by Lauren Rowe
I put out my hand. “Hi, Amanda. I’m Savannah Valentine. You probably don’t remember me, but I’m—”
“Savvy?” Amanda bellows. She ignores my extended hand and throws her arms around me like we’re long lost friends. “I didn’t even recognize you! You look gorgeous.” She giggles happily and disengages from me, her smile at full wattage. “I probably don’t remember you? Savvy, you were the smartest person in school. And so witty and funny and pretty, too! I was always in awe of you!”
Come again? “Wow,” I say lamely, my cheeks flushing. “Thank you. I was always in awe of you. You were always so poised and beautiful and full of life.”
Amanda puts her hand on her chest. “Aw, thank you. So how are you?”
“Well, let’s see. I lost my dream job three days ago, so that sucks. But I can honestly say I’ve never been happier in my life.” I shoot Aiden a smile that tells him he’s the reason for my present state of joy. “Speaking of which, let me introduce my…Aiden.” I press my lips together. Crap. I was about to call Aiden my boyfriend. But, suddenly, I’m not sure if our agreement to be exclusive necessarily means we’re going to call each other—
“I’m her boyfriend,” Aiden says, extending his hand to Amanda. “Nice to meet you.”
Amanda looks at me while shaking Aiden’s hand, her face aglow. “I’m sorry to hear you lost your dream job, Savvy.” She indicates Aiden. “But I can’t imagine anything could bring you down when you’ve got this guy standing by to comfort you.”
I giggle. “True.”
“Savvy’s gonna be just fine,” Aiden says. “She’s already got recruiters trying to scoop her up. The girl is a genius.”
“Oh, I know. Everyone in the school knew Savvy would grow up to do remarkable things.” Amanda flashes me a smile that’s so warm and genuine, I suddenly feel like a moron for making Mason Crenshaw the centerpiece of my reunion fantasies. Why didn’t I want to come here simply to connect with nice people like Amanda? People I might have missed out on in high school because I was too insecure to think they’d want to be friends with me?
“So how long have you two been together?” Amanda asks.
My heart stops. Shit. “Uh, actually, we—”
“Have been together five weeks,” Aiden says. “We met in a bar, and that was it for both of us. We both felt like we’d been hit by a lightning bolt, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”
Amanda visibly swoons. “Oh, my gosh. You two are hashtag relationship goals.” She motions to Aiden’s tattoos. “Are you a musician, Aiden?”
He nods. “I’m not selling out arenas by any stretch, but I’m a working musician in LA with regular gigs, and that’s good enough for me.”
“Aiden’s being modest,” I say. “He’s absolutely brilliant. Check out Aiden Jameson on YouTube, and get ready to lose your mind. I promise you’ll never be the same again after you’ve heard Aiden sing one of his songs. He’s amazing.”
Aiden blushes. “Thank you.”
The three of us talk for a few more minutes about Aiden’s music. And then about my nascent idea to try my hand at freelance cybersecurity work. Amanda tells us about her job as a first-grade teacher for a bit, and then Aiden and I say our goodbyes to Amanda and enter the reunion.
“I thought you said you didn’t have any ‘cool kid’ friends in high school,” Aiden says as we walk, hand in hand, into the heart of the crowded ballroom. “Amanda sure seemed to think you two were besties.”
“She did, didn’t she?” I say. “I don’t really know what to say. I think maybe I created electric fences for myself in high school that just weren’t there.” We stop walking in the thick of the room and survey the crowded ballroom. I gasp and turn away from the entrance. “He’s here.”
Aiden looks around. “Where?”
“The entrance. He just walked in.”
Aiden’s gaze snaps toward the double doors. “There’s a bunch of guys coming in together. Which one is Mason?”
Oh, God, I can’t bring myself to look toward the door. I’m shaking. “Brown hair. Fit body. Dark shirt. Look for the guy whose face looks so cocky, you feel the uncontrollable urge to punch him in the teeth.”
Aiden’s eyes narrow as he continues staring toward the double doors…and then visibly ignite. “Hello, Mason.” He takes a step to his left, making it seem like he’s engaged in deep conversation with me, when, actually, he’s staring over my shoulder toward Mason. “Come to papa, motherfucker.”
