Page 15 of The Sky Between Us

“There’s really nothing to figure out about me,” I rolled my eyes. “But if that makes you feel better, you are a decent kisser.”

Aiden laughed, but there wasn’t a hint of humor hidden in that sound. “Baby girl, you and I are far from done. Buckle up.”

“Good luck, pretty boy. But don’t waste your time on me, you will only end up hurt,” I warned him, pushing his hands away and turning to walk away.

“I’m not the one who’s scared here.” His voice echoed in the empty Starbucks, but I didn’t turn around.

Hazel was driving me crazy.

We spent our shift in complete silence. It wasn’t the comfortable type where both of us were happy with just being in each other’s company. It was the awkward and heavy silence, which caused the hours to drag on. Both of us were on edge. Desire was still thick in the air and sparks flew between us whenever we crossed each other’s path. But none of us acknowledged it or brought it up. It was the worst four hours of my life, but my day wasn’t getting better after that either. All day I kept seeing her dance moves. Her dancing did something to me. It made me feel uneasy, because when she moved, she was a completely different person; someone full of emotions, desire and love. I also kept replaying our kiss in my mind. Her body pressed against me, her soft lips kissing me, and our tongues entangled. I couldn’t get her out of my head. Not her dancing, nor her kiss, nor her words. I knew she was lying; her body gave her away from the moment I caught her dancing. I broke down her walls by walking in on her, and she was unable to pull them up. She wanted me as much as I wanted her, but she was scared. If only I knew what she was scared of. Obviously, my track record wasn’t the best when it came to girls. I was a player, but she wasn’t just a challenge. She made me feel something more. Maybe because she wasn’t like all the other girls throwing themselves at me. On the contrary. She was always pulling away and I needed to know why.

I pushed the controller out of my lap and sighed. Elliot beat me in FIFA for the fifth time that afternoon. He just couldn’t shut up about it, but my mind was preoccupied with a certain brunette and her various skills.

“Dude, you suck,” he punched my arm without warning. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” I shook my head, and focused my attention on the big LCD screen we had in our living room. “Just giving you a head start. Wouldn’t want you to feel bad for always losing to me.”

“Asshole,” Elliot rolled his eyes and started a new game, this time without me. I glanced at the watch which read 6.15pm and took a long sip of my beer. I felt a pang of guilt for bailing on Sky, but his sister was a bitch, so he had to deal with it. I wasn’t going to spend time with her. Not a chance.

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on?” Elliot asked, not even looking away from the screen. “You’ve been distracted, distant, on edge and incredibly horny but not hooking up. Something’s up.”

I almost snorted out loud from his observation skills. A lot of things were up, but they all came down to one person. I kept my mouth shut and stared at my silent phone. I wanted her to call me and be pissed at me. At least this time I was giving her a reason. But I knew she didn’t have my number.

“Does this have something to do with those two new chicks?” Elliot pressed the topic. “The crazy blonde and her extremely hot friend, who is out of our league?”

“Who?” I lifted a brow as if I had no idea.

“The coach’s daughter, dude!” He shot me a sideways look and I hoped he couldn’t read me.

Elliot was not a fan of heart-to-hearts. If he wanted something, he got it. Simple as that. Hard work was not a part of his vocabulary. Nor emotions. I didn’t blame him, his parents had an ugly divorce, plus he had to witness his father get remarried five times. No wonder he didn’t acknowledge the existence of love. For him everything was about sex, fun and no commitment. He didn’t even hook up with the same girl twice.

“No, I’m not like you, I didn’t get hung up on her,” I snorted. Elliot turned off the game and stared at me for a long moment. His gaze made me feel like shit even more. I always did the right thing. I wasn’t interested in a relationship. Had good grades. Worked extra hard during and after practice. Kept my job to spare my parents from additional costs. He knew me, and he saw my guilt eating me up.

“Whatever it is, dude, you have me,” he said at last. “You are allowed to live, just like the rest of us. You don’t always have to follow rules, Aiden. Sometimes you can bend them, if you don’t want to break them. But you should do whatever you want, not what others expect you to do.”

I could hear coach’s warning me not to hurt Sky and his lingering gaze. I was an enormous asshole.

“I need to go,” I jumped up from the couch.

“I’ll go with you,” Elliot offered, and I didn’t protest. I needed all the back-up I could get.

By the time we made it to the soccer field, I was forty minutes late. I told Elliot I promised the coach’s son to play with him and he didn’t press the issue. Walking onto the field I didn’t expect to find them still there, but they were. Hazel was wearing black leggings and a hoodie. It was impossible for me to tear my gaze from her long legs and ass. If I loved skinny jeans, these leggings were next level. My eyes travelled further up, settling on her smile. It was a rare and genuine smile. My chest tightened and I felt Elliot pushing me forward.

Sky ran with the ball in front of him and scored, while Hazel adjusted her ponytail. Then the little guy turned towards her and launched the ball at her. I didn’t even realize I was moving, until I blocked the ball from hitting her and shot it back to Sky. His grin turned wider as his eyes landed on me and followed the ball. Elliot ran towards him to take it, but Sky was quicker.

“You are late,” Hazel stated.

I turned to face her, her dark eyes throwing daggers at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, because I genuinely felt sorry. “But I brought Elliot. We can all play, or you can watch us play.”

She slowly shook her head, but I could see her anger vanish a little bit. “I’ll play. Sky is winning, if you haven’t figured it out yet.”

I laughed and reached across to touch her face. She briefly closed her eyes and leaned into my touch before pulling away.

“I’m…”

“I know,” I nodded. “Me too.”

---