Well, That Blindsided Me-Aiden
“NICE of you both to join me for lunch today. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, Jenna. What? A couple weeks or so? You have a good New Year?”
“Yes! It was wonderful.” Jenna blushed. I felt pretty damn proud of her blush. Speaking of that night, my beard was still coming in nicely.
I ignored the thought of Kam. He’d been avoiding me, as he fucking should. I forced myself to not think about him at the moment because it was Mike’s time.
“How was yours? Any of the ladies go crazy at the home?” I asked.
“No. It’s a cryin’ shame, too. I wouldn’t mind if Beatrice would flash me every once in a while.”
“Mike, you old dog!” Jenna teased. “Did you know he was such a player, Aiden?”
“Of course I did. Why do you think I like him so much? He taught me all his tricks.”
“Now, son, don’t you get me in trouble with your lady. I ain’t admittin’ a single thing to either of ya. Now explain why you’re growing that shit on your face.”
Jenna snorted into her coffee, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s called a beard, Mike. It’s in style now. I may even grow my hair out and wear a man bun.”
“In my day, men kept a clean look. Made ’em look more attractive. I don’t know about this man bun business, but you wantin’ to be a hippie now and grow your hair?”
“I’m surprised you remember anything from your day. Wasn’t that before the invention of cars?” I asked, sarcastic.
“I just can’t keep up with this guy, Jenna. He’s too young and good-looking for me.”
She laid a hand on his arm. “It’s what I’m here for. I’ll keep him in line.”
“She’s right. She knocks me right on my ass if I deserve it.”
“Good. You need someone to pop that big head of yours.”
I pointed at him. “Speaking of big heads, you butted yours into my relationship with my dad.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t regret it. You yellin’ at me?”
“No, I wouldn’t want to break your hearing aid. It’s just, he’s been nicer and more of a dad to me. I wanted to thank you for whatever you said.” I shrugged.
Mike waved it off. “I just told him the truth. You must get your thick skull from him. Now tell me about this thesis you’re working on now.”
An hour later, Jenna and I said goodbye to Mike and walked to the library. “Has Kam tried talking to you or anything since New Year’s Eve?” I kept my voice calm, knowing she would worry if I showed too much emotion.
“Not at all. I haven’t even seen him.” She looked up at me with sadness in her eyes. “I don’t understand what happened. It’s fucking unsettling. Have you talked to him yet?”
“Tried once. He took off when he saw me in the kitchen, and then every other time he’s at the house, he makes sure someone’s with him.”
“Shit. He knows what he’s doing. Well, don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Jenna ended the conversation by yawning.
“No promises, babe. That was quite the yawn, though. Sorry I kept you up so late last night.”
She bumped into me. “Oh, I’m not complaining. I didn’t know I could bend like that. I’m just tired.”
“Let’s get some coffee. It’s the least I can do.”
“Sure. I need the caffeine.” She yawned again and made a little sound. It was fucking adorable. “Shit, I forgot to ask. What’s the update on the stolen money? You and Jon found him, but what happens next?”
“Yeah. We know who it is. We haven’t told anyone in the house yet. Actually, it’s not public knowledge at all because the guys at the top of the organization need to decide if they want to handle it or if we should. It was only three hundred, but they could make an example by punishing this kid hard.”
“What do you want to happen?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t want to press charges. I know the guy; he’s a good kid. It was a freshman pledge. He was assigned to get some supplies, and it was as simple as him taking the hundred as cash back three different times.”
“How did you find out it was him?”
“Well, we narrowed it down to the week. Jon and I did our own little investigation with each of the guys from the trip. Sorry, but I trust Nate with my life. I knew he didn’t do it. He just trusted the young’un a little too much. He took advantage of the situation. It just sucks he made this bad decision. I think he should pay the money back—double it actually—then we can donate supplies or something. Plus, I think he should put in double hours at the nursing home. I’ll sic Mike on him. He would teach him more of a lesson than pressing charges.”
Jenna chuckled. “I totally agree with you. Mike could set anybody straight. Can you talk to the kid about it?”
“Not yet. If they decide to press charges, it’s out of my hands. He doesn’t know we know either. It’s been pretty damn hard keeping my mouth shut. I’ve been avoiding him so I don’t spill it.”
“You are quite the hothead sometimes.” She leaned into my arm and patted my hand. “I definitely think it should be your call.”
“Me, too.” I sighed, pissed this even happened. If I reached out to the kid before or noticed something off, I could’ve reassigned him or helped him out. We still didn’t know what he needed the money for.
She grabbed my hand and turned me to face her. “Don’t take it personally. I can see the worry on your face. This isn’t your fault.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“No, I can just read you pretty damn well. You take full responsibility for the frat, which is honorable, but this is unrealistic. You can’t prevent his behavior any more than I can prevent bar fights.” She stopped and smiled to herself.
“Did you seriously just compare this to a bar?”
“Yep. Sure did.” She grinned, and I couldn’t help but release some of the tension. “What you gonna do about it?”
“So feisty.”
We grabbed coffee and made camp at a table in the library shortly after. I was an hour into researching my thesis when Jenna set her coffee down and sighed.
“You know what fucking sucks? The fact you don’t have any classes on Fridays and I do. I’m insanely jealous.”
“I’ve done my time. When you’re a junior, you’ll be able to have free Fridays.”
“Well, remind me next year when I’m pissed about having a Thursday class or something.”
“Will do. You have any homework yet?” she asked, adjusting her glasses that were falling down her nose. I kept thinking about her ripping down her hair and being a mean librarian. Ah, another fantasy for another day.
“Eh, a little. I just have to overload since I changed my thesis and actually chose a major. Hey, are you taking another lecture with Jackson?” I got out my class schedule and grabbed hers to compare. “Hot damn. We have the same lecture on Thursdays!”
“No way!” She looked at the schedules and gave me a Cheshire grin. “I hate admitting this out loud, but I was going to miss having class with you. You were a great partner.”
“Partner?” I made an obscene gesture with my hands, which caused her to hit me. “What kind of partner are we talking about?”
“Lab partner. You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she scoffed and put in her headphones.
I pulled one out and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I was going to miss having class with you, too. Although you’re distracting, it made me never skip class.”
“Some of us take our education seriously.” She glared at me and put her earphone back in. It made me grin. I knew she wasn’t really peeved at me, because I saw her mouth tilt up at the side. “Are you going to continually stare at me or get some work done? You’re being distracting now.”
“Wanna take it to the resource room and have some fun?” I was teasing, but I got her to blush. It was endearing to see her badass attitude slow for a second. I had a habit of flustering her. I liked I could do that.
“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes.
Those damn eyes. I loved them—how expressive they were, how they grew darker when she was turned on. I loved how just a look could bring any man to his knees. I loved how she bit the tip of her pen when she focused and how she listened to shitty music.
I mentally cursed myself for being a mush. I needed to go break some shit or something because I shouldn’t be thinking these kinds of things all the time. Holy shit. I loved her. I fucking loved her. It was as if a truck hit me and fire exploded in my chest.
“I…uh, gotta go. Can I see you later?” I grabbed my bag and stood so quickly I banged my knee. “Shit.”
She yanked her headphones out and looked up at me. “What’s wrong? You have this frightened look on your face. You okay?”
“I just remembered there was something I have to do right this second. I promise nothing’s wrong. I’ll stop by tonight when you’re at work.”
“This isn’t one of those times I won’t hear from you for two days, right?” She nervously played with her hands, and I realized I scared her.
“No