Page 43 of The Sky Between Us

And I was beginning to run out of time.

“Ewww,” Sky gagged and mimicked sickness as he approached, the ball in hand. “You guys are disgusting.”

Aiden chuckled, his breath tickled my lips and before he moved away, he gave me a quick peck on the lips.

“Are you staying for dinner?” Sky asked Aiden once he walked over to him.

Shock and puzzlement crossed his face as he looked from Sky to me. I shrugged and silently told him with my eyes: “My dad doesn’t know about us.”

“Nope,” Aiden shook his head and pasted an easy grin on his face. “I’m not.”

“But… you are Hazel’s boyfriend!” he yelled and the people close by all turned to look at us.

Aiden ran his fingers through his hair and shot me another look. We didn’t talk about labels, and I sure as hell didn’t tell my dad history was about to repeat itself by me seeing a soccer captain. Despite my little slip up a few weeks ago when I called him my boyfriend in front of Elliot, who gave me a huge ‘hurt him and I’ll kill you’ speech which I found ridiculous because Aiden didn’t need protecting, and at the same time relevant because this was going to end sooner or later, one way or another. I was just hoping I was falling alone.

“Ummm… that’s complicated, buddy.”

“But I told dad,” Sky said, his little feet decking the ball, not comprehending the gravity of the situation. “I told him I’m playing soccer with Hazel’s boyfriend.”

My heart almost jumped out of my chest as I jumped to my feet. “You did what? Sky you can’t just go around and tell this to people!”

“Well, it’s no secret,” he muttered pointing at us. “You always hang on him like a sticker.”

I didn’t ask him how stickers hang because I was mad at him, but Aiden found his analogy ridiculous and could barely hold in his laughter. Shooting him a look, I buried my face into my hands.

“Well, I can stay for dinner, if you want me to,” he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it.

“We didn’t even have the talk,” I mumbled, but thankfully Sky decided this topic was way too boring for him and started shooting balls into the goal on his own.

Aiden buried his face in my neck, planting small kisses on the sensitive skin. “Do we need to have it? Or do you want it in writing? Or what else do you need to understand it’s only ever been you.”

“There was a time you said you could never be with someone like me,” I muttered, lacing my fingers into his hair and pulling it until his sky-blue eyes met mine. “I’m serious. It’s your career. Dad has a track record of not being fan of soccer guys I date and right now he adores you.”

“He already knows, baby. I’m not scared, I’m all in.”

With a sigh, I rested my forehead on his chest. Aiden ducked, resting his chin on top of my head as his fingers moved to the back of my neck. Tears pooled in the corner of my eyes, but I did my best to blink them back.

I didn’t want to lose him and I couldn’t risk this. Part of my heart wanted Aiden and the other part of my heart was already deeply devoted to someone else. It was pulling me in two different directions when I could only go in one. And it was killing me slowly on the inside.

“What are you scared of, baby girl?” he whispered against my hair.

“Everything,” I whispered back, my voice cracking. I was wrong. I wasn’t beginning to run out of time. I was living on a borrowed one, already.

Aiden secured the hold on me, forcing me to look up, and as always, every part of my body wanted to obey him. Meeting his eyes, getting lost in those endless blue brought me calmness.

“Come to dinner and we can do this… together?”

“Together, baby,” he smiled pushing his nose to mine. A giggle escaped me, but before it grew loud his lips captured mine, swallowing the end of it. Our tongues crashed and they danced their choreography. But this time it felt different. It was hungrier, more impatient and needy.

It was time.

And I wasn’t ready.

The drive back home was quiet.

Sky blabbed all the way, while Aiden followed the GPS’s instructions and I stared outside the window. I dropped my dad a text before leaving saying: I’m bringing a guest for dinner, but his reply never came, and it only made the knot in my stomach tighten.

Aiden, sensing my nervousness, which rolled off of me in waves as big as a tsunami, reached over and rested his hand on my bouncing knee. Lacing my fingers with his, I shot him an anxious look. Never in my life was I this stressed. Not even when competing at the Youth American Grand Prix, or UDA High School Nationals. Dancing in front of a room full of people and being broadcasted on television was a piece of cake. Introducing my boyfriend to my parents was like a death sentence. It had nothing to do with Aiden, but everything to do with my family.

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