Last and Forever

by Brooke, Rebecca

  I smirked. “Putting out that good old Aiden Cormack charm now, huh?”

  “You could say that.” He held the door open and led the way out of the maze of offices.

  “Good thing to know the grumpy Aiden has left the building.”

  We reached the main door of the office and I pushed it open, letting the sunshine warm me. “All thanks to you.”

  I stopped before I stepped outside and just stared. My heart thundered in my chest. While his parents said similar things, his dad only just a few minutes ago, it still had such a bigger impact when it came from Aiden’s own mouth. For the second time that day, I found myself having to push the stupid childhood crush I had on Aiden to the back of my mind. Somehow I needed to find a way to end it. He needed me and how was I supposed to help him when all I could think about was how I felt about him beyond friendship?

  “Where did you want to eat?” he asked, stepping out the door and holding it for me to follow.

  “Whatever you’re in the mood for. I have about an hour until my next appointment.”

  “All right then, Doctor. Let’s see what we can find.”

  He held his arm out to me and I slipped my hand through. It was the most natural feeling in the world. Like the last two puzzle pieces coming together for a perfect fit. I let him lead me to a sleek black Aston Martin. Aiden had been driving a Land Rover SUV every time I’d been out with him.

  When we reached the passenger side and he opened the door, I came to a stop before climbing in.

  “Whose car is this?”

  He shoved his hands into his pockets, a smirk lifting the corners of his mouth. “I know I put the piercings back in, but do you really think I’d steal someone else’s car?”

  I smacked his arm. “You know that’s not what I mean. All I’ve seen you drive is the Land Rover.”

  “That’s the one I bought when Chloe and I moved back to Westlake. This”—he ran his hands along the top of the car—“is my baby. I had them deliver it from storage for me.”

  I placed a hand on his arm and leaned up to press a kiss to his cheek. “I’m glad to see you finally starting to break out again.”

  “Me too. I’ve always loved this car, but I didn’t have the heart to drive it until now.”

  I climbed in the car and let Aiden shut the door behind me. After he got in the driver’s side, I turned to face him.

  “Why not?”

  “Why not what?” He closed his eyes when the engine came roaring to life.

  When he opened his eyes again, I finished my question. “Why not drive it before now?”

  “Christine convinced me to buy her when I kept talking about the car, but never pulled the trigger. I guess it didn’t feel right until now.”

  The weight of his answer settled over us in the car as he backed out of the space. I wanted him to enjoy the memories he had of her, not have them hold him back from life. Time to lighten the mood.

  “Oh, man, I thought you were going to say you were pretending to be modest.”

  He slammed on the brakes, eyes wide. Slowly, he turned to face me. “I am modest.”

  I glanced around the car pointedly. “Not in this, you’re not.”

  And just like that, the spark returned to his eye. “Probably not, but I just gotta be me.”

  He finished backing out of the space and drove us a little farther into town to the Thai place.

  “Thai?”

  He smiled. “Yes. It’s been a while.”

  We went in and the waitress led us to a table off to the side. The restaurant was one of the new ones I discovered in town when I returned. Growing up it had been a combination of Italian, Chinese, and a few burger places. It seemed that over the years, the town had drawn in a more diverse group of restaurants.

  “I didn’t even know you liked Thai food.”

  He laughed as he picked up his menu. “Me neither. I hadn’t realized it until college. There was this one place near campus we went to after every show.”

  “You never told me how you guys met.”

  I hoped it was a safe question, since he’d mentioned the band first. I’d learned early on after starting to spend time with Aiden again, that he didn’t want to talk about the music or the band. He didn’t mind telling me stories about Dylan, Miles, and Kylee, but that was it. As soon as the conversation moved to their music he shut down.

  “Actually, that’s a funny story. I had a class with Kylee’s roommate at the time. She was pushing through one of the economics classes to fulfill the requirements for her degree in marketing.”

  The waiter came to take our order, interrupting the story. When he left, I did my best to draw Aiden back into the conversation.

  “I didn’t realize you met Kylee first.”

  He chuckled. “I’d have to say met is a bit of an understatement. The first time I saw her, she cussed me out for having the nerve to knock on their door before eleven on a Saturday morning.”

  I laughed. “So not the best first impression.”

  “No. Her roommate and I were heading to the library to finish working on a project, and Saturday mornings seemed to be the only time we both had off with my music classes too.”

  Our drinks arrived along with our pot stickers. I picked up the chopsticks blindly, still drawn into the story. Aiden did the same, using the chopsticks like he’d never used anything but them in his life.

  He dipped the pot sticker into the sauce, then into his mouth. “What I hadn’t realized at the time was she’d been out all night Friday playing for a shitty local band. They didn’t respect her talent, but it also seemed to be the only band that would take a female drummer.”

  “Well, that’s shitty. I got a bit of that in some of my classes. Guys saying I should probably just be a vet tech.”

  “I bet you showed those assholes.”

  “Of course I did. Beat their score on every test and evaluation.” I picked up another pot sticker just as our food arrived. “So, if Kylee was already playing with someone, how did you end up in the same band?”

