up to the door of the little cabin, looking positively giant standing beside it. He wrangles the doorknob, sweeping it open and stepping inside.
I could be back at home, I remind myself. I could be marrying Clay right now.
Swallowing my bitter thoughts, I follow Aiden inside the cabin. He sets down my luggage beside the front door, taking an audible breath. The inside is just as humble as the outside appears. There is a twin bed, a fresh pile of linens folded on top. There’s a dresser and a desk with a chair.
Over everything, there is a fine coat of dust. This place hasn’t been used in some time, it seems.
“So…” he says. “This is it.”
I set my bags down. “I see that.”
He slides me a glance. “Do you maybe want to talk about Grayson?”
I send him a withering glance. “Do I want to talk about the man that abandoned me five years ago? No Aiden, I don't. As far as I’m concerned, that man stopped existing back then.”
It’s a partial lie. I want to know the why of the whole thing desperately, but I am too flustered to even begin with my questions.
He wraps his muscular arms across his chest. “That’s more accurate than you know.”
I raise my brows. “Oh, is that right? Well that’s good because seeing the old Grayson after all this time would be… distasteful.”
Aiden rolls his eyes at me. “To my recollection, you weren’t this uptight in New York. When I met you, you were just a college student who was completely in love with Grayson.”
Drawing myself up to my full height, I look icily up at him. The disparity between his height and mine ruins the effect somewhat, but I refuse to be cowed.
“Are you done telling me about what I used to be like when I was in college?” I ask. “Because I’d like to get settled here. Alone.”
If I’m feeling dangerous, it’s only because Aiden has trapped me here. I suddenly feel put on the spot and I don’t like it one bit.
He rears back just a little. I can see that moment in Aiden’s eyes, the instant where he silently calls me a bitch. That split-second reevaluation where he wonders if he has got me all wrong.
I live for that moment. I don’t like being bitchy, but it is the only way that I can create distance. Distance from the needy little girl that I once was, a girl who was completely head over heels for Grayson.
I am not ever going back to being that person.
Never, ever again.
That person needed too much and trusted too deeply. I’ll never be so stupid and careless with my own heart again.
“Fine,” he says, looking annoyed. “Dinner is at six in the mess hall.”
With that, he turns around and leaves, slamming the door behind him. Good riddance. If I don’t want to talk to Grayson, the same goes for his best friend.
I look around, drawing a deep breath. Taking stock of the cabin and my luggage, I start to unpack my stuff. First things first, I have to dust every inch of this cabin. Then I can put things away properly.
Stepping out of my heels, I hunt for a t-shirt in my bags. Then I dust everything off, even the inside of the drawers. The whole time I am nearly shaking with anger.
Grayson is alive. Good for him.
But now I have to interact with him. Worse, I’ll be forced into spending the entire summer with him. I just can’t conceive spending my summer camping out with him, sharing meals with him.
God, even worse. We’re supposed to go out and track each water source down, just the two of us.
But if I complain, my father will use that as a premise for clawing me back to New York. And I don’t know much about this world, but I do know that it’s not New York. It might be the opposite of there.
And that makes me feel safe. Although… with Grayson here, I don’t know how safe I ought to feel.
What am I going to do?
My