Page 21 of Revolve
“We have a surprise for you,” Kian blurts.
Aiden shoots us a suspicious glance, then looks at Summer for anexplanation. She only shrugs. It was hard enough getting Kian not to spill it, considering how much he calls Aiden.
“Follow us,” Kian says, practically bouncing on the spot as he leads us through the living room straight to the sliding door that opens onto the back porch. “Close your eyes.”
“Fuck no,” Aiden says.
“C’mon, just do it. It’ll be fun, trust me.”
“I would never trust you when you have that creepy grin on your face, Ishida.”
Summer elbows Aiden. “The sooner you do it, the sooner you can punch him for what he’s about to show you.” Now it’s Summer’s turn to grin, and Kian rolls his eyes.
Aiden obliges with a groan. “If it’s something gross, I swear I’ll—”
“Open!”
Aiden’s face goes blank as he stares at the giant hot tub in front of him on the porch. It’s huge, probably big enough for eight people to sit comfortably. We had to make a detailed spreadsheet of whether the benefit would outweigh the costs. Our attempt to be responsible only lasted a few minutes before we decided we needed it.
Aiden blinks rapidly, and I hold back a laugh as Cole records his reaction from a safe distance.
“What am I staring at?” he asks slowly.
“A hot tub. We won it through the Slink drink competition. Got all the sororities and Dylan’s frat to enter and help us win with the promise that they could use it. Pretty sweet, right?”
“Okay, but why the fuck is my face on it?”
The hot tub is even better in person than it looked on the website. It’s massive, black, and adorned with Aiden’s old Slink ad. His plastic sophomore smile and the sugary energy drink casually held in his hand is plastered all around the circumference.
“A communal hot tub?” Summer says with disgust. “I thought it was for the house.”
“Kian promised people they could use it. He’s going to disinfect it himself,” I say.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Kian quips, his tone playful—but the joke falls flat as all eyes shift to me. “I mean—not anymore. Never mind, I—”
“Babe, let’s go upstairs. You need to rest,” Summer deflects smoothly, cutting Kian off.
Aiden watches us as Summer tugs him along. “We need to talk,” he says to me.
“Can’t wait,” I mutter. My phone buzzes in my hand, but before I can glance at the screen, a honk echoes from outside. Sampson’s here. Thank God.
The second we get to Yale, I realize I’ve overestimated my penchant for a party. The guys at Yale bring drinks and offer weed like I hadn’t just failed my drug test. I spend the rest of the night on the couch nursing a single Modelo that I don’t finish. That’s what makes me the unlucky designated driver. I drop off irritatingly drunk college students, and I wonder why the hell I thought coming here was a good idea.
When I finally make it home, I take a quick shower. When I’m out I accidentally play the voicemail that pops up on my phone as a notification.
“Your father wants to apologize for his behavior. I want to apologize too, kuzum. I never should have told you about the party over the phone. Please come home this weekend, I’ll make your favorites—”
Suddenly, the door to my room swings open, and I end the voicemail, my mom’s voice still echoing in my ears. I grab the towel from the edge of the bed and wrap it around my waist.
You would think after living with each other for four years, the guys would learn to knock before they enter my room. However, when Aiden steps inside, I don’t expect anything less. He’s walked into much worse than me in a towel, but when he finds me alone, he exhales.
Why is he even awake?I thought I could delay this until tomorrow at least. The last time we had a talk, he asked me if everything was okay, and to tell him if it wasn’t. I couldn’t tell him then; I didn’t want to add to everything he already had going on.
Aiden leans against my desk, tapping his fingers along the wood like he’s holding back from chewing me out. He hasn’t even spoken a word, and he’s already made me question everything.
“I talked to Kilner.”
I sit on the edge of my bed, looking at anything but my best friend. “About what?”
