Page 47 of Firestorm
It took me two tries to swallow down my food before I croaked out, “The islands.”
“So you’re a beach girl,” Aiden said, flashing me a smile. “So do you go out on the water a lot? Oh shit, do you surf?”
I only shook my head.
Aiden shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to, either. There’s sharks down there, right?”
I snorted. “There’s sharks everywhere, Aiden. They literally live in the ocean.”
Aiden grinned. “No, I meant because its warm down there. You’re more likely to see them. I saw whales off the coast once, back home.”
“Where is home for you?” I asked.
Aiden laughed, but it was hollow. “Now? My dorm.”
My grin faded as Aiden pulled his lips between his teeth, keeping his eyes on his plate of food.
“Where are you from?” I asked softly, hoping a rephrase of the question would get me more answers. I didn’t know why I even needed them.
“Baja Coast,” was all he said, and I sighed. Willow was also from the Baja, but I wasn’t about to continue prying. Aiden had just told me a lot about himself, true to his word that this was a real date.
Aiden and I finished up our dinner in comfortable silence. Aiden genuinely seemed nervous to be out with me, and it was warming something inside me. We made our way back across campus slowly, taking a ‘scenic’ route through the trees. It was dark, the sun having long set.
The rain had cleared just long enough for us to make it back to my dorm. The humidity left the air feeling heavy. My leggings were sticking to my skin with every step we took.
The rain started up again just as we made it to the dorm, and I held back a gasp when Aiden crowded me against the wall so we could both fit under the overhang. As Aiden pushed up against me, my entire body lit up like a firework. I gulped as he shook some rain from his hair and looked down at me, flashing me abeautifulgrin with both dimples.
“This was fun,” Aiden murmured, taking a piece of hair that’d fallen from my bun between his fingers and studying it.
“Yeah. I had a lot of fun, Aiden.” I replied.
“Yeah?” Aiden asked, his face softening as his warm eyes flicked down to my lips. “When are those applications opening back up?”
I blinked at him.
Aiden smirked. “For trustworthy men in your life,” he explained.
I let out a startled laugh. “Oh. I don’t know. Maybe they’ll open soon.”
“Good. I want to reapply.” Aiden said, tugging the lock of my hair slightly as his eyes landed back on my lips.
“I bet you kiss everyone on the first date,” I said softly.
“I bet you don’t kiss anyone, ever.” Aiden murmured, but his eyes were still warm and relaxed. He wasn’t insulting me.
“You’re not wrong,” I replied.
“Well, that makes two of us.” Aiden said. “I don’t kiss.”
“What?” My brows dipped down, confused. “Like, at all?”
“No,” he replied. “It feels too intimate for me. It’s uh…I don’t know. Trauma, or whatever. That’s what Wyatt says, anyway.”
My heart-rate spiked, my vision momentarily going blurry. I resisted the urge to use my affinity to force myself to relax, instead breathing out, “Wyatt?”
“Yeah, my counselor. I’m required to attend sessions once a week, minimum. Is that weird?” Aiden looked at me carefully, his face tense in the way that told me he was ready to shutter and hide from me if I disapproved.
“No,” I replied, my voice embarrassingly breathless. “Not weird at all. Super normal, actually.”
