“So true.”
“And I’m starving. Do you want to grab some food and bring it back for everyone?”
“Sounds good. We’ll binge again on fried food.”
“Hey, it’s July fourth.”
“With two things to celebrate now,” I say to her with a smile.
We’re all sitting around the campsite eating lunch when Ayden and Peter return with a bottle of champagne. Ayden heads right for Tari.
As he picks her up and kisses her on the cheek, he and I catch eyes. His gaze is locked with mine, and something about the moment—I smile at him, fighting happy tears again.
“What are we celebrating?” Cam asks as Peter uncorks the bottle.
Ayden puts Tari down and points at Peter. “These two just found out they’re going to be kick-ass parents.”
“Hey, congratulations!” Dylan says with a grin.
Colton follows suit, and soon everyone but Tari has a plastic cup of champagne in their hand.
“To new beginnings,” Ayden says as he holds his cup in the air.
I smile at him and raise my cup. “To new beginnings.”
By mid-afternoon, the tents have been taken down and packed in the back of Peter’s truck. Ayden’s cousins and Jenson are heading to Ayden’s house shortly to pack up and head to the airport, but Ayden and I say goodbye to everyone at the beach.
As we walk to his car, he laces his fingers through mine. “You ready for date number two?” he asks me.
“More than ready.”
As we get into the car and Ayden turns the keys in the ignition, I glance at the dashboard.
“Oh, no.” I bang the palm of my hand to my forehead.
He jerks his head in my direction. “What’s wrong, Bella?”
“I’m such an idiot.” I look at him in a panic. “Today’s Tuesday. I got confused with the holiday, but that doesn’t matter to my mother. A Tuesday is a Tuesday.”
Ayden’s blue eyes soften. “I know today’s Tuesday, Bella.”
“But…our date,” I say, feeling so sad I can barely finish the sentence. “I’ll have to cut it short, Ayd. I’m so sorry.”
“Bella. I remembered that today was Tuesday. It’s built into our date. Not to worry.”
“You built visiting my mother into our date?”
He puts the car into drive and pulls out of the parking space. “Yes.”
“But…it’s only the second date we’ve ever had. Going to see my mother doesn’t sound very romantic.”
“Being anywhere with you is romantic, B,” he says to me as we zip along the ocean-lined road.
The intense love I feel for him crashes through me. I don’t know how I got so lucky.
“Ayden…” I reach over and take his hand. “Thank you for understanding.”
Mom usually expects me in the evening, so Ayden says he has dinner reservations for us first. And for that, he says we need to change.
“I think you’re sexy as hell in your bikini top and tiny shorts,” he says as he takes a seat on my bed. “But this place has a dress code.”
“What kind of place is it?” I ask him as I grab a blue sundress out of my closet.
“That…” he says, pointing to my dress. “That will be perfect.”
When I come out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, my hair is down and tamed from all the salt water that soaked through it during my morning swim. I’m wearing a hint of lipstick and mascara, and that’s it. My face got plenty of color from the day at the beach that any blush would be overkill. And my sundress…well, it has an open back, and the front cuts low in a V-shape. For that very reason, I don’t usually feel comfortable wearing it, but I feel comfortable wearing anything—and nothing—with Ayden. I almost feel like I’ve been saving the dress for him.
Ayden’s lying on his side on my bed, waiting for me. He looks up as I enter the bedroom, and his blue eyes turn volcanic with heat.
“Bella. Come. Here.”
When I reach him, he pulls me on top of him. “I want to take this off of you right now,” he murmurs into my neck. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
His hands go underneath my dress and straight to my ass.
“Oh God, Ayden,” I mumble as he turns us so he can slip his fingers inside the front of my panties.
“Honey, you’re wet.” He sucks on my neck and then makes his way along my collarbone. “I have to take care of this for you before we go to dinner. Please?”
“Will we…miss our reservation?” I say in halting tones.
“Not with what I have planned for you. I can bring you there in under two minutes.”
I clutch at the blanket on my bed with both fists. “Ayden, please. You’re making me so…”
“So what?” he murmurs as two fingers slide inside me.
“Oh God, Ayden. So…”
He starts moving his fingers in and out.
“So God...”
And now his thumb is involved, stroking and playing with me while his fingers are moving inside me at the same time.
“So what, Bella? How does it make you feel when I touch you?”
“So good…oh shit. Ayden, you’re…I’m…” My orgasm is so fast and so powerful that I literally buck off the bed.
“So good,” he says into my lips as he kisses me hard. “That was so fucking good.”
“I know,” I say to him. “I love you.”
His blue eyes shine with emotion.
“What is it?” I ask him, putting my hand on his cheek.
“I didn’t know how much I needed to hear you say those words to me until you did,” he says.
“Ayd.” I kiss his lips. “You know I’ve always loved you even before we were a couple.”
“Of course. But being friends first and then hearing you say it from this new place…” He shakes his head. “I can’t explain how intense it feels.”
“I get it.” I keep kissing him. “I’m so happy; I can hardly believe this is real.”
I reach for his shorts, but he backs away.
“Babe,” he says. “We really will miss the reservation if we take any longer.”