“Can you tell if he’s here with a date?” I whisper.
“No, he’s stag. He’s surrounded by a bunch of big dudes. He was the quarterback?”
“Yeah. He got a full ride to UNLV. He did okay there. Nothing spectacular. I heard he’s in sales for a fertilizer company now.”
Aiden juts his chin. “I’m guessing those big guys around him were his offensive line in high school.” He scoffs. “What a cliché.” Aiden silently stares over my shoulder for a long moment, his eyes blazing. “I’m sure he came stag figuring he’d leave with some ‘lucky’ girl tonight.” He stares for another beat. “Amanda is chatting him up. Okay, now he’s looking around the room, scoping things out. Oh, he’s heading into the party.” Without warning, Aiden waves enthusiastically in the direction of the double doors. “Hey, Mason! Hey!”
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“Calling to my good buddy, Mason Crenshaw.” He waves again, this time even more enthusiastically. “Hey, Mason!”
“Stop!” I whisper urgently. “I wanted it to happen organically. Casually.”
“Too late for that. He’s coming over here.” Aiden smiles like an assassin and calls out, “Hey, Mason! Great to see you!”
Mason comes to a stop right next to me, but I keep my head down and stare at his shoes.
“Hey,” Mason says. “I’m sorry. Do I…? I don’t think I remember you, man.”
“No, you wouldn’t. We’ve never met before. I’m just a plus-one tonight. Here with my girlfriend. I think you know her. Savvy Valentine.”
There’s a beat of thick silence.
“Savvy?” Mason finally whispers.
My blood thumping in my ears, I look up to find Mason staring at me, his jaw hanging open.
“Hi,” I say. But that’s all I can muster.
Aiden leans forward. “Savvy told me about what happened at the Halloween party. You know, how you took her virginity in a closet and then came to school the next Monday and told her she was nothing but a pity-fuck?”
Oh, shit. Aiden’s voice could cut steel.
Aiden takes a menacing step forward, his chest heaving and his jaw clenched. “You knew it was Savvy’s first time, man. You knew she had a crush on you. And you didn’t even try to make it special for her. Didn’t even try to make it nice. You told her she was a charity case, when, in reality, she was slumming with you. So I think you owe her an apology, don’t you?”
My chest squeezes. I’ve never seen Aiden like this. He suddenly looks exactly like what he is…a felon. A man who carved his spectacular body behind iron bars.
Mason turns his gaze on me. “Wow, Savvy. You’ve been so obsessed with me for five years, you felt the need to bring this thug here to—”
Gah. Before I can process what’s happening, Aiden is lurching forward and grabbing a fistful of Mason’s shirt. Mason responds by pushing hard on Aiden’s chest. And, suddenly, the two men are going at it.
And what am I doing? Wigging out. Not keeping my cool in the slightest.
The scuffle doesn’t last long, though. In a flash, Mason’s friends appear out of nowhere and leap to Mason’s defense. They grab Aiden and hold him back. And that prompts a couple random dudes standing nearby to hold Mason back, thankfully. And then, for a confusing, harrowing moment, both men scream at each other at the tops of their lungs.
“Okay, everyone just—” I begin to say…but I’m interrupted by a familiar male voice shouting my name to my left. I turn my head and, oh, for the love of fuck, the v
oice belongs to none other than Derek. Son of a bitch! He’s sprinting toward Aiden at full speed, his right hand balled into a tight fist and cocked as he shouts about Aiden’s guitar tattoo and tells everyone Aiden is a rapist who roofied me. “No!” I scream. But my words have no impact whatsoever. Derek reaches Aiden, who’s still immobilized by Mason’s posse, and lands a vicious punch to Aiden’s jaw.
Screaming, I fling myself toward Derek like a missile, and push on his shoulder with all my might, desperately trying to protect Aiden from taking another hit while he’s being held back. And the next thing I know, I’m stumbling backward and crashing hard to the floor. What the hell just happened? It takes a half second for me to realize Derek just swatted me away like King Kong on top of the Empire State Building. He pushed me to the floor! And so forcefully, he knocked the wind out of me.
