Page 40 of The Expiration Date

“What? I can’t even compliment you anymore?” Robert scoots even closer, closing the necessary space between us. It is amazing that at one point, I didn’t want there to be any space between us. Oh, how times have changed.

“Not when the compliment is laced with an insult.”

“A little close, aren’t you?” I could listen to that deep, dare I say it, possessive voice all day and night. The suffocating air lifts as Aidan stands right next to me. His arm slides around my waist and his hand squeezes my side as he stares down my ex. I thought my eyes were daggers. I was clearly wrong– that was nothing compared to Aidan’s piercing blue eyes, which turn dark as he glares straight at Robert.

Robert instinctually backs off a little. “Just keeping Haley company since you weren’t around.”

“Hmmm.” Aidan’s jaw clenches, clearly annoyed with Robert. His hand doesn’t move. Not an inch. “Well, I’m here now.” Aidan squeezes me closer into his side, making it undoubtedly explicit that I am here with him.

Robert scoffs, finishing his second drink. “Thank you for gracing us with your presence. Where were you, anyway? Girls swarming you at the door?”

“Thankfully, no. I had to find the restroom. Not that it’s any of your business.” I’ve never felt so much tension in my life between two men, and it has only gotten worse as the weekend has progressed. “But, I knew my girl could take care of herself.”

Robert flinches slightly when Aidan utters the words my girl. I know it’s a power play. He is marking his fake territory and it is working. So much so that Robert taps the bar counter twice, awaiting his next escape from reality. I am so confused about why he is acting like this. He was the one who ruined everything in the first place. Now he’s acting like I am still his. But I’m not his anymore. I am Aidan’s…well, sort of.

Then the Tazmanian devil known as Anna swoops in and grabs my hands. “Excuse me, Charming, but I need to steal my best friend. Our song just started and I really need her to come shake her fine ass on the dance floor. You don’t mind, do you, handsome?” Anna bats her drunken eyes at Aidan and smiles.

“Not at all.” Aidan finally releases his hand from my waist. My body suddenly aches for his hand to return back to that exact spot. Must be the drinks talking.

Anna leads me out to the middle of the dance floor. Our favorite song from our college days is on and we start doing our own little dance routine. It’s like we went into a time machine and we’re celebrating the end of midterms. The only exception? The guy who used to be behind me, holding onto my waist and dancing, is standing over at the bar, drinking yet another double-shot of whiskey, next to this dreamboat actor that I get to call mine for the weekend. If someone were to imagine something surreal, this situation would pop up in their mind. The haze of the alcohol is settling in and I feel my body fully relax, with no regard of how I look, who I am dating, or what is going on in my life. I was fully out of my own head and in the moment. Anxiety gone. It is like a curse has been lifted.

I am convinced that when I look over at the bar, I’ll see Aidan looking down at his phone or looking completely bored out of his mind. He is seriously a trooper for going through this whole charade with me. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to skip out on this whole ordeal, go home and sleep. He has to hang out with people he’s never met before and pretend to be in love with me. That’s a lot to ask of him.

But to my surprise, Aidan’s eyes are only fixed on one thing–me. I immediately get flushed when I see that perfect smile and realize that I’m the reason for it. The heat in my body isn’t going away. I’m blaming it on all the dancing.

“He’s so into you!” Anna yells in my ear over the music blaring out of the speakers.

“Yeah, okay!” I respond sarcastically, trying to act unphased.

“Yeah, okay nothing, Hales.” Her eyes move from me to where the bar is located. Where the man of my fricken dreams is located. “Tell me something, if he isn’t into you, why is he making his way over here right now with his eyes fixed on you the entire time? Did I mention that his eyes look dangerously hungry?”

I am too chicken to look. “You’re crazy.” My heart is racing with hope that what she’s saying is true. Even though it has only been five minutes, my body is craving his touch. Craving everything about him.

I am in trouble. It is a tangled web we were weaving, but for some reason, I want to get caught in it. I want the web to swallow us whole.

Hands that I am becoming way too familiar with wrap around my body and now Aidan is the one behind me, protectively encasing me in his arms. I let my body sink into his, knowing that no matter what situation we are in, I am safe when I’m near him. He has been my savior since the day I met him. When I had no job, he took a chance on me. When I needed him to pretend to be my boyfriend, he did so without hesitation. Despite my protests about Anna’s claims, deep down, I want them to be true.

I turn my body and bravely move my hands up Aidan’s chest until they clasp behind his neck. It scares me that this feels so natural. Like we’ve been doing this for years. Is it possible to have this type of connection with someone in such a short period of time? It’s like the roots have been there since the day we met. And now this monster of a tree has taken form, trying to withstand any storm–any doubt of our relationship.

Aidan leans down and whispers, “God, I wish I could read your mind right now, Hales.”

“Why?” I suddenly become self-conscious because I’m afraid that he could actually read my thoughts.

“Because you are looking up at me like I’ve never seen you look at me before.” He smirks that devilish smirk of his. Like he knows a secret I’m not privy to.

“Oh, yeah, and how’s that?” Uh oh. It’s like he was Sherlock Holmes and he cracked the case. It’s like he can read my mind, and he is just putting up a pretense that he can’t.

“Like you want to…”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Anna chants loudly. The bridal party, with the exception of Robert, starts following suit. She’s the bride and leader of the pack, after all. Now they are all chanting at Aidan and me.

Meanwhile, I desperately want to know the ending to Aidan’s sentence. Like you want to… My heart is throbbing with anticipation and wonder of all the possibilities that could end that statement. Because if I am being honest with myself, there is a running list of words or phrases in contention for those endless possibilities. It’s like a fun game of Mad Libs that I am yearning to play with Aidan. I don’t know if that’s the alcohol talking or if those are my honest feelings on the subject. Everything is starting to get blurred.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Anna keeps chanting.

My eyes widen at Anna and I mouth, What are you doing? Although on the inside, I am secretly hoping that Aidan will actually kiss me because he wants to, and not because it’s out of necessity.

Aidan most definitely is a mind reader because the next thing I know, he is cradling my face in his hands and kissing me. My mind flies back to the kiss we shared at the premiere afterparty. It starts off soft and slow and innocent. Anna is cheering, as is the rest of the crowd. Another mental note: kill Anna later. After a sufficient amount of time elapses, I start to pull away, but Aidan just pulls me closer. If I thought my heart was throbbing before, I wasn’t nearly prepared for what my pulse is doing now. Shivers course through my body as Aidan’s tongue comes in contact with mine. This kiss is no longer slow and innocent. It is explorative and uninhibited. It is morphing into a kiss that weakens my knees and makes my thoughts even more cloudy than before.

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