Page 126 of This Blood That Binds Us
I smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder.
“No, you tried. You apologized. That’s all that matters. Now, it’s my turn.” I reluctantly grabbed the bouquet from his hand and walked toward the door. It was a lot more fun being the one who was hiding.
I knocked on the door, only this time, seconds passed before a very distraught Chelsea opened the door. Her hair was wild and out of place, but her makeup was well kept.
“Great. Have you come to plead for Aaron. Because it’s not going to work.”
“Actually, I just wanted to see how you were doing...I, uh...hated how things went last week, and I just wanted to check on you.”
She leaned against the door, watching me. “Why? I’m the one that slapped you in the face.”
“Well . . . just . . .” I opened my mouth, but my words weren’t coming out.
My chest tightened. I glanced over at Aaron who motioned for me to continue. “I’m not good at this. So, I’m just going to say what I’m thinking.”
“This should be good.”
“I know we haven’t gotten along very well, and we had a misunderstanding, which was my fault. But I’d love to hang out with you sometime because I feel like we have a lot in common.”
Her face was unmoving, and her dark circles had overtaken her prettier features.
“I know I’m awkward. I don’t have a lot of experience in this type of thing.” I held out the bouquet to her. “Whatever you choose. We are good in my book.”
She sighed as she eyed the flowers in front of her. “Yeah, this is kinda weird.” Her expression finally softened, and shegrabbed the bouquet from my hands. “But that’s okay. Thank you.”
For the first time, she smiled at me. Really smiled at me with her sparkling white teeth. It looked good on her despite it being a rarity.
“You’re welcome.” I flashed her a smile before turning back to Aaron, who was hiding behind the pillar.
“Kimberly. You live in Rogers, right?”
“Yeah, I’ll be here through the summer.”
“Okay. I’ll come by, and we can go shopping or whatever. I’ve noticed you have pretty good taste.”
“Uh, yeah, that would be awesome.”
She turned to leave but stopped. “And no, you can’t come, Aaron.”
“I know. I know.” Aaron winked at me.
“Bye, Chelsea.” I waved, and Aaron and I returned to the same pavement.
Relief washed over me as I let out a breath into the wind. The weight of guilt was lifted.
“Looks like someone made a new friend.” Aaron nudged me, causing me to stumble off the sidewalk.
“Yeah, it’s kind of cool. I’ve never outright asked someone that before.”
“If only I had similar good news.. .I get it, though. I wouldn’t forgive me, either.” He kicked a tiny pebble, and it skidded between fault lines.
“She’ll forgive you. She just needs time.”
The smell of freshly cut grass rode the breeze. Every gust gave way to that sweet scent again.
“So, what do you want to do with the rest of our day? Frolic through the mountains, read a book, talk about how utterly doomed this life is?”
“Actually, I kind of want to stay in. Do you have any good movies?”