I look up from the ground, shocked, to find Mason grabbing ahold of Derek, keeping him from pummeling Aiden.
“Let him go!” Mason yells to his friends, and they release Aiden, just as Derek breaks free of Mason and takes a swing, landing a punch to Mason’s cheek.
But now that Aiden is free, he comes flying at Derek like a missile, dropping him to the ground. In a flash, Aiden begins beating the shit out of Derek as Mason and his friends shout their approval.
“Aiden!” I scream. “Stop!” I leap up and shriek at Aiden, and, much to my relief, he somehow gets ahold of himself and stops wailing on Derek. But before getting off Derek for good, he pinches Derek’s chin between his thumb and fingers and growls into his face, “If I killed you, you’d deserve it for hurting her, you piece of shit.”
“Get that asshole out of here!” Amanda shouts…and, much to my relief, she’s clearly talking about Derek, not Aiden. Aiden gets off Derek and steps aside, and a couple of Mason’s large friends scoop Derek off the ground and literally drag him out the double doors.
Aiden lurches over to me, his face on fire. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine. Freaked out, but fine.”
Aiden touches my cheek gently. “You’re sure?”
“I’m fine. What about you? Derek landed a nasty punch when Mason’s friends were holding you back.”
“I’m fine. He punches like a pussy. He wouldn’t last a day in prison.” He smirks.
I glance over Aiden’s shoulder. Mason is standing in a large group, holding court. “Let’s get out of here,” I say. “If someone has called the cops, I don’t want you anywhere near here. God knows what someone might say about you—and who they’ll believe.”
“Yeah, good thinking.” Aiden takes my hand, and we begin moving swiftly toward the double doors. “Sorry I lost my shit. I’m not normally such a hothead. I was just—”
“Hey!” Mason’s voice calls out. “Hold up!”
Crap. I glance in the direction of the voice, my stomach clenching, and, to my surprise, Mason is heading toward us with Amanda in tow…and the look on his face tells me he’s most definitely coming in peace.
“Be nice,” I whisper to Aiden. “Please, Aiden.”
“He’s not coming over to fight,” he whispers. “He’s coming over to apologize. As he should.”
Mason and Amanda arrive.
“Are you okay, Savvy?” Amanda asks.
“I’m fine. Thank you. I was more shocked than hurt.”
“Who was that guy?” she asks.
“My ex-boyfriend. It didn’t end well.”
Amanda looks at Aiden. “I’m glad you beat him up. He deserved it for pushing Savvy like that.”
“Damn straight,” Mason agrees.
“Yeah, hey, thanks for the backup,” Aiden says to Mason. “That was unexpected.”
“He pushed Savvy. Not cool.” Mason looks at me and grimaces. “I’m sorry, Savvy. For, you know, what happened in high school.” He looks at Aiden. “I should have apologized to you out of the gate. I was just…”
“Swinging your dick,” Aiden says. “But I was doing a bit of that myself. I probably shouldn’t have come at you quite so hard right out of the gate.”
“I’m sure I would have done the same thing if she’d been my girl.”
Aiden nods at Mason and the two men visibly enter into a nonverbal truce. Now Aiden directs his smoldering gaze at me. “You ready to get out of here, chicken girl? I think I’ve outworn my welcome.”
All four of us chuckle.
I hug Amanda. Wave goodbye awkwardly to Mason. And then take Aiden’s hand as we walk toward the double doors. “Jesus, Aiden,” I whisper as we exit the ballroom. “Please tell me you don’t run around throwing punches on a regular basis.”
Aiden chuckles. “I don’t. Not saying it’ll never happen again. But I’m not easily provoked, typically. It’s awfully hard to play a guitar with swollen fingers. But I’m not gonna let anybody disrespect you, Savvy. Not verbally, and certainly not physically. I’ll break both hands before I let anyone lay a pinky on you.”
My entire body jolts with desire. I probably shouldn’t be swooning at the primal edge in Aiden’s voice, but I am. Yes, what happened in there was scary. Yes, it was probably stupid, too. But there’s no denying a piece of me enjoyed watching Aiden leap to my defense like that. A primal part of me I didn’t know existed before tonight.
