The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - Mariana Zapata Page 0,72

gave me the most pained nod in the history of the world. “Yes. Sure. Let’s go buy the tickets.”

I’d never in my life wanted to pull a Dorothy and click my heels together, but the idea of not walking around Vegas by myself, and with this gigantaur who could have passed for a bodyguard, I found myself grinning at him and clapping. “Okay, let’s go.”

For the sake of his life, I decided to ignore the grimace on his face.

Off we went. The hotel was on the opposite side of the Strip, but we made it with time to spare, snagging the two best tickets possible, which I paid for since I felt guilty he’d been paying for everything, and they were third row seats, so I figured it would be worth every penny spent dipping into my savings.

As we got in line at the concession stand, I could feel myself shaking for the second time in the same day, but this time it was with excitement. Cirque du Lune had come to Dallas in the past, but I’d always talked myself out of shelling out the cash to go. Now that I wasn’t paying rent and business was steady, spending the money didn’t send me into heart palpitations, or falling over with guilt over the extravagance. Plus, I was so pumped, I even signed the receipt with a smile on my face.

“Do you want to share a popcorn?” I asked after we got into the super-long line at the concession stand, so overjoyed I didn’t care that the popcorn was going to cost an arm and a leg.

He started to dip his chin just as I spotted a finger reaching up to tap his arm from behind. Aiden hesitantly turned to come face-to-face with a woman in her forties and a man in the same age range. They were both smiling.

“Could we take a picture with you?” the woman blurted out, her cheeks coloring.

“We’re huge fans,” the man added, his face more red than pink.

“We’ve been following your career since Michigan,” the woman continued on in a rush.

Aiden did that tiny little half-assed smile he conjured up for fans as he nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” That big head turned to face me. “Take the picture?”

The woman smiled sheepishly at me before handing over her phone. I got the camera in focus as the older couple sandwiched Aiden between them—they looked so small in comparison!—and was taking a step back when I caught movement in the sliver of space between Aiden and the female fan. He never put his arm around people in pictures, I’d noticed from the beginning, but always kept his hands at his sides. It was because of that, that I almost missed the small hand motion, but I didn’t, and when Aiden scowled almost immediately, it took everything inside of me not to burst out laughing as I took the shot.

By the time I handed the phone over, we were next in line, and I left Aiden to finish listening to his handsy fans as I ordered popcorn with no butter, a medium soda, and a bottle of water.

“It was so nice meeting you!” the woman called out as Aiden headed toward me once I was out of line.

I barely managed to raise the bag of popcorn to face level when I lost it, peeking at him when I wasn’t blinking away tears.

The fact that Aiden’s ears turned red as he watched me crack up, said he knew what I was dying over. “Don’t say a word,” he gritted.

“Did she grab a handful?” I choked out.

The look he gave me was a mix of ‘you’re an idiot’ and ‘fuck off,’ which only made me laugh harder.

He’d gotten molested. By a fan. Right in front of me.

That split second look of surprise on his face when he got fondled would probably stay with me for the rest of my life.

“Shut up, Vanessa.”

I was dying. He usually just ignored me, but this was so much better. “I’m not saying anything!” I wheezed from behind the bag of popcorn.

Aiden narrowed his eyes, waiting patiently. “Are you done?” he asked after a few more seconds of me cracking up.

I had to wipe at the tears in my eyes with the back of my hand, shaking my head. “I—I—”

He gestured me toward the doors to the theater. “Get inside before they close the doors.” His tone was exasperated and maybe even a little embarrassed. Maybe. Why would getting his butt