Page 56 of The Expiration Date

“Since we didn’t have a chance to finish it at my apartment.”

My eyes survey the scene in front of me. “How did you know that this…?”

“Is your dream date?” Aidan finishes my exact thought.

“Yeah.”

“A little drunk birdie might’ve told me a few nights ago. Figured I’d take a shot.”

“Nice shooting.” Suddenly I’m not so cold anymore. My body is all warm and fuzzy and I so desperately want it to stay that way. I smile and approach Aidan’s little picnic set-up. There are pillows and blankets. And there is something that I probably didn’t mention as a part of my dream date because I didn’t think any guy would plan ahead of time to acquire them.

Flowers. And not just any flowers.

Lavender roses.

I lean down and touch the soft petals. “I haven’t seen lavender roses since before my dad passed. Every date night, my dad would have a bouquet of lavender roses waiting for my mom on the kitchen table. He said that he liked lavender because they represented enchantment and wonder. Everything that my mom reminded him of.” Tears well up. Damn, why does Aidan have to reach deep into my soul and awaken the emotional beast inside of me? Deflecting, I say, “I thought you were a red roses type of guy based on what you left me the other day.”

“Lavender has become one of my favorite colors lately.”

“Oh yeah, since when?” I sit down on the massive blanket on the sand.

“Since I saw you in that lavender dress for the premiere. My heart did a somersault the moment I saw you, Hales and it’s never fully recovered.” He joins me on the ground, never taking his eyes off me. He presses the spacebar on the laptop and pours wine into glasses. He looks effortlessly breathtaking in his khaki cargo shorts and long-sleeved, slate-blue Henley. His sleeves are rolled up, revealing every large vein in his forearms, causing my heart rate to quicken. I’ve never been around such a paradoxical man. Someone who is so masculine yet soft. Brawny yet delicate. This hard exterior definitely protects the teddy bear of a man inside.

My heart does more than somersaults, more like full-on back flips and back handsprings. It’s as if Simone Biles is doing a whole floor routine in there.

“The roses remind me of you.” He hands me a glass of my favorite white wine. We clink glasses and I slowly drink, trying to convince my brain that what my body is feeling is real. I clear my throat and tuck some hair behind my ear, turning beet red. We are definitely in an unfamiliar place now. If someone would have told me a month ago that I would be falling madly in love with my boss, I would’ve laughed like a maniacal hyena in their face.

There have been moments where all of this has felt like a dream. A dream that I am terrified to wake up from. I feel this cosmic shift with me and Aidan, and I know that no matter what happens, things are never going to be the same. How the heck are things supposed to “go back to normal” like we discussed in the diner?

“This is all really sweet of you, Aidan. Thank you.” Before I spontaneously combust from all the excitement racing through my veins, I point to the pizza boxes, “What kind did you get?”

Before he could answer, I open the lid to one of the boxes. Hawaiian. Disgusting. I must’ve put a mental block on the fact that Aidan loves pineapple on his pizza, so much so that he always asked for extra whenever I ordered for him.

Aidan must’ve noticed my slightly scrunched-up nose because he laughs and says, “That one’s not for you. Check the box underneath.” Damn, he knows how to read me like an open book. “I know how much you hate pineapple.”

“It’s not that I hate pineapple. I love pineapple. Just not on my pizza, you weirdo.”

He scoffs. “Did you just call me a weirdo?”

“Yes, I did. I know that you don’t hear that often, Aidan Stone. I know you are used to people constantly telling you how amazing you are, which they aren’t wrong by the way, but yeah you liking pineapple on your pizza makes you a certified weirdo.”

I close the lid to the pizza box and slide it over to Aidan with my tongue sticking out in disgust. I hear Aidan’s deep chuckle, the one that makes shivers run all up and down my body. It is a sound I want to put on repeat on a Spotify playlist.

I open what I assume is my own pizza box, which gloriously has just one topping on it–the ultimate topping, in my opinion–pepperoni. “Now this! This is a pizza.” I grab a slice and take a huge bite. And it isn’t a sexy bite, either. It is a bite that results in cheese and sauce all over my chin. Perfect. I’m sure Aidan doesn’t want to be with someone who eats like a toddler.

But instead of looking disgusted by my obvious lack of grace, his signature smile appears. He grabs a napkin and wipes my chin and the sides of my mouth. Then he did something I wasn’t expecting him to do. He kisses me. And not in, like, an I need you now kind of way, but in a gentle, habitual way.

Which for some reason, I find so much hotter.

“Is it weird that I love you calling me a weirdo?”

“No…it’s not at all weird.” Suddenly I feel myself closing in, becoming the version of myself that I hate. The Haley who starts to overthink everything because her anxiety gets the best of her. Yeah, that one.

“What’s in that beautiful head of yours, Haley Swann?”

“Just thinking.” Yeah, thinking about the inevitable downfall of this entire relationship.

“About?”

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