Page 41 of Not in My Book

“I can’t take this.”

Aiden slowed, lifting his brows. “Is the burrito too spicy?”

I squinted at him, trying to figure out if he was serious. “What? No. I can’t takethisanymore.” I motioned between the two of us. “I’d literally rather do calculus than walk around this circle again without saying anything.” I moved to stand in front of him so he’d stop walking. “I can’t act like we have nothing to say to each other, then vomit it out on our doc.”

Aiden turned away sharply. The tips of his ears were pink, but I didn’t know if it was from the cold or something else. He pulled his lips into a thin line and for a brief moment, I thought he was going to walk away.

He tossed his tin foil wrapper in the nearby trash can. “Tell me more about Tennessee.”

I smiled and said, “You’re not getting out of talking, but okay.”

I told him about my summer days as a kid. When my dad would set the sprinkler up in the front yard, and my mom would bring out atray of homemade lemonade. How my dad tried so hard to learn Spanish for my mom and made Peruvian Independence Day special for her. He would spend hours stringing up lights in our backyard and curating the perfect playlist for the party.

“What made you decide to move to New York?” Aiden was walking with his hands tucked into the pockets of his peacoat, his head titled just a fraction to hear me.

I tossed my head back and forth, not wanting to dump Simon and my lifelong dreams of New York on him. Simon wanted me to stay, and I thought I loved Simon, so I stayed.

“Enough about me,” I said. “Tell me more about what it was like growing up here.”

“Boring,” he said dismissively. “You’ve asked me this a million times, and I always tell you the same thing. Tell me more about that diner you worked at.”

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not getting out of talking about yourself.” I tugged on his arm.

His eyes roamed my face for a moment before he gave me a small smile, conceding. He tentatively told me stories, and it occurred to me that maybe Aiden wasshy.Sure, he was still a raging asshole, but it seemed like he also didn’t really feel comfortable talking about himself. It was only when I would nod or respond to what he said that he would keep going.

When he let it slip that he hadn’t ever visited most of New York’s most famous tourist attractions, I paused and faced him. “You’re telling me that you, Aiden Huntington, native New Yorker sincebirthhave never been to the top of the Empire State Building.”

He shrugged. “Plenty of New Yorkers haven’t.”

“That’sridiculous.It’s not only a historic New York landmark, but a historic romance one.”

He side eyed me. “What sense does that make?”

“Tom Hanks. Meg Ryan.Sleepless in Seattle.Cary Grant.An Affair to Remember.Top of the Empire State building.Supremelyromantic.”

“I haven’t seen either.”

“Aiden, I might puke. That’s so horrible.” He wasn’t smiling, but it was as close as Aiden probably got. It hit me, out of nowhere, that I would do anything to keep that shy smile on his face. There was a lightblush on his cheeks from the cold, but he wasn’t complaining about the weather like I’d thought he would.

I hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”

He spared me a glance. “As if I could stop you.”

I puffed out a quick breath of air, the white showing in front of me. “Why do you hate romance?”

He stiffened. “Rosalinda,” he warned.

“Anytime someone in workshop introduces a romantic plot line, you turn … vicious. How can something so happy make you so mad?”

Suddenly, he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “It breeds unrealistic expectations.”

“Tell me you didn’t just say ‘breed’ in a conversation about romance.”

He ignored me. “It’s unrealistic.”

“So? Isn’t fiction supposed to be an escape?”

“Sometimes, you just need something to relate to.” He paused and finally met my gaze. He took a long, deep breath, swallowing slowly. “My dad cheated on my mom. He was out with his mistress while she was giving birth to me.” Before I could respond, he continued. “My mom had a hard life. She grew up poor and ran away to New York with him. Even after she discovered his affair, she stayed with him. She thought they were destined for a happy ending.” He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes.

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