“Nice? You hate when I’m nice,” he said, tilting his head. “Now come over here and let me be naughty.”
I laughed and sat back on my heels. When my parents decided to spend the weekend in Seattle to celebrate their anniversary, Aiden had graciously volunteered to keep me company. We were…working on our relationship.
“You all flexible now?” he asked with a smile, holding his hand out to me. “Because I’d like a kiss.”
Aiden and I had enjoyed a very relaxing weekend together, but I’d made it a point to set boundaries. For example, as long as we were together but not officially dating, there would be no… home runs. He’d said that was fine. Even though I missed the Pink Champagne toenail polish exchanges we used to have, it was less complicated this way.
“One kiss,” I said. “But then I have to call—” When I slid my palm into Aiden’s, there was a small pinch in my lower back—a muscle spasm. It made my breath catch, and Aiden pulled me to him, looking concerned.
“Everything okay?”
I nodded, rubbing my back as Aiden leaned forward to kiss my neck. “See,” he murmured. “You’re still taking on too much.”
I closed my eyes as his hot breath touched my skin. “No, I’m not.” I had no idea what this recent muscle spasm was about, but I doubted it had anything to do with helping people in the name of self-recovery. “Besides,” I said. “I can’t just abandon everything.”
“You should,” Aiden said, pulling back before wrapping his arms around me.
“Including you?” I asked, raising my eyebrow.
He grinned. “Not me, baby. I’m a keeper. Remember?”
I laughed. “That’s right. I forgot.” But my laugh was hollow. I couldn’t exactly keep what I didn’t have.
“Now come here,” Aiden growled as he tackled me back onto the couch. Temporarily forgetting my doubts, I wrapped my legs around his waist (thank you, yoga) as he tried to tickle me.
“Seriously,” I said after a few minutes, even though I was pretty sure that I was the one holding him to me. “I only have a sec.”
“Then we’d better hurry,” he whispered. I closed my eyes.
It had been three months, one week, and two days since I’d been a Smitten Kitten. I’d quit the squad (although I kept the uniform for personal reasons) at the beginning of the summer, leaving it in Kira’s perfectly polished hands.
Since the incident at Aiden’s house last year—including the unfortunate stitch to my forehead—my parents suffered from terrible bouts of guilt. Their career had taken off, forcing them to tour most of the summer, leaving me home alone. And with the school year just beginning, it didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon. They offered to quit and get regular day jobs in order to stay home with me more, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I was happy for them! After all, I was the one who needed to figure things out, not them.
Even after ending SOS and taking a break from Aiden (sort of), I still felt like I had more to learn about myself. Here it was, the start of my senior year, and I was completely stressed out and unable to focus. In fact, the only time I felt remotely like myself was when I was with Aiden—working on our relationship.
My yoga teacher had said that to really find my inner Tessa, I had to get away from everything, including cheerleading. She also told me that not-dating-but-still-dating Aiden was bad for my chi. I had promised to work on that. Maybe after this weekend.
“Time’s up,” I murmured, putting my hands on Aiden’s shoulders as I gently pushed him off of me. “I have to meet Kira and the squad for practice.”
“Why?” Aiden’s kissable mouth frowned as he straightened up on the couch. “You’re not a cheerleader anymore.”
My back flinched again. I stood up, twisting from side to side, hoping it would help the tightness.
“I may not be a Smitten Kitten, Aiden, but Kira asked for my assistance. Homecoming is only a few weeks away, and, well, I’m a retired cheer expert. In fact, I had this spectacular routine—”
The phone rang. Pickles and ice cream! That was probably Kira wondering where I was. Even though I wasn’t due at the gym for another half hour, I’d forgotten to call her back on Friday. And today was Sunday. Being with Aiden tended to make me lose track of time.
Careful not to further irritate my muscle, I slowly began to limp toward my phone.
“Shit, Tess. You really did hurt yourself,” Aiden said as he helped me to the kitchen.
“I’m sure it’s nothing.” I waved him off, although each step sent white-hot splinters of pain down my leg. Once we reached the kitchen, Aiden let me go and walked to my fridge, opening it and ducking his head in. He was so cute when he rummaged for food.
I sighed, leaning up against the cool counter as I clicked on the phone. “Hello?”
“Tessa! Thank God you’re home!” Leona said in a quick breath.
My heart sped up. “Everything okay?”
“No. Not even remotely. Kira’s on the line too.”
“Hey, Tess.” Kira spoke up, sounding awful. She was captain of the Smitten Kittens; she wasn’t allowed to sound glum.
“K,” I said, completely concerned, “did something happen?” I really hoped this wasn’t about her boyfriend. After she’d found out Darren had cheated on her last year, she’d finally rebounded this summer with a nice guy! She was overdue for some good karma. My pedicurist said so during our last session.
“I told Leona not to bother you,” Kira said apologetically. “I have it under control.”
“You so don’t,” Leona began. “Now zip it and let me bring Tessa up to speed.”
Well, I was glad to hear that it didn’t sound relationship related. Kira and Leona were probably arguing about proper skirt length again. I swear, if I didn’t know those two had been friends since kindergarten, I’d think they hated each other. But I knew better. Smitten Kittens didn’t hate. We were like sisters.
I tucked the phone into the crook of my neck and hobbled to the fridge, reaching above Aiden’s bent-over frame to grab an ice pack from the freezer.
“I would have gotten that for you,” he said, taking the pack from my hands to soften it up before handing it back. “You don’t have to do everything yourself, Tess—like leading someone else’s cheer practice.” He intentionally said that last bit a little louder.