by Donna Flynn
“What is on your schedule for today?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I think I’ll just stay home today.” After Saturday night’s fiasco, I just wanted to be home where I was safe and protected.
“That sounds like a solid plan. You have school tomorrow anyway, so maybe it would be best if you rested some today.”
I grimaced, wondering if Scott would make it difficult for me when I returned to school. That was, of course, if he was still alive. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to that.”
“Do worry, that boy will not trouble you again.” A dark smile formed on his lips momentarily but disappeared upon seeing my frown.
“Please tell me you have not done anything…” I gulped. “Bad to him,” I beseeched.
His expression hardened. “I protect those who are important to me. That is all you need to know,” he answered, caressing my cheek with his finger.
“But I…” Paul appeared next to us without warning, halting my response. “You know I hate when you do that,” I chastised, but he ignored me and glared at Aidan.
“I need to speak to you, if you have a minute, Aidan.” He tensed as he looked down at our clasped hands, a low growl emanating from his tightly compressed lips.
“Allow me to escort Katie back to the house first,” Aidan replied curtly.
I pulled my hand regretfully away from his. “I’ll be alright, you two go ahead and talk. I’ll just go and finish my homework.”
“Katie, I…”
“It’s alright, Aidan. I can handle walking back to the house alone.” He glared at my brother but nodded.
I moved from his side, walking slowly away, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“What can I do for you, Paul?” Aidan asked, turning to glare at my brother, whose face was pinched and angry.
“Leave her alone.” Paul’s tone was threatening, but Aidan, despite the rage I felt from him, looked calm when I glanced back.
“I do not wish to battle with you, Paul, but be warned: I will not tolerate your attitude. Katie has been through enough, and I will not have her upset any further by your insulting behavior. If you cannot handle your emotions, then I will remove you from the situation,” Aidan warned.
Paul opened his mouth to reply, but glanced my way, saw me staring at them, and closed it. I quickened my steps and hastily left the garden before he called me out once again for eavesdropping, something that would be embarrassing with Aidan standing there.
As I hurried toward the house I tried to analyze what it was I felt for Aidan, but it was too hard to put in to words, and even harder to comprehend for someone with such little experience with men as myself.
*****
I was still pondering exactly what it was I was feeling for Aidan when Chris called me later that night. He asked if I was alright, and I knew he must have spoken with Jess about what happened with Scott. I expected him to say I told you so, but true friend that he was, he refrained from pointing out that he had been right. Instead, he expressed genuine concern for me and voiced his desire to beat the hell out of Scott, which I told him wouldn’t solve anything.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m okay, don’t worry,” I assured him.
“I’m still going to beat the crap out of him tomorrow,” he told me.
I laughed. “That’s not necessary. Aidan took care of him; I do not think he will be a problem.” I grimaced at my statement, still uncertain exactly what Aidan had done to Scott.
“Aidan is there?” he said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, he’s here. Why is that funny?”
“Well…someone is turning sixteen next week.”
“So?” I said, unsure what he was getting at.
“So, Aidan never misses any important event in your life. He’s been there for every occasion I can remember since we have been friends”
I thought about what he said and realized it was true. Aidan was always there for any holiday, birthday, or special occasion in my life. He had always been part of my life, and I had always adored him, but I had never felt such strong emotions until he kissed me in the gazebo. I touched my lips and smiled, remembering how wonderful it had been, and sighed. That kiss, that one magical moment in my life, had changed everything, and I feared that things would never be the same again.
“Uh, Katie, are you still there?” Chris asked.
“Oh, yeah. I need to go, though, I have something to do.” I hung up and sat back, astonished by the revelation I had just had. Suddenly I had a lot of questions I wanted answers to, and since my family were not forthcoming when it came to their leader I supposed I would have to bide my time until I figured it all out on my own.
In the meantime, I decided to go downstairs and watch a little TV, hoping to ease my mind. My first stop was the kitchen to get something to appease my growling stomach. I left there with a bag of semi-burnt popcorn in one hand (I wasn’t exactly good in the kitchen) and a can of soda in the other, and walked to the game room where the big-screen TV was.
I had been ensconced on the sofa for a few hours, catching up with my recorded programs on the DVR that I had been neglecting, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped in response.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Aidan said, pulling his hand away.
I sat back against the arm of the couch, relieved it was him and not my brother, who would tease me for watching the vampire series I loved so much. Paul swore up and down the characters were stupid, unrealistic, and that I was polluting my mind with such drivel, but I was obsessed with the series about two brothers who loved the same female, and refused to allow him to taint it.
“What are you watching?” he asked.
My cheeks flushed. “A vampire series,” I murmured, embarrassed to be caught watching the fictional series by no other than the Prince of Vampires himself.
He smirked, but didn’t comment, as Paul would have. “Do you mind if I watch with you?”
I could have fallen to the floor with embarrassment. “Uh…sure.”
I moved my feet so he could sit down, but once he settled on the sofa next to me he pulled my feet onto his lap. “You don’t need to be uncomfortable on my account,” he explained, before turning his attention to the screen.
