Page 64 of Just a Bit Captivated

Aiden pressed his trembling lips together.

“They’re definitely trying,” he said, forcing lightness into his voice.“It hasn’t worked yet. But I’m sure it will soon enough.”I miss you. I wish you were here. I miss your weight on me, your arms around me, even your scent.

Aiden didn’t say any of that. He wanted to, butnonsensestill stung.

“Probably,” Zain said tonelessly.

Silence fell again.

“It’s probably for the best that they took you away,” Zain said. His voice sounded rough. Stiff. “I wouldn’t have—” He cut himself off. “It’s a good thing they separated us.”

“Yeah,” Aiden said, closing his eyes.His throat ached. This felt like a goodbye. “Probably.”

Silence reigned again.

“You’ve lost weight,” Zain said.

“What? How do you even—Are you keeping tabs on me?”

“It’s easy enough for a man with my resources,” Zain said, irritation in his voice. Or was it defensiveness?

“I didn’t say it was hard,” Aiden said, smiling involuntarily.“But it’s sweet of you to care.”

“Sweet,” Zain repeated.“Some would call it stalking. You really need to get your head fixed.”

Aiden smiled helplessly. God, he missed him so much. So much. It felt like he was alive for the first time in months. Just hearing Zain’s voice was invigorating. “I probably do,” he said agreeably.“But in the meantime, I’m allowed to say all thenonsensea person in their right mind wouldn’t say. So I will. I miss you. I miss you so much.”

Zain inhaled audibly. And then he hung up.

Aiden blinked, his eyes suddenly burning.

But before he could wipe the stupid tears away, his phone rang again.

“I’ll be in the US next week,” Zain said.“I might find time to see you, but it’s a business trip.”

Aiden’s heart soared.“Right,” he said, smiling. “I had no idea you even had business here.”

He could practically see Zain’s dark eyes glowering at him.

“I’ll text you when I’m there.” Zain hung up again.

Grinning, Aiden hugged his pillow to his chest and screamed with joy.

“Aiden?”

Aiden froze.

He turned his head toward the door and found his mother watching him with a troubled frown on her face.

“You called that man, didn’t you?” she said.

“Yes,” Aiden said.

His mother’s lips thinned.“Aiden…”

“I know, Mom,” he said with a long-suffering sigh.“I know what you’re going to say. He’s bad for me, what I feel for him isn’t real, I should stay away from him, and so on and so forth.” He smiled, hugging his pillow.“I don’t care. He’s coming to the US next week, and I’m going to see him, just once. Please. Don’t ruin it for me.”

Looking pained, his mother closed her eyes and ran a hand over her face.“Aiden… That man should be in jail, not—”

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