Page 7 of Untouchable

I try to suppress my smile and shrug. “We will see.”

He lets out a rich laugh before nodding and leading us through the double doors. As soon as we step into the room, conversation seems to fall idle while all eyes land on us. I instantly see my parents as well as the surprise on their face when they see that I am being brought in by someone that isn’t Alessandro. I am sure they are wondering where he is.

Same here.

My eyes bounce around the crowd as we make our way further into the room and soon, I find my brother, Antonio, standing with Alessandro’s roommates, Seth and Drew. All of them are wearing varying looks as Aiden spins me around. Antonio looks confused, Seth looks nervous, and Drew looks furious. Doing my best to ignore them, I focus back on the handsome man in front of me as I settle into his arms to begin a traditional waltz. The music starts and Aiden’s footwork is flawless. I don’t even have to try as he effortlessly guides me through the dance, while all eyes remain on us.

Something heavy settles in my chest when I remember all of the expectations I had for this night. I can’t believe that he did this to me. How could he just blow me off like this? He had to of known how much this would hurt me, and yet he did it anyways.

Deciding not to give him a second more of my birthday, I look up to see Aiden smiling sweetly at me. His warm eyes are practically shining as his strong arms keep me in place. This was not how I expected to spend my birthday party, but I can’t say that it is all bad, I guess.

I don’t need Alessandro. There are people who would love to have my attention and who wouldn’t cast me aside so callously. Fuck putting my life on hold for someone who clearly doesn’t give a shit about me, and fuck Alessandro Cordova.

-

After our dance, I figured it was time to say hi to my parents. Surprisingly, Aiden confidently follows every step of the way, hovering his hand just over the small of my back. I can’t deny the tingles that the occasional brush of his hand sends through me. The swirling feelings inside of me has me more than a little caught off guard.

When we reach my parents, I give them both a hug and a kiss on the cheek before I take a step back. Almost instinctually, I step to stand next to Aiden only leaving a few inches between us. Aiden however eats up those last few inches, not outright touching me but making sure that there is no space to spare. It feels nice to have someone want to be so close to me.

“Mama, Papà, this is Aiden…” I trail off realizing that I never caught his last name.

He smiles at me easily as he sticks his hand out for my father. “Ferguson. A pleasure to meet you both. Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

My father takes his hand and shakes it firmly as he looks Aiden up and down in an intimidating way that would make lesser men tremble. Aiden however takes my father’s appraisal well, holding his smile in place and his handshake strong.

“You are Governor Ferguson’s son, right?”

Aiden smiles and nods. “Yes, sir.”

To my surprise, my father smiles at Aiden, almost approvingly, before his attention gets stolen from some overweight man in a suit that is two sizes too small. I don’t miss how Antonio, Seth and Drew have all creeped closer to be able to listen to our conversation better. They all share furrowed brows and curious glances before returning their eyes to us. Whatever, let them eavesdrop and gossip like a bunch of little girls. I don’t even care anymore.

My eyes move over to see my mother’s pursed lips while her eyes flick between Aiden and me. I raise an eyebrow in question to her, knowing that she has something on her mind.

“Where is he?” She asks finally.

My eyes flick back over to Drew, Seth and Antonio who all share sympathetic expressions before glancing away. It tears me up to know that my own brother and his friends clearly know where Alessandro is, especially since they obviously knew that he wasn’t going to come even before me. Having your heart broken so publicly really sucks.

“Not here,” I say, attempting to sound casual. I don’t want to waste any more of my birthday waiting around on someone who doesn’t want to be here.

My mother bites her lower lip before shaking her head and slapping on a slightly forced smile as she turns to Aiden.

“Well, it was nice to meet you, Aiden. Thank you for coming,” she says before weaving through the crowd to my Aunt Tasha where the two begin talking quickly, serious looks on their faces as they occasionally glance at Aiden and me.

I groan as I think about how my almost relationship with Alessandro and my suddenly new dance partner will quickly become the talk of our inner circle by the end of the night.

All I wanted was a good birthday.

“Would you like to dance again?” Aiden asks.

I look over to see the handsome guy still right at my side, smiling down at me as if I am the most captivating thing that he has ever seen.

“Not really. I kind of suck at dancing,” I shrug.

“I didn’t think so. You were doing wonderful in my arms.”

“Maybe your arms just made it easy,” I quip with a small smile.

“Well, you are more than welcome in them anytime.”

---