The entire next half-hour was painstaking. I watched nervously as Aidan stared at the screen, chuckling as the two vampire brothers fought over the female who held both of their hearts. He never said anything derogatory and seemed to actually enjoy the show, until a rather passionate kiss between the heroine and one of the brothers took place. As the passionate kiss began, I felt his hand tighten on my ankle, and I held my breath, my hands shaking as he turned and looked at me with desire-laden eyes. Electricity filled the air around us, my feet dropped to the floor, and I moved closer to him without any conscious thought. He placed his hands on either side of my face, staring at my lips with a hunger that rendered me breathless, and I closed my eyes, anticipating the feel of his lips against mine once again.
The front door slammed open. “I’m home,” Paul yelled from the hall, the sound of his footsteps moving closer to us.
Aidan pulled his hands away with a look of astonishment, and I jumped from the sofa guiltily as my brother entered the room.
“Hey, Paul,” I cried out, hiding my shaking hands in the pocket of my jeans.
His eyes narrowed and he looked between us suspiciously. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing, we were just watching TV,” I told him.
“It’s late. You should be in bed.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Aidan, as if waiting for him to argue the point.
“I do not need another father, so stop telling me what to do.” I tapped my fingers on my hip, staring at him with what I hoped was an angry glare, humiliated that he was treating me like a child.
“Maybe if you listened to me more often, you could avoid trouble. After all, I did tell you not to go out with Scott, but you ref
used to listen and look what happened.”
I gasped, hurt that he would bring up my nightmare date with Scott to make his point.
“You go too far,” Aidan snapped, stepping between us and taking my trembling hands in his own. “I had not realized it was so late. You should get rest, you have school tomorrow.”
“Of course, you are right,” I told him, unable to believe my brother had been so callous. “Thank you for spending time with me.”
I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek, knowing it would aggravate Paul, and he whispered in my ear, “Goodnight, Amado Uno.”
“What did you say to her?” Paul asked, his face red as he clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides.
“Katie is taking Spanish at school, so I am helping her learn a few words,” Aidan told him calmly. He did not seem to notice Paul’s anger, or maybe he just didn’t care, but I truly didn’t want them to fight, so I decided it would be best if I just went to bed.
“Thanks again, Aidan.” I smiled warmly at him, pinned my brother with an angry gaze, and walked out of the room not bothering to say anything to Paul, who had hurt me badly with his thoughtless remark. I did, though, stop momentarily on the stairs to listen and make sure they did not kill each other.
“Paul, if you think by acting like an ass you’re making this easier on anyone, then think again,” Aidan growled.
“She’s my sister, Aidan. I hadn’t anticipated feeling so strongly about this, but I care greatly for her and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Your allegiance is to me. Don’t forget that,” Aidan growled, before stalking out into the foyer and slamming the front door behind him.
I sat on the top step, tears filling my eyes.
Paul exited the game room directly behind him and slammed his fist into the wall, leaving behind a large hole that I knew my mother would be furious about in the morning, before slamming the front door behind him as he left the house, too.
With a loud sigh, I got up and walked to my room, wondering what I was going to do. The tension between my family and Aidan was unbearable, but there was little I could do about it as long as I was ignorant of what was going on around me.
Chapter Seven
Just as I finished eating the next morning, Aidan came through the door dressed in jeans and black T-shirt, his hair tousled and his blue eyes sparkling as they met mine. “Good morning, Katie, are you ready for school?”
I nodded, unable to look away from the gorgeous male before me. “Yes, I’m just waiting for Paul.”
“One of us will drive you today,” my mother told me. “Paul had a late night. He’s going to get some rest before joining you at school this morning.”
I felt bad, knowing I was to blame, but then I remembered his harsh words the night before and decided he deserved any unrest he might have suffered.
“I’ll take you,” Aidan said, reaching out and taking my backpack from my hand.
Our hands brushed creating the achingly familiar sparks I had come to expect, and he pulled back so quickly he nearly dropped the bag.
My father frowned and rose to his feet, looking displeased, but before he could say a word, my mother spoke. “You better get going or you will be late,” she said, her voice cracking slightly as she placed a restraining hand on my father’s shoulder.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to my parents, as Aidan escorted me from the room and out of the front door, where his car waited. Obviously, I thought, he had planned to take me to school all along, and that made me smile.
Carefully, he helped me inside and checked my seatbelt, before closing the door and moving swiftly to the driver’s side. “Ready?” he asked, turning to look at me with a warm gaze after he settled himself inside of the car.
Ready? All I wanted was to stay there in that moment with him, lost in his brilliant blue eyes, but that wasn’t realistic. I was a teenager, a high school student and he was…well, he was just amazing and so not for me. “Yes,” I answered regretfully, sitting back and mentally chastising myself that I was heading for heartache if I kept allowing my feelings for Aidan to grow out of control.
He smiled ruefully and put his foot on the gas pedal. We flew down the road, but the speed did not bother me; Paul always drove fast, and I knew it was rare for their kind to lose focus long enough to have an accident. In fact, I was more nervous about what would happen if Scott was at school than I was of dying in a fiery wreck.