  His hand froze halfway to his mouth and I wanted to kick myself. Then he surprised me by answering before he put the food in his mouth. “One day when I was at her apartment waiting for her roommate to get back from the gym so we could head to the library, Miles showed up. I already knew him from a few of my music classes. He thought I was there to see Kylee. Imagine his surprise when he found out my major was finance instead of music.”

  I took a sip of the soup. “I guess Kylee had no idea about what you could do.”

  His eyes became unfocused and he laughed like the scene was playing out right there in the restaurant. “Hell no. She actually cursed me out worse than the first time I met her. Apparently, they’d been looking for a lead singer, but no one seemed to be the right fit.”

  “Until you.”

  He smiled. “Until me.” He finished off his food and glanced at his watch. “What time do you need to be back?”

  “My next appoint is at one-thirty. What time is it?”

  “Ten after one.”

  “Crap. I got so lost in the story I wasn’t paying attention.”

  He waved the waiter over for the check. “Glad to see you still hang on my every word.”

  I stopped breathing for a moment until he winked, and I knew he was messing with me.

  The bill came and he took it. “I got it this time for probably making you late for your next appointment.”

  “This time.”

  “I promise, just this once. You can pay for the next five times to make up to me.”

  I rolled my eyes at him as we left the restaurant. I liked hearing him making jokes. So much of an improvement that the first time I saw him back in town.

  We made it back to my car with just enough for me to jump in and race back to the office. I waved a quick goodbye and promised to talk to him later.

  I tried to clear my head on the way back. He’d practically given me a heart attack when he talked about me hanging
on his every word. For the briefest of moments I thought he’d figured out how much I had hung on his every word growing up and the huge crush I had on him as a teenager.

  Who are you kidding?

  Apparently, the one I seemed to still have. I just hoped it was childhood infatuation that would go away with time.

  Otherwise, I had a feeling saving Aiden was going to break me.

  18

  Aiden

  A soft giggle hit my ears when I stepped out of the shower. I ran the towel through my wet hair to stop the water from running down my back. Then wrapped it around my waist and walked back into the bedroom. Chloe stood in her playpen, holding on to the edge. Zeus laid curled up in the middle of the bed like he owned it. I shook my head laughing and walked over to Chloe.

  “Look at you, little princess, getting so big.”

  I reached down and lifted her up and into my arms. Immediately she reached for my face, pushing on my cheeks until I made the fish face she loved. There was so much of Christine in her, especially the jade green eyes staring back at me.

  “I’m really not sure where the time has gone.”

  Every day she seemed so much bigger and the new things she learned made me feel like time was flying right before my eyes. Those moments you wish you could bottle and keep forever, but I knew that wasn’t reality. I just had to enjoy these moments for everything they were.

  I turned on some music to break up the silence. Zeus picked his head up for a brief second to see what we were doing before going back to sleep. Classic rock, the music I grew up on, filled the room. It was comforting. Relaxing.

  Nothing like the music I left behind.

  I danced around the room with Chloe in my arms. The same soft giggles I heard when I got out of the shower hit my ears. She clapped her hands together. The smile never left her lips.

  Breathless, I walked back to her playpen and set her down. “Give me a minute to get dressed, princess. Lexi will be here soon.”

  I tugged on a pair of jeans and T-shirt, leaving my feet bare. Lexi had offered to pick dinner up on her way home from work so we could spend the night hanging out on the couch watching a movie.

  Her week had been pretty rough. The other night, when we were supposed to head to the movies while my dad watched Chloe, she called me. I could hear the tears in her voice the minute she said hello. Turned out, an emergency had been brought in, a dog that had gotten hit by a car. She’d spent hours in surgery trying to save the dog, but in the end she couldn’t.

  Instead of going out, I’d convinced her to come over and I simply held her while she cried. Lexi had loved animals since she was a kid. The type of kid who would save a baby bird’s nest that fell out of a tree. Or the one who would stop in the middle of the road to keep from hitting a squirrel.

  The ones she couldn’t save hit her the hardest.

  She kept trying to tell me that we should go out anyway, but I knew she was in no shape to be dealing with others. She’d been so adamant to not miss our weekly night out that I pushed back and convinced her to do it tonight, but we’d stay in and just enjoy a movie night on the couch.

  I picked Chloe up again and carried her down to the high chair I had set up in the kitchen. She smacked her hands on the tray as soon as it clicked into place.

  “I know, I know. You’re hungry.”

  I pulled open the fridge and found the chicken I’d made the night before and some strawberries. After heating up the chicken, I cut it up along with the strawberries and set it on the tray.

  The door between the kitchen and laundry room opened. Lexi had bags in both hands. One from our favorite Mexican takeout and the other from the grocery store. I stepped around the highchair to take one of the bags from her. It was heavier than I had expected.

  “This is heavy.”

  She winked and set the takeout bag on the counter, then walked over to Chloe. “Take a peek inside.” She turned her attention back to Chloe. “Did Daddy make you chicken and strawberries for dinner tonight?”

  I lifted it onto the counter and took a look. It was full of our favorite goodies at the movies. Popcorn, small boxes of candy, and a bottle of wine. So not exactly our normal order.

  “You’re the best.”

  “I try, but that’s a thank you for the other night.”

  I let go of the handles of the bag and walked over to where she had her back to me unloading the food containers. I slipped my hand into hers and turned her around, tugging her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my waist and I set my chin on her head.

  When she wouldn’t look up, I placed my finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to mine. “Lexi, you never have to thank me for being your friend. You saved me more times than you know.”

  She held my gaze for a moment, then nodded. She opened her mouth to say something then quickly closed it. Something in the back of my head told me now was not the time to push her. I didn’t know what bothered her, but she stepped out of my arms almost immediately and turned back to the food.

  “Lex, are you sure you’re okay?”

  She glanced over her shoulder. The smile on her face forced. “Yeah. It’s just been a long week.”

  I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, hugging her to my side. “And that’s exactly why we’re going to relax tonight.”

  “I think that’s exactly what I need.”

  I glanced at Chloe out of the corner of my eye to make sure she hadn’t thrown too much on the floor. Lexi opened a container of plain white rice and carried over to Chloe’s tray. I handed her a spoon from the drawer and watched as she scooped a little bit of rice onto the tray.

  Chloe reached for it the moment it came off the spoon.

  “I knew you’d like it.” Lexi winked at me and went back to opening the other containers for us to eat.

  I still couldn’t believe how well we could read each other after all this time. It was as if she knew exactly what was running through my mind and I knew what was in hers. And we moved in tandem, knowing what the other person needed before they asked. It made navigating things much easier.

  I grabbed plates from the cabinet and helped Lexi fill them with food. Chloe finished her rice and tried to reach for more. I dropped another spoonful on the tray, then picked up the plates, bringing them over to the counter.

  “Mind eating in here while she finishes?” I pulled out one of the stools for Lexi to sit on.

  “Not at all. Then we can all eat together. Don’t want to leave the princess alone.” A smile pulled at the corner of Lexi’s lips. She bent down in front of Chloe. “Aren’t you glad I brought you rice? I just knew Daddy would stick to the standard.” Chloe screeched and clapped her hands together. Lexi peeked over her shoulder and winked at me.

  “Fine. I’m not the most creative cook.” I opened the drawer, searching for the wine cork.

  Spatulas, wooden spoons, measuring spoons. Where was the damn wine cork? Suddenly, it appeared in front of my face. I glanced up to find Lexi with a smirk on her lips. “Thought you might want this?”

  “How did you know I was looking for it?”

  She winked. “I know everything.”

  And without another word, she brought over the glasses and the bottle before taking her seat. There was the connection we always had, but it was stronger now than when we were kids. I’d missed that connection when we went to college and now I needed it more than ever.

  The cork popped easily. I poured us both a glass, then took my seat next to Lexi. The plate was covered with all my favorite Mexican dishes, the aroma of spices hitting my nose. “This smells delicious.”

  “I hope it’s good. It’s from the new place not far from my office.”

  “Well, if it smells as good as it looks, I think we’ll be visiting there again.”

  Lexi stopped with her fork halfway to her lips and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. When she realized I watched, her gaze snapped forward and she finished taking the bite. What was that all about?

&nbs
p; She must have thought I jumped the gun considering I hadn’t tasted a single bite of it yet. I brushed it off and started in on my meal. The moment the food hit my tongue, I felt the heat. Not temperature, but spice. My favorite. Anything that had a kick to it.

  “This is so fu—” Lexi raised a brow. “Freaking amazing.”

  She nodded. “It is. It’s also nice to see you getting a handle on your colorful language.”

  I picked up my glass. “You know I’m not going to be able to keep it contained forever, right?”

  “Oh, trust me. This I know. You had every swear word imaginable mastered by the time you were twelve.”

  My mouth dropped open. “No way. I was at least fifteen.”

  “Then you forget the first day of seventh grade on the bus ride home after school.”

  Lexi watched me as I tried to pull the memory from my mind. First day of seventh grade…

  “Evan Adams.”

  The memory hit me like a ton of bricks. “Oh shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  “He made fun of you for getting braces over the summer.”

  “Yep.” She set her fork down and picked up her own glass, swirling the liquid inside. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that angry.”

  I’d yanked the kid out of his seat and slammed him against the back door. Verbally ripping him with every curse word I knew at the time.

  “I don’t think I’d ever been that pissed. If it hadn’t been for Jackson pulling me off him, I probably would’ve hit him.”

  “You almost hit Jackson.” She took a sip of the wine.

  “How was I supposed to know he wasn’t defending Evan?”

  “You weren’t, not when it was his first day. At least he told Evan to shut up or he’d let you go.”

  “I haven’t thought about that since my wedding when Jackson brought it up during the toast. Now it seems like you and Jackson have always been in my life.”

  Her eyes dropped to the floor. “Not always me.”

  I placed my fingers under her chin and lifted her face to mine. “We may not have seen each other, but you were always in the back of my mind.”

  We sat there, eyes locked, time passing in slow motion. Lexi had eyes the color of the ocean. The kind you wanted to drown in. I inched a little forward.