Page 42 of The Expiration Date

“Aidan.” Haley dreadfully calls from the bathroom.

I zip up my suitcase and run over to the bathroom door. “Yeah? Is everything okay? Do you need to throw up again?”

“No…I um, I just need my pajamas. They are in my suitcase, I think.”

I grab them from the bed and gently knock on the door. The door cracks and all I see is Haley’s arm sticking out and her hand open, awaiting the pajamas. I laugh and say, “Hales, you know that I just saw you in your bra and panties, right? That was me in there with you.”

“I know, but now I am very aware of how almost-naked I am and I just got really self-conscious. I mean, have you seen yourself?” Now I am full-on laughing, clasping my hand to my mouth, trying to stifle it so as to not wake Haley’s mom. How could this woman become even sexier through what she thought were insecurities? It will never cease to baffle me.

“Aidan M. Stone. Give. Me. My. Pajamas.”

Contemplating pulling a George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life, and not giving her clothes back, I decide against it and hand her the pajamas. This is a “very interesting situation” indeed. She closes the door again. Even though I can’t see her face, I know that her nose is scrunched-up out of anger and her eyebrows are pulled together. Her brown eyes possibly ablaze with both fury and drunkenness. I know that she is clouded, but I certainly have never been more clear. I know it is an unfair advantage, but I don’t care. Haley is always putting walls up and I feel like I am finally chipping away, slowly but surely, with every conversation, every glance, every touch, every kiss. She isn’t timid around me anymore. The nerdy assistant with the glasses is no more. She has been replaced with this talented, confident woman who intimidates me to no end.

In this moment, it becomes abundantly clear to me that I want to be like George Bailey in an entirely different sentiment–I want to give Haley the moon.

She finally emerges from the bathroom in all her pajama-set glory. She placed her hair in a messy top bun while she was in the bathroom and I can tell she washed the makeup off. Color has returned to her face. She looks like Haley again and that makes me all bubbly inside. She no longer smells like tequila and champagne, but rather mint and the clean scent of her moisturizer. She tentatively takes a step and runs into the bedside table, clearly still very drunk. I get up quickly and grab her arm to steady her.

“Are you also The Flash, too?”

“Your superhero name-dropping game is on point tonight, Hales. Especially the Captain Underpants one,” I chuckle. I lead her to the bed and help her lie down. I pull the comforter over her legs and stop mid-torso.

“I’ve seen the movies. I know what I am talking about. You know all your Avenger buddies, including Captain Underpants. Oooo, Chris Evans. Would you mind introducing me? He is so hot.”

Even though Haley is drunk, I still feel a little deflated and my ego takes a hit. Luckily the odds are ever in my favor. “Um, hate to break it to you Hales, but Chris is now married.”

“Ugh, why is life so unfair??” She puts a pillow over her face, muffling her cry. “I wouldn’t have a chance anyway. I am sure his wife is nauseatingly stunning.”

“Not as stunning as you.”

Something clicks in Haley’s brain because I feel the energy shift between us. Shit, was that too much? I am just telling her the truth. She’s going to kick me out of this bedroom in 2.5 seconds.

“Aidan, can I ask you a question?” She sits up and gets dangerously close to my face. She looks serious.

My stomach drops. She is definitely going to ask me to leave. She is going to ask me to get lost. Good riddance, Aidan Stone.

“What’s that?”

She sheepishly looks down and her voice shakes slightly, “What is your number? You never told me the other night.”

Has she really been thinking of that since the other night? I guess I can’t blame her. I’ve been thinking about the fact that she has only slept with one person in her life. Jealousy courses through my veins as I think about her in bed with Robert. He is the only person in this world who has seen Haley in her most vulnerable state and he fucking ruined it. The only positive is that he is never going to sleep with Haley ever again. I kneel down next to the bed, rest my forearms on the mattress and exhale. “You really want to know?”

She returns my gaze. “Yes…and no. I don’t know.” Haley takes a pillow and covers her face with it. A muffled, “Never mind, just forget it” comes through the blockade.

I snicker and lower the pillow. Haley is biting her lip and her knee is bobbing. She’s nervous. I need to be honest with her. That’s how our relationship has always been. My heart races and there is a pit in my stomach. Now I’m suddenly nervous. I don’t want Haley to judge me or think less of me because more than half of my number is from the past six months. I have always been a monogamist. I need to reassure her that I’m not that guy she is imagining. I am not a rake or a play boy. My hand instinctively lands on her knee, hoping to calm her. “Seven. I had a high school girlfriend, a college girlfriend, Natasha, and then four other flings I guess you can call them.”

Her mouth parts and looks surprised. “Seven? That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Wow. That’s a lot lower than I expected.” A hint of a smile graces her face.

“So…you didn’t sleep with all the women in the pictures then?”

The nervous pit in my stomach turns into full-blown flutters. She has been keeping count. She cares about who I am with. About who I have slept with.

She cares.

I lift her chin up a little so I can look at her in her hazy, tired eyes and say, “No.”

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