“It was nothing,” he replied with a shrug. “But I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
We kept staring into each other’s eyes, and I couldn’t bring myself to look away. He was still standing so close to me, and all it would take was one small step for me to close the gap between us. That one step felt more like a giant leap though, and taking it wasn’t as simple as it seemed. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to return to his embrace. But the fact I was considering it said something too.
“I should probably head to bed.” I stepped back. My heart dipped with disappointment, and the sense of queasiness that rushed through me made me feel like I’d made a mistake. I should have stepped toward him rather than moving farther away.
Aiden released a breath, and his shoulders slouched as though he was disappointed too. He nodded though and gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you then.” I turned and left the room as quickly as my feet would carry me. Even once I was up in my bedroom with the door closed, I still couldn’t shake the way Aiden had made me feel, and the rush of uncertainty I’d felt downstairs seemed to haunt me.
I couldn’t like Aiden. I just couldn’t. But, as I stared at the small daisy around my wrist, I didn’t feel so sure.
16
Aiden
“Oh, you both look so gorgeous together!” Mom exclaimed. She was looking at my phone and gushing over the pictures of Clary and me from the night before. She started laughing at one of them, so I looked over her shoulder and found she’d gotten to the selfies I’d taken of Elliot, Clary, and me while we were dancing together.
“Aw, that’s so sweet you included your brother,” she said. “But what on Earth is he wearing? Is that his Halloween costume?”
“It is.” I chuckled. “I think he’s in need of a new suit because that’s all he had on such short notice.”
Mom shook her head. “Well, it looks like the three of you had fun. I wish I’d been home to see you all dressed up.”
“I can go put the suit back on now if you like?”
She smiled. “No need for that. The photos are fine.” She passed my phone back to me as I took a seat at the kitchen counter with her.
“You and Clary make a cute couple.” She was eyeing me closely, as if she was probing me for a response. I wasn’t about to tell my mom how I felt about Clary though. I couldn’t completely deny it either, or she’d use her momtuition on me and totally discover I was hiding feelings. The only way of getting out of this unscathed was to play along with it.
“Yeah, we’d probably make really cute babies too,” I added. “You know, we should probably just cut to the chase and get married already.”
Mom rolled her eyes but laughed.
“What? I’m serious.”
She stood up from the counter and tussled my hair before walking over to refill her coffee cup.
“What are you serious about?” Clary asked as she entered the room.
She was wearing a pair of pajama shorts and her zombie survival T-shirt again, which made me smile. The shirt swamped her, making her look tiny. Her hair was in a messy bun, and the makeup she’d been wearing yesterday was completely gone. The funny thing was, I thought she looked as beautiful in this outfit as she did in her prom dress. Maybe even more.
I’d been lost in her appearance, so I hadn’t really heard her question. It seemed to register a few seconds later, and I had to resist swearing under my breath. She couldn’t have come into the conversation at a worse time.
“I was just telling Mom how we’re going to get married and have cute kids,” I explained. I directed a flirtatious smile her way, glad she couldn’t hear the way my heart was racing and hoping she couldn’t see that, while I sounded like I was winding her up, I wasn’t really joking at all.
Clary’s eyes widened. “We only went to iso-prom together. That doesn’t mean marriage and kids.”
“But Mom was just saying how excited she was about becoming a grandparent.”
Mom threw me a stern look. “I said nothing of the sort,” she replied before turning to Clary. “I was simply saying you both looked stunning together in your pictures from last night.”