“Hello, Aiden,” I said nonchalantly, and crutched over for a glass of water. Cold water. “Dad, where’s mom?” A change of subject was in order.
“She’s setting up at the club for tonight.” I didn’t look at him, but I could hear the elation in his voice. “Aiden, would you want to come watch our set tonight?”
“Really? Yeah, that’d—”
“He can’t,” I said quickly, spinning to face them. “Aiden and I are going to have a talk, and then he’s going back to school.” Let’s just nip this in the bud before it gets any worse.
Aiden’s expression faltered, but then he recovered and smiled at my father. “Next time?”
“Sure.” My dad nodded and then shot me a dirty look. “Maybe I can come up and catch a game at WSU when the season starts.”
I took in a breath. That reminded me. Chloe had said that Aiden was dropping out of WSU, something he’d neglected to tell me. I wondered why he was trying to hide it.
“Yeah, let me know. I’ve got a guy that can set aside some tickets and—”
“We should go,” I said, hobbling over to where my two guys stood. “Night, Dad.” I opened the door and motioned for Aiden to leave. This father and son meeting was too hard to watch. Aiden looked over at me, his face scrunched as he stared. Maybe he thought I was crazy. I sort of felt like it.
He said his good-byes to my father, and they did a man embrace (shoulder lean with a pat on the back). When he got out the door, I held up my finger. “Just give me a sec?”
His green gaze shifted between me and my dad, and then he nodded before walking out. When I turned to my father, his expression was bordering on furious.
“Tessa Crimson, you were not raised to be so rude.”
“Me? How about the way you treat Joel?”
“This has nothing to do with Joel. Aiden was a part of this family for a long while. I understand that you’re upset with him, I really do. But I do not appreciate the unpleasant way you treated me in front of him.”
I didn’t like being scolded. Heat swarmed my cheeks and I frowned. He might have been right about me being a bit disrespectful. “I’m sorry. But you don’t know everything.”
“That may be true. But understand, part of being a well-adjusted adult is treating others with respect. No matter what. I’d hate to see you lose your compassion.”
I nodded. I knew how much my parents cared about Aiden. It was unfair to force them to be angry with him. He’d been like a son to them. Even if he weren’t my boyfriend anymore.
Aiden’s car was idling in my driveway, but before I got in, I took out my phone and shut it off. Then I packed it safely away in my purse. I didn’t want to lose it again. And … I didn’t want to explain to Joel where I was. I hadn’t decided the best way to explain this to him yet.
I eased into the car and placed my crutches across the backseat before lifting my booted foot into the car. Aiden stared at it.
“Did I mention how much I’m digging the sparkles?”
I smiled. Dang him and his smooth talk. “No, you haven’t.”
“I’m digging the sparkles.”
“Thanks.”
We sat quietly for a second, then Aiden shifted into gear. “What are you hungry for?”
I felt a twist in my stomach, the feeling that I was doing something I shouldn’t. This wasn’t really fair to Joel. “Aiden, I’m just here to talk. I think you have some explaining to do.”
“I do?” Aiden looked sideways at me, studying my expression. Then he turned to the road, eyebrows pulled together. He backed out into the street and began driving down the dark streets. “You’re right,” he said. “But first, why don’t you tell me what you know so far.”
My lip curled. “What? You’re supposed to be spilling your guts, remember?”
“I just want to make sure I’m not out of line here. Come on, Tess. Tell me what the Kittens have discovered so far.” The light on the corner of Elmhurst and Longview turned red, and we eased to a stop.
“I know that you’re dropping out of WSU.” His hand tightened on the steering wheel.
“That … is true. I’m transferring.”
I blinked quickly, realizing that Chloe’s investigation had been correct. In a way, I might have still been hoping she was wrong about him. “Where?”
“OSU.” He grinned and looked over. “I’m gonna be a Beaver.”
My mouth twitched with a smile, but I covered it with my hand. “Why?”
“Better schedule. Better team.” He glanced at me, then the street. “What? Did you think I was coming back to live in Redmond?”
“That would have been a logical assumption. Yes.”
“Oh, baby,” he chuckled. “You have such little faith in me.”
Prickles broke out over my skin, not liking his choice of words. Because I didn’t. I didn’t have any faith in him.
“Why did you do it?” I asked suddenly as he turned the corner to ride into the hills.
“Do what?”
“Tell Blaze about us?”
His mouth opened as if he were offended. “Baby, I didn’t say shit. What are you talking about? I wouldn’t do something like that. I’ve spent the last week protecting you.”
My heart stopped as I stared back at him. Relief filling me. “Banana split, Aiden! Are you serious?”
His eyes continued to dart back and forth from me to the road. “Who told you that? Leona?” he demanded.
“It … it doesn’t matter. Who were you protecting me from?”
“You don’t want to know,” he said, shaking his head.
“I think I do.”
Aiden spun his hand over the steering wheel as we began winding through the streets. “For starters, the football team was going to trash your uniforms, like throw paint on you in the hallways. I had to personally call and threaten each and every one of those f**kers.”
“Oh.” I was stunned. I knew the boys were mad, but the thought of being assaulted in the hallway frightened me. I was completely grateful to Aiden for saving us. Oh, my word—he was innocent! Chloe was so wrong.
“And Stuart French was going to take out a full page ad in the paper calling for public outrage. I had to pay him two hundred bucks to stop him from running it.”
“But you don’t have two hundred bucks.”