My body’s still on fire for him, but I give him a quick kiss and wriggle out of his arms. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Ayden stands up, reaching into his shorts to adjust himself. “We’ll need to stop by my place for me to change too. And that could be dangerous.”
“How come?” I ask him as we leave my bedroom and head for the front door.
“Because,” he says as he holds the door open for me and I step through it, “I’m so hard right now that I could injure myself when I put on my pants.”
I pat his back. “Poor baby. I can help you out with that.”
But Ayden shakes his head. “Nope. We’re going to go have a good meal. And then after dinner? That dress is coming off.”
I know I’m blushing because Ayden grins and leans in to kiss me as we reach the car. “You’re so cute when you’re shy. You don’t need to be shy with me, B.”
“I’m not normally,” I say. “But talking about getting naked with you isn’t something I’m used to yet.”
“Get used to it because I plan on us getting naked together a lot.”
And I’m a lot fine with that.
“This is supposed to be the best Italian restaurant on the Maine coast,” I gush as Ayden parks in the lot of Bruscetti’s. “I can’t believe you thought of it, Ayd.”
“We always talked about coming here together some day, remember?” He puts his hand on the small of my back as we walk toward the big wooden doorway.
“I do. I can’t wait to try the food.”
“So what’s the verdict?” Ayden asks me as we finish our meal and the waiter brings us an enormous piece of tiramisu to share.
“Amazing.” I swallow my first piece of dessert. “And this is so good too. Try it.” I put a piece of the tiramisu on my fork and hold it up to Ayden’s mouth.
He closes his lips around the fork, never taking his eyes
off of me.
“Well?” I ask him, watching him eat the bite of dessert.
“Delicious,” he agrees.
I fidget with the napkin in my lap. “Ayd…”
“Yeah?” He takes my chin in his hand so I have to look at him. “What is it?”
“Trevor called me today.”
Ayden’s eyes narrow. “Why? You guys don’t usually call just to chat.”
“No. I haven’t talked to him in ages. He wanted to say hi I guess. I don’t really know why he called, actually. But anyway, he guessed about you. About us.”
Ayden nods calmly. “I’m not surprised.”
“How come?”
“Because he’s a guy. And when he was with you, he was probably thinking I knew you better than he did. Which I do, by the way.”
I laugh. “Well, anyway, that was it. I just wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate that. Does this mean we’re going to have to see him again sometime?”
“Maybe. Now that he and I are each with the right partner, it will probably go a hell of a lot smoother. And it’s weird because he called right before Tari told me she was pregnant.”
“Why’s that weird?”
“Because the only time I’ve ever taken a pregnancy test was when I was living in L.A. I mean, thank God it didn’t look like Tari’s did…”
I stop short and cover my hand with my mouth. Shit. I’ve never shared that story with Ayden before, and I can’t believe it slipped out now.
I tap my foot on the floor anxiously as I witness a rush of emotions cross Ayden’s face. Shock and fear, replaced by an unreadable expression.
“This is definitely not good second date material,” I say with an awkward laugh. “Sorry.”
Ayden’s throat moves as he swallows hard. “You thought you were pregnant?”
“I suspected,” I say quickly. “Just suspected. But I wasn’t. So it was nothing.”
I wouldn’t say it was nothing, exactly. I was beyond relieved, because the idea of being tied to Trevor forever felt absolutely imprisoning. And one month later, he and I were done.
“I didn’t keep it from you on purpose.” I pause. “Well, that’s not true. I did keep it from you. I wasn’t sure how you’d react, and it all happened so quickly.”
The tension leaves Ayden’s face as he pulls his chair closer to me and takes my hand in his. “I would have been there for you, Bella.” His tone is guttural. “If you’d needed someone before you knew for sure—if you were pregnant or not—you could have called me.”
I bite my lip, and Ayden leans in and kisses my bottom lip, forcing me to release my hold on it.
I squeeze his hand back. “Thanks, Ayd.”
I stare down at the table for a moment, desperately needing a change of subject.
Reading me like he always does, Ayden says, “Peter’s stoked about the baby. I’ve never seen him so happy.”
I smile. “I cried when Tari told me. I have no idea why. I just did.”
“I felt it too,” Ayden says. “I never thought I’d really care too much, you know? I knew I’d be happy for them. I just didn’t think it would turn my world or anything.”
“I didn’t expect to be so emotional either. That one time I took the test, I was honestly relieved it was negative.”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “But the thing is, you and me…”
I look at him more closely. “You and me what?”
His cheeks flush the sweetest shade of red. “You’re the only woman I’ve ever pictured…”
I let out a strangled gasp. “You always told me you never pictured having kids!”
“That’s sort of true.” He puts up his hands in a surrender gesture. “I never imagined you and I would break our pact, and I didn’t want babies with anyone else. It didn’t feel right to even think about it with any other woman. No one except for you, Bella.”
“God, Ayden.”
“Too fast for date two?” he jokes, his dimple flashing.
I laugh. “Honestly, no. It probably should be, but…” I lock eyes with him. “I want to have a family with you, Ayd. I’m sure this kind of future planning is way not recommended for date two, like you say.”
