Page 18 of On The Run

I smiled. I saw myself falling for this man, and quickly. It was kind of shocking. I hadn’t had interest in anyone in ages. But everything Aiden said and did had the attraction growing in me.

“Probably not. I’ll be happy to answer your questions later, though. Back to food. Noodles or rice?”

He tilted his head up, thinking. “Noodles.”

“Perfect. Spicy?”

He shrugged? “Um, not too spicy?”

“Ok, what about seafood? Shrimp? Or would you prefer a different meat?”

“Um, I like shrimp. Whatever works.” There was that glint of panic again, but he tamped it down. I forced myself to keep it casual and not ask.

“Why don’t you try Pad Thai? It’s a good introduction to Thai food. It’s like a stir-fry noodle. Here it typically comes with shrimp, but you can exchange it out for different meats, or even more vegetables. And it’s not too spicy.”

Aiden agreed that it sounded good and opted to keep the shrimp. The waiter came back shortly after, and we ordered. Once he was gone, Aiden picked the conversation back up.

“Gray is such a cute kid. He always brightens my day.”

Pride filled me. “Yeah, he’s pretty amazing. He had a rough start, so it’s so good to see his little personality growing and him start to shine, even when he’s meddling like his nosy aunt. It was tough when he first came to live with me, but he’s doing amazing now.”

Aiden tilted his head, which I was learning was what he did when he was thinking about something or curious.

“Came to live with you? He hasn’t always?” Aiden let out a rush of air and covered his mouth with his hands. “I’m sorry. Was that too personal? You don’t have to answer that. I’ve never done this before.”

I wondered what he meant by never doing this before, but I answered his other question before he completely spiraled. “It’s fine, Aiden. Don’t worry about it. It’s not a secret. I honestly forgot you didn’t know. Gray’s mom was a one-night stand—which is something I never do, by the way,” I was quick to add. “But the week had been rough. I had just broken up with the guy I was seeing and she was different, you know. She was beautiful and exciting, and my best friend convinced me I needed to get laid.” Aiden snorted. “Anyway. We had sex and when I woke up in the morning, she was gone. I used a condom, obviously, and we didn’t even exchange numbers. I never expected to see her again and honestly forgot about it for five years.”

I sighed as the memory of the phone call came to the forefront. “Then last year, I got a phone call from child services in Dallas telling me that my kid’s mom was going to jail and if I didn’t come get him, he’d be going into foster care.”

Aiden choked on his iced tea. “They said it likethat.”

I nodded solemnly. Yeah, that was a fucking shock. “Yeah, just like that. I thought for sure they had the wrong number or it was a prank and I almost hung up. Luckily, I didn’t. I guess she put my name on the birth certificate even though she never told me or tried to have me found.”

Aiden was invested. He sucked on the straw of his drink with such intensity as his eyes stayed on mine. I couldn’t stop staring at his damn lips. I’d never had much of a dirty mind, but I was imagining all kinds of filthy things right now as he drank.

“So, what did you do?”

“I called my dad, who called his lawyer, and got the first flight down to Dallas. I knew from the second I saw Gray he was mine, but I still got the DNA test to prove it. It took a while, and Gray was . . . resistant, but eventually, I was granted custody and permission to bring him back to Colorado. Actually, when we first started coming to the café, I’d only had him for a few weeks.”

I left out most of the gritty details. That wasn’t first date material. He didn’t need to know that Gray’s mother was practically wasted away on drugs. He really didn’t need to know how she spent five years telling Gray that his father didn’t want him and he ruined her life. That was best left for a future day, if ever.

Our food came out shortly after, and our conversation slipped to lighter topics, but it wasn’t any less interesting. I was nervous I would have nothing in common with a 21-year-old, but I was wrong. We discussed my old hobby of biking, and how Aiden didn’t really like sweet stuff but had a weakness for dark chocolate and was addicted to trail mix. Aiden was very mature, more so than most of my ex-boyfriends who were almost twice his age. He had such a good head on his shoulders and this air of practicality about him you didn’t typically see in someone in their early twenties. It made me curious about his past, but I didn’t ask.

And when the subject switched to his schooling, his whole face lit up as he passionately talked about pursuing his degree in social work and psychology. I was practically melting when he was done. He was going to go places.

Aiden flushed as he realized he’d been talking so much. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ramble. I just get excited about that sometimes.” He quickly shoved a forkful of food in his mouth.

I waved off his apology. “There’s nothing to apologize for, Aiden. I loved hearing you talk about that. It’s good that you’re so passionate about your future career. You don’t see that that often anymore.”

He scooped up even more food. “This is really good, by the way,” he told me around the mouthful. Once he was done swallowing, he asked, “What about you? Are you passionate about your job?”

I snorted. If only Laura were here. She’d let him know exactly how passionate I was. “Yeah, I really am. I could go on about bridges for days if someone didn’t stop me. That’s my specialty,” I reminded him.

He smiled warmly. “I remember. You’ll have to regale me on the history of bridges one day.”

Normally, I’d think he was being sarcastic, but I could tell he was being genuine. I didn’t think he realized what he was asking. And for his sanity, the waiter luckily showed up to see if we needed anything else before I could launch into my speech.

After confirming with Aiden that he was full, I asked for the check and clarified that it was together. He was glancing at me warily as the waiter walked away. I just watched him calmly. “I-I can split the bill,” Aiden said stiffly. I wasn’t sure what happened exactly, but he seemed uncomfortable.

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