Page 66 of The Sky Between Us

But part of me wanted to stay in this limbo, enjoying that I was just like everyone else. Part of the cheer team after a winning game, laughing with my newfound friends. I missed socializing and hanging out with others despite having to play a persona that wasn’t fully me. Hiding a part of me came easy, but with Aiden, there was no place I could hide. He knew everything. Or at least almost everything.

I looked up at my boyfriend standing next to me, taking in his carefully ironed light blue shirt, his sleeves rolled up until his elbow, paired with dark blue jeans. His messy, dirty blonde hair that sat on top of his head like a nest from the constant touching. Whenever he was nervous, he would run his finger through his hair and tonight he did that more than usual. Almost every five minutes, not like I was paying attention. His deep ocean blue eyes were boring into me, urging me to reply and adding gentle pressure to my body, which immediately moved.

“Yeah,” I replied, sliding down from the little wall I’ve been sitting on, outside in the garden. The guys made a bonfire in the backyard and most of us gathered there. I was sandwiched between Giselle and Claire listening to my team captain’s story about Ewan, one of the football players she was currently dating. It was never dull around her.

“There are empty rooms upstairs,” someone shouted as I joined Aiden and we made our way towards the house.

Throwing a glance over my shoulder, I watched as the other football players clamped their team member, Josh, on his shoulder. With an eye roll, I turned back towards Aiden, who didn’t even bother sparing them a look, and followed him through the messy kitchen, where empty beer cans, liquor bottles and various chasers piled up, paired with some snacks. Aiden’s determined walk took us through the living room, where, on the big six seat sofa, two couples cuddled up kissing. Trying to focus my attention to the minimal decoration present in the room, such as the sound system and the bass as well as some NFL team pictures, I passed them reaching the front door.

Aiden opened it wide and motioned to me to go. With a deep sigh, I walked over to his car and without a word sat on the passenger’s side. Pulling down my short cheer skirt, I adjusted my position and leaned against the headrest, watching him join me in the car.

Facing him, I pulled my feet under me and sat on my heels. “What happened?”

He arched an eyebrow as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

“I know you,” I muttered with a short laugh. “Maybe not as long as the others, but better than them. You are upset, constantly fidgeting and touching your hair. Your eyes are dark and suddenly you have dark circles which weren’t there in the morning when I left you sleeping in bed. So, tell me, what happened between six am this morning and after the game.”

Aiden took a deep breath in and fishing his phone out of his pocket, he started scrolling. Anger washed over me as a tsunami. Seriously, he was going to check his Instagram? Didn’t he want to talk? This wasn’t his usual behavior and it bothered me.

“Is there anything maybe you want to tell me?” he asked, his eyes still jumping up and down his screen, checking out whatever was displayed there. “Anything that I should know? About Harvard? Why do you know Kellerman’s moves? Why were you acting strange when we first brought them up? It isn’t because you wanted to go to Harvard Law, right?”

His blue eyes bore into me once again as tension built in the back of my neck and an uncomfortable feeling settled onto me.

He knew, the secret was out there and there was nothing I could do to take that knowledge away from him. Everything rested in Aiden’s hands now.

I understood that he liked Sky and that didn’t seem like a huge commitment due to the huge unknown hanging around him. When and how would Sky ever find out about me being his real mother.

But learning the truth about Sky’s father was a whole different thing. It was his rival since day one. The person he most got compared to, the one he went head-to-head every season. The only one who could take away his spot at LA Galaxy. And now, even if they would both make it, Aiden would have to see him every single day.

Pain spread through my body as I watched his torn face and pleading eyes. Somehow, he still held onto the possibility that he got to the wrong conclusion.

I watched in slow motion as he turned his screen towards me, showing me the only picture Jake had of the two of us, and I felt a sharp stab in my stomach exactly where my scar was. My eyes slid back to Aiden’s pale and disturbed face.

“Jake is my ex-boyfriend from high school,” I said yet another truth out loud that I never did before. “He is Sky’s father.”

Silence.

All I heard was my own heart’s beating as it wanted to escape my chest. My vision blurred as tears flooded my eyes and I willed some natural disaster to happen. With flushed cheeks, I tried hiding behind my carefully curled hair, but there was no escaping the truth hanging between us. We were in the end game.

“Why haven’t you told me?” Aiden asked, voice rough from all the emotions he swallowed back. I wanted him to shout or be upset, I couldn’t take understanding Aiden. It hurt me more that he still tried to control his emotions and take care of me. I didn’t deserve it after lying to him.

“I was going to tell you sometime before the game, I didn’t want to blindside you against Jake. He might try and throw you off your game by saying something completely inappropriate and I don’t want you to lose your chance or the Championship.”

“I thought you trusted me,” he muttered quietly, hurt lacing his tone. “I thought you told me everything. When you didn’t want to talk about him, I assumed he was out of the picture.”

“Jake is out of the picture,” I said a bit too quickly and a bit too eagerly.

Aiden snorted in disbelief, his eyes turning darker. “Come on, you follow him on Instagram. Don’t bullshit me now.”

“I don’t…” I started before shutting my mouth. Did I follow him when I accepted his message request? “Maybe I do, but not intentionally.”

“Whatever,” he shook his head, disappointment clearly written all over his face and eyes. “I just… wish you would have told me. I was nothing but supportive and I tried to help you the best I could and…”

“How would you have reacted?” I cut him off eagerly. “Tell me how you would have felt knowing Jake is Sky’s father. That everything I told you was related to Jake.”

Aiden gritted his teeth together. “I want to murder him for hurting you.”

“Exactly.” A small laughter left me. “Your number one priority should be your career.”

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