“This—what’s between us—has been in the making for our entire lives. That changes things.”
Yes, it does. It makes every little thing more intense, and every moment we touch feels like a permanent connection. It makes the idea of Ayden leaving unbearable.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ayden and I pull into my parents’ circular driveway at our usual Tuesday time.
“We look a little dressy for our normal visit,” I say to him nervously as we head for the door. “Do you think I should tell my mom about us tonight?”
“You mean about our status change?” he teases me. “Cam’s got a way with words.”
“I may end up using his joke if I get too nervous.”
I take out my key and open the front door.
Ellie greets us, as usual.
“Hello Mr. Wild, Ms. Wesley. Your mother is in the den.”
Ayden and I stare at each other, his face looking as confused as I feel.
I grab at Ellie’s arm before she can turn away. “I’m sorry. Did you say my mother is in the den?”
Ellie nods. “Yes. Your father’s with her.”
I clutch harder at her arm, and a look of alarm crosses her face.
“My father? Is here?”
“Yes.” She slows down her next words, like maybe that will help. “He’s…in the den…with…your mother.”
Ayden gently removes my clawing hand from poor Ellie’s arm.
“Thank you Ellie. We’ll go see them now.” He puts his arm around me and guides me down the hall.
But I stop halfway through, staring up at him for answers.
“The den?” I repeat, sounding like I’m insanely stupid. “Dad’s here? With Mom?”
“What is the world coming to?” Ayden says, and I know he’s trying to lighten the mood. “Your mother’s out of bed on a Tuesday for the first time in three years.” He tips his forehead to mine, his eyes searching mine carefully. “You ready to go find out what the fuss is about?”
I give a quick nod. “Okay.”
As we reach the open doorway of the den, both my parents look up from their seats on the couch. Mom’s wearing—gasp—casual pants and a loose button-down blouse, and Dad’s wearing—I nearly fall over—jeans and a t-shirt.
“Bella,” Dad says, clearly surprised to see me. “I told you to take these two days for yourself.”
I think back to our last conversation. “You said to take off yesterday and today, yes. But…” I lower my voice to a whisper, as if that will prevent my mother from overhearing me. “Today’s Tuesday.”
Dad tilts his head toward Mom. “She’s doing well.”
“Mirabella, hello,” Mom says in a calm voice. “I’m glad you’re here. I have a couple of song requests for your friend, Guy, for your father’s party.”
“Hi Mom.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face. “You sound good.”
She glares at me. “Bella, please let’s not do this every time we speak.”
“Right, sorry.” I unsuccessfully try to stop smiling, and next to me, Ayden’s full-out chuckling.
Dad looks from me to Ayden, and even his eyes brighten with humor.
“In terms of music…” Mom prompts me.
“I can talk to Guy for you,” I say. “I’ll be seeing him tomorrow.”
“Okay. I haven’t spoken with him since…” She trails off.
And I say softly, “It’s okay, Mom.”
She nods at me. “Thank you.”
Dad puts his arm around Mom, and for the first time, I notice the remote on his lap.
“Were you two watching a movie?” I ask the question like I’m accusing them of just deciding to fly to Mars.
Dad points at the television where I turn to see…Star Wars on the screen.
I whip my head back around. “You two only watch documentaries!”
“First time for everything.” Dad shrugs. “I’m finding this movie quite fascinating, actually.”
“Oh, it is,” Mom says. “Mirabella, you really should see it sometime.”
“Mom, I have seen it. Like three times. It’s been out for…” I cut off. “Oh, never mind.”
Ayden takes my hand in his. “Babe, maybe we should continue our date somewhere else and let your parents enjoy their night together.”
“Okay,” I say.
But before we can say goodbye, my mother lets out a gasp, and Dad’s eyes shift from me to Ayden. “Are you and my daughter more than friends now?”
Before I can intercede, Ayden answers him.
“Yes, sir. I’m head over heels in love with your daughter, and I plan to be with her forever.”
Dad’s concerned expression disappears and is immediately replaced by a look of relief. “Good.” He holds out his hand, and Ayden steps forward to shake it. “That’s wonderful actually. I just don’t want to see her hurt.”
Mom’s set mouth lifts in a touch of a smile. “I hope you’re both very happy,” she says awkwardly.
“Thank you, Mom.” I take Ayden by the arm, and we make our exit.
But as soon as we’re safely inside the car…
“What the hell was that?” Before Ayden can hazard a guess, I keep going. “He was wearing jeans.”
“I seriously didn’t know he even owned a pair of jeans,” Ayden says. “And your mom looked pretty casual herself.”
“I know!” I put on my seatbelt but then turn to face him again as he backs out of the driveway. “It felt very surreal, didn’t it?”
“Yeah. But I was happy for you. That he was actually following through on his promise to try harder.” He puts his hand on my thigh and lightly squeezes.
“Let’s hope it lasts,” I say, turning to look out the window. “For her sake, I pray that it lasts.”
Ayden parks his car in my driveway.
And suddenly, date two feels awkward.
Do I invite him in? Maul him right here in the car?
Even though I want to ask him to take me any way he wants, I end up saying, “Will you walk me to the door?”
Ayden Page 20