“Paul will be at the school shortly, so there should not be any problems,” he said, as if reading my thoughts.
“As long as no one has been murdered, I will be fine,” I muttered, still upset he would not tell me exactly how he’d “handled” Scott.
“No one is deceased,” he said as he pulled into the parking lot. “Regardless, that boy will not be around to bother you again. I made sure of that.”
I pictured Scott laying unconscious in an ICU somewhere and grimaced. “And that is all you are going to tell me, right?”
He sighed clearly agitated by my refusal to let it go. “You need to have more faith in me. But until you do, try not to let your imagination get the better of you,”
We arrived in front of the school just in time for the largest crowd of teenagers to converge while trying to beat the morning bell. Everyone stared in our direction as Aidan pulled up in his expensive car, got out, and opened my door.
I grabbed my backpack from the back seat and turned towards him, trying to tune out the growing crowd who watched us, ignoring the bell that rang out loudly in warning. “Thanks for the ride.”
“No problem, have a nice day, I’ll see you later” He leaned towards me and for brief moment I thought he might kiss me, but to my regret, he ran his finger along my bottom lip and pulled away when Jess ran up beside us.
“Hey, Aidan,” Jess said smiling up at him, completely clueless she had interrupted anything between us.
“Jessica. How are you?” he asked, his manners flawless as always.
“I’m fine. That sure is a nice car.” She gave the sleek black car an admiring glance and ran her hand over the hood almost lovingly.
“Thanks, I like it,” he told her proudly. “Do me a favor; keep close to Katie today, alright?”
“Chris and I won’t leave her alone,” she answered seriously.
“See you later,” Aidan said.
“Yeah, later,” I said as Jess slid her arm through mine.
We turned to walk away, and I heard the engine roar to life behind us as he pulled away. I placed my hand to my heart, feeling a sense of loss at his absence that puzzled me.
“He is so gorgeous,” Jess sighed. “I do not understand why you do not go after him; anyone can see he’s totally into you.”
Was he? I shook my head at the thought. “Jess, he would not be interested in me. I am too young for him.” I sighed, knowing those words were truer than any I had ever spoken.
“You really should look in a mirror sometime; you could easily pass for eighteen. That’s not much younger than he is.”
If only she knew how old he really was, I thought. “Trust me. He wouldn’t be interested. He’s kind of like royalty where he comes from, and I’m a nobody.” It hurt to say but it was entirely true. Why would someone like Aidan, who could have any female in the world, want someone like me?
Chris was waiting at our lockers in his usual good humor, which helped take my mind off Aidan and refocus it on his bad jokes as we gathered our books and got ready for our first class. He became serious, though, as he walked us to our first class, making us promise not to leave until he came for us after the bell rang.
Jess and I walked into the room, both of us tensed for a confrontation, but we did not see Scott. I breathed a sigh of relief, uncertain whether to be glad or worried about his absence, since I was still unsure what Aidan had meant when he said he had “handled” him. I reasoned, though, that surely if anything had happened to him, I would have already heard about it from the gossips at school.
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br /> “How are you, Katie?” a male voice next to me asked as I settled into my seat.
I looked up at Chad Hamilton’s six-foot-four-frame with surprise. We had been going to school together since kindergarten, but he didn’t usually go out of his way to seek me out, so I wondered what was up. “Uh, fine,” I answered uncertainly.
“I heard about Scott moving away. That’s too bad,” he said, although his warm smile didn’t reflect his words.
Moved away? Is that how Aidan was covering up whatever he did to Scott? “Uh, yeah.” What could I say? I didn’t know if Scott really moved or not. For all I knew he could be twelve feet under in a hidden spot in the forest that surrounded our town. No, I thought. Surely Aidan wouldn’t have killed him. He wasn’t a violent man. But I remembered the rage in his eyes that night, which made it hard to completely discount my fears.
“Anyway, since you’re obviously not dating him anymore, I was wondering if maybe you might want to go to a movie or something, with me.”
His fingers tapped nervously on my desk as he stood beside it, waiting for my answer. I was not sure what to say. I had always like Chad, he was sweet and kind, but I had never really thought about dating him. He just wasn’t my type: but then again dating Scott, who I thought was my type of guy, had been a disaster, so maybe I didn’t really know how to pick the right guy. As I contemplated how best to answer, Jess was already handing him my cell phone number.
“I’ll call you and we can work it out,” he said with a shy smile before rushing to his seat, as the teacher cleared her throat to gain our attention.
Jess chattered almost constantly about Chad’s date request throughout class, and by the time the bell rang, she had convinced me that I should seriously consider Chad’s offer. I wasn’t all too keen on dating after my incident with Scott, but I also didn’t want to let fear keep me from living my life, so it wasn’t completely out of the question.
To my surprise, Paul and Chris were waiting for us as we exited the room, and by silent agreement, neither Jess nor I said anything about Chad asking me out. I breathed a sigh of relief that Jess was so in tune with me, because the last thing I needed was a fight with my brother about dating! I would save that argument for when I would have to face my parents if I indeed decided to go out with Chad. Which I still had not decided.