When we pass through the doors of the ballroom, we see Derek sitting in an armchair at a far end of the large entrance lobby. He’s got his head in his hands. His body language is utterly defeated.
“I need to talk to him,” I say.
Aiden holds my arm. “No.”
“Yes. I need to tell him you didn’t drug me or coerce me in any way to make those videos. If I don’t convince him of that—if he leaves here thinking I’ve been kidnapped or taken hostage by some rapist who roofied me—God only knows what he might do next.”
“I’ll go with you. I’m not letting you near him on your own.”
“No. You two can’t be together. Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt me. He’s just sitting there. I’m going to talk to him for two minutes and leave.”
Aiden motions to a marble wall a few feet from where Derek is sitting. “I’ll stand behind there. That way, I’ll be able to overhear your conversation with him and protect you, if needed.”
“Fine.”
We approach Derek. Aiden gets himself situated behind the wall while I take the armchair next to Derek.
“Hey, Derek,” I say softly.
He lowers his hands and looks up. His eyes are glistening. He’s got a doozy of a contusion on his chin. A shiner that’s swelling like crazy. “I didn’t mean to push you,” he says. “I’ve never once in my life touched a woman like that. I’m so sorry, Savvy. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” I say. “I just wanted to let you know Aiden isn’t my captor. He didn’t brainwash me or drug me or hurt me in any way. He’s my boyfriend. I’ve been having consensual sex with him since Wednesday night. I met him and went for it because he’s sexy as hell and I wanted him. It was as simple as that. I sent those videos to you on Wednesday night by choice because seeing you with that woman was humiliating and horrifying. I wanted to get back at you. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t sent those videos to you, not because I’m embarrassed that I’m with Aiden in them, but because I truly don’t care enough about you to try to make you jealous.”
Derek sighs. “You might think you had consensual sex with that guy, but he obviously took advantage of you that night, Savvy.”
“Oh, you want to talk about a guy taking advantage of a woman!” I shout, suddenly enraged. “Do the words ‘I love you’ ring a bell, asshole?”
He looks shocked. “I do love you. Why do you think I’m here?”
I’m floored. “You love me?”
He nods. “Fucking someone else doesn’t change the way I feel about you. Sex is just sex.”
I put up my hands. “Oh, my God. Stop talking. Please.” I sigh. “Why did you come here? You can’t possibly want me. And I sure as hell don’t want you.”
“I truly thought you were in danger. You looked like you were having a psychotic breakdown at the top of that mountain on Wednesday. And then I got those videos, and I knew he had to have—”
“He didn’t. Aiden hasn’t done anything but treat me with respect since the minute he met me. You’re the one who lied to my face to get into my pants and then physically assaulted me at my freaking high school reunion! Nice way to treat a woman you supposedly ‘love.’”
“I’m sorry I pushed you. It was an accident. And I do love you. Just not exclusively.”
I stand. “Okay, we’re done here. I don’t know why I’m wasting my precious time talking to you when I could be with a man who actually cares about me. A man who respects me. A man of actual integrity.”
“Integrity? Did you forget you told me he’s a felon? News flash, Savvy: they don’t put men of integrity behind bars.”
I lean forward sharply. “You don’t know the first thing about Aiden. What he’s been through in his life. The challenges he’s faced. The hard choices he’s had to make. You don’t know what he’s had to do to survive and try to find beauty and happiness in his life. How hard he’s had to fight to make the right choices. So don’t you dare for a minute judge him. You might throw around the word ‘love’ like Skittles at a toddler’s birthday party, but Aiden knows the true meaning of that word. He puts everything on the line for the people he loves—no matter what. Because he’s a man of action, not empty words. He’s a man of true character.” I flip him off with both hands. “So fuck you, Derek! Aiden’s got more integrity in his pinky than you’ve got in your entire body!” I turn on my heel to march away, but on a sudden impulse, whirl around again. “Oh, and one more thing? Now that I’ve been with Aiden, I now know for a fact you’re an absolutely horrible lay.” With that, I turn around and march away, straight around the corner…where I’m instantly met with the crush of Aiden’s hungry lips.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aiden