Page 37 of Not in My Book

Rosie:what’re you doing??? this is so good, don’t erase!!

Aiden:It’s not. It’s your chapter anyway. Write it yourself, Rosalinda.

Just as I was about to beg him to stay, his icon left the doc.

“Fuck,” I groaned, rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands. Part of me knew I was pushing Aiden too far. He had walls built so tightly around him, it was near impossible to break through. I’d gone too hard too fast, and now I’d ruined the little progress we’d made.

“Whatever,” I muttered, angrily closing out of our shared doc. If Aiden didn’t even want totryto be friendly, I wouldn’t force him. I had my own stuff to do.

Ida and I had been emailing back and forth about my piece for the fellowship. I was over the word count for the submission guidelines by four hundred words. I’d thought it wouldn’t be a big deal, but Ida emphasized how strict they were on it. Apparently, they would disqualify me if I submitted even a word more than the five-thousand-word limit.

I’d come to New York for me. I wasn’t going to let Aiden derail my dreams just because he was throwing a little hissy fit.

So instead of letting my mind wander to Aiden and our conversation, I spent the night cutting words and rephrasing sentences in my fellowship submission.

“Why do you always call me Maxine?” she asked as we split dessert. Our spoons clinked together as we battled for the last bit of brownie.

I won, scooping the last bite into my mouth. “I know everyone else calls you Max, but when Ivy introduced you the first day, she called you Maxine before you corrected her.”

She stabbed her spoon at me, her dark eyes narrowed in suspicion. “That doesn’t explain whyyoucall me Maxine.”

I shrugged, like it was inconsequential, but my gaze locked with hers hoping she could see what I felt. “I don’t want to be everyone else to you.”

—Excerpt fromUntitledby Rosie Maxwell and Aiden Huntington

CHAPTER TEN

“Well the date obviously worked.” Ida shot me a smug look. “But before I continue with my thoughts on Rosie and Aiden’s submission this week, I want to hear everyone else’s.”

Logan raised his hand immediately. I shot him a warning look, but he was very purposely not looking my way. “You two did a great job of creating a romantic atmosphere. The way we got Hunter’s chapter before the date, where he showed his vulnerability, really evoked the feeling of falling for someone.”

Ida hummed from the front of the room.

“It’s falling before you even know it,” Tyler said quietly.

“Exactly,” Jess said. “And thedate.” She shot me an apologetic glance before she said, “I think whatever happened on your mock date really worked. Max and Hunter finally opened up to each other. I’m rooting for them now.”

We got plenty of other comments like that, too, and I tried my best to scribble them all down. Since the asshole commanded it, I had finished the chapter without him. And now he wouldn’t meet my gaze, which pissed me off just the tiniest bit.

He was taking notes, but his pencil moved back and forth slowly. I leaned forward, trying to catch a glimpse of his paper. Part of me thought he wasn’t even taking notes, and I wanted to catch him in the act.

Growing more and more frustrated, I started to bounce my leg. At first, I did it subtly, only hitting the table every other time. I watched him as I did it, but his guarded expression didn’t loosen.

So I sped up.

His jaw tightened and finally,finally, he looked up at me. Hegloweredat me. His pencil was making sharper movements on his paper, but he was still looking at me.

I smiled sweetly at him and went faster.

“Just like Max and Hunter,” Logan muttered under his breath.

Aiden’s neck snapped toward him. He gave him a death glare that made Logan shrink back and send a panicked glance to Jess. Even though Logan wrote some of the scariest horror I’d ever read, he was still petrified of Aiden.

Aiden’s gaze snapped back toward me, but I wouldn’t back down.

“Knock it off,” he mouthed.

“Never,” I mouthed back.

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