Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,51
roller skating in that place over there?” He points at a building advertising indoor Rollerblading, laser tag, and an arcade.
Roller skating means lots of activity and moving around, not sitting in a small room and sweating when I feel Mason’s presence right there, and thinking about how I’m going to ruin his home life. It also means I can keep holding Aiden’s hand—if I concentrate on the now, and not the later, I can convince myself it’s okay to let go and have some fun.
“I say let’s go.”
When we walk to the old building, I pay for everyone with the cash Aiden won, and everyone suits up. Aiden and I are the last people to get our roller skates, so everyone is already on the rink. Multicolored lights are flashing and the whole place smells like old shoes—it’s both comforting and nauseating at the same time.
“I don’t want this to count as our first official date,” Aiden says out of nowhere as we’re putting our skates on.
“Oh, we’re dating?” I tease him.
He smirks up at me as he ties his laces. “I certainly hope so.”
My smile probably takes up half my face, and I focus on tying my skates so he doesn’t see me blush. He knows exactly what buttons to push to make me react how he wants. Asshole.
“Why don’t you want this to count as our first official date? It’s like a triple date. We’ve got three couples,” I joke, looking over at Mason and Chase who are arguing over something dumb with Julian and Annalisa.
Aiden sits up and laughs, a sound that I will never, ever get tired of hearing.
“We both know Chase only has eyes for one particular girl. And Mason isn’t nearly as pretty as her,” he jokes, referring to Charlotte, who’s still oblivious to Chase’s feelings.
I shake my head in mock pity. “Poor Mason. He never even stood a chance.”
We laugh as he helps me stand up. I stumble a bit on the unsteadiness of the wheels, but he keeps me balanced. I end up incredibly close to him, his hands on my waist, mine on his broad shoulders. Suddenly, our joking demeanor is replaced with something much more serious, something that makes my pulse race and heart stammer.
“When we go on our first real date, I want it to just be the two of us. Without everyone watching our every move.”
Mason is, sure enough, watching Aiden and me like a lion stalking its prey. Aiden’s grip on my waist tightens.
“Somewhere no one knows us,” he continues, his voice lowering. “Where we can just be Aiden and Thea.”
Aiden and Thea. Warmth radiates through my chest. I can’t even describe how much I like the sound of that.
“We’ve been alone plenty of times. Gone out just the two of us all the time,” I reply, but it comes out sounding as nervous as I feel, so very aware of his proximity.
“But now I know you’re Thea,” he replies simply.
A smile spreads across my face. “Just the two of us, huh?”
I like the sound of that. We’ve been at the beach house for less than twenty-four hours and we’ve already been interrupted more times than I can count on two hands.
He nods, a small smile aimed at me. “Somewhere I can kiss you whenever I want. Without an audience.”
He’s so close to me. All I have to do is reach up on my tippy-toes for my lips to meet his.
“You could kiss me now,” I breathe, captivated by all that is Aiden.
“I could. But maybe I’ll save it for later.” He pulls away from me with a smirk, mischief lighting up his eyes as he moves away from me.
I’m suddenly reminded of just how old Aiden’s forced to act, and how rare it is that he gets to just let go and act his age. Mature, responsible Aiden is sexy, but carefree, fun-loving Aiden is too.
I was going to tell him I had no problem with him kissing me now and again later, but if he’s going to play the whole self-restraint game, I can too.
Aiden says he’s never been roller skating before, but like everything else, he’s naturally great at it. It takes me a bit but I get the hang of it pretty quickly, especially with Aiden’s help. I’m tempted to pretend I still can’t skate by myself if only to make Aiden keep playing the knight in shining armor and holding on to me, but my pride won’t let me.