Page 52 of Stuck with You

“Ah, sure…”

“That was also his Halloween costume last year,” Aiden replied.

I slowly looked over the suit again. “That’s a costume? What are you supposed to be?”

“I’m heaven,” Elliot said, walking over to me. “And we’re missing an angel, so I came here to collect you…”

I burst out laughing. “That’s a terrible pickup line.”

He didn’t seem to mind as he grinned proudly. “So, angel, we dancing or what?”

The song changed as Elliot spoke, and something more upbeat came on over the speakers. I actually really loved this song, and I started to smile more brightly.

“We’re definitely dancing.”

The three of us began to move around our makeshift dance floor. I wasn’t sure if what we were doing could be called dancing though. For the most part, we were laughing as we jumped up and down and spun around. The boys seemed determined to outdo each other with their novelty dance moves. Elliot would wave his arms and legs around like a sprinkler only to have Aiden turn around and fall into “the worm.”

The only cheesy dance move I knew was “the robot,” but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Especially once I saw Aiden pull off a moonwalk. I had no idea how he managed to make it look so smooth, but I refused to embarrass myself after that.

When Elliot started twerking, I clutched my stomach with laughter. He threw his whole body into it, and it was both horrifying and awesome at the same time. I’d almost forgotten the rest of our class was on the video call. The two Moore brothers were completely distracting and all the entertainment you could ever need at an iso-prom.

Aiden rested an arm across my shoulder as we watched his brother making a fool out of himself. It felt oddly comfortable to have his arm around me, and I was surprised my immediate reaction wasn’t to shrug him off. Aiden’s eyes were bright as he smiled down at me.

“So, are you twerking next?” he asked.

“God, no.”

“How about a running man?”

“In these heels? No way.”

“I’ll just have to show you another one of my moves then.”

I didn’t have a chance to react as Aiden took my hand and spun me. I laughed as I whirled around, but as I came to face him once more, his arm wrapped around my waist. He lowered me toward the floor in one smooth movement.

His face hovered over mine as he smiled. His expression was cute and boyish, and he looked so happy I couldn’t stop a smile of my own from forming in return. Neither of us moved as he held me in his arms. I felt trapped in the moment. Shouts from the video call jerked us both out of the position though.

Aiden pulled me upright once again, and I quickly stepped away as we both turned toward the screen. My cheeks were flushed, and I hoped no one had seen the moment we’d just shared. It seemed a pretty safe assumption they hadn’t caught it, because most people looked like they were bringing their iso-proms to an end. They were all shouting out their goodbyes, and their displays were blinking out as they logged off the call.

It felt like our iso-prom had only just started, but I imagined it was more fun when you were actually celebrating with your friends in person, rather than your parents or, in Zoey’s case, a cat.

Aiden turned down the music, and we said our goodbyes to everyone before he ended the call. From the way Zoey was looking at me before she hung up, I felt certain my phone would be blowing up with messages from her tonight. I was almost relieved I’d left it upstairs because I wasn’t sure I was ready to face any questions she might have about Aiden.

“Well, kids, iso-prom’s been fun,” Elliot said. “Any chance you want one last dance with me, angel?”

“Um…”

Aiden grabbed hold of his brother’s shoulders and steered him from the room before I could respond. “Good night, Elliot,” he said, as he pushed him out of the room and closed the door behind him. I could hear Elliot grumbling out in the corridor as he walked away, and I smiled. He was a pretty cute kid.

Aiden slowly turned to me, and the smile on my face lowered as I took in his expression. We’d been goofing around all night, but Aiden’s laughing eyes and happy smile were gone, and he was staring at me in a completely different way. Now that it was just the two of us in the room, the whole situation suddenly felt more intimate. I started playing with the daisy tied around my wrist as he walked back toward me.

“So, what do you say? One last dance for the night?” His usual arrogance was gone, and a hint of worry entered his gaze, as though he was anxious I’d reject him.

I took a deep breath in. I wasn’t sure why I was so apprehensive at the thought. It was just Aiden who was asking. Aiden, the boy who made it his mission in life to annoy me, who loved nothing more than getting under my skin, who Iwasn’t at allinterested in. Right?

I wasn’t as certain of the answer to that question as I thought I’d be. I wasn’t quite ready for the night to end though, so I nodded in response. The words of agreement stuck in my throat, and I couldn’t seem to bring myself to say them aloud.

Aiden let out a relieved breath and went over to his laptop to change the song. I didn’t recognize the music as the track changed, but it was a soft, melodic tune, and the lyrics were pretty.

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