Page 44 of Almost True
“Please. I’ll see you in a few,” Maddie said, then stepped away.
I watched her move across the room, feeling shaken and off-balance yet again.
“Aidan?”
John’s voice shook me from whatever daze had come over me, and when I looked up at him, he was smirking wildly.
“Glad you’ve returned to us. Now, let’s talk landscaping.”
* * *
The next hour and a half moved quickly, primarily thanks to John smoothing the way between conversations with strangers, though he also gave me no small amount of crap for the way I couldn’t take my eyes off Maddie. I couldn’t deny they sought her out wherever I found myself, but I shoved that off on the whole fake date thing.
“Sure, sure. You just hate to look at her and are only doing it as a sacrifice for the sake of your friendship, is that it?” He crossed his arms and waited, leaning against the kitchen counter, like he had all day.
“Don’t be an idiot,” I grumbled. He didn’t need to know how my body reacted every time I saw her. How I’d hoped she’d come near so I’d have an excuse to put my arm around her again. If this was only for tonight, the clock was ticking toward the end, and soon, I’d be out of excuses. Back to before.
“Me? Oh, between the two of us, the idiot is definitely not me.”
“Is this weirdo bothering you, Aidan?” Dahlia Price came up and gave me a side-hug while eying John.
“Now, now, kids. No fighting. We’re guests in this home,” I reminded them, only partly joking.
John’s entire demeanor had hardened. “Don’t worry about me. I can keep my mouth shut.”
Dahlia’s sunny expression dropped. “Is that so? Is that why every time I look at you, I see your giant jaw yapping away, not letting anyone get a word in edgewise?”
“You watching me, Price? Just can’t keep your eyes off me, huh? Listen, whenever—”
“Don’t even start with me, Wallace. You are a ridiculous human being, you know that?” She turned to me. “I’m heading out. I’ll catch Maddie outside, and I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Yes, see you tomorrow.”
John grumped something under his breath, and I shoved his shoulder. “What is it with you two?”
“What? She started it.”
“Come on, man. One minute you fight like siblings, the next you’re flirting, and then you’re back to fighting.” It was truly insane, and since I worked with Dahlia a lot and John backed me up whenever he could, I had a front row seat to their interactions.
If I hadn’t witnessed some of their squabbles, I’d think they liked each other. But then they’d have one of these fights and… it just didn’t compute for me.
Most people had filtered out by now. The kitchen staff had cleaned up and left only trays of desserts lining the kitchen countertops. I hadn’t spotted Maddie’s mother in a while, so I figured she must’ve left. Maddie had walked out with a few friends who’d driven up just for this event. They all seemed like surprisingly nice people. In fact, the worst of the bunch was definitely Annette.
“Guess we should probably head out, yeah? I think you’ve stayed long enough as the dutiful boyfriend.” John’s effort to shift away from him and Dahlia worked well.
We wandered up to the front door right as Maddie opened it.
“Hey, sorry. You really didn’t need to stay this long, but thank you. You were awesome.”
She said this to me, a pleased smile on her lovely mouth.
“My pleasure.” Heat shimmered behind my words, in my chest, at my fingertips, where little magnets were drawing me toward her.
“I’m going to wait in the truck. I need to, uh, make a quick call. Take your time, Aidan. And nice to meet you officially and everything, Maddie.” John gave a little salute and then practically jogged down the front steps.
“Okay, sure,” I said, cheeks heating a little at the obvious exit.
“I really appreciate you playing along tonight. She’s only here through the weekend, so it’s not a huge deal.” Her smile didn’t quite touch her eyes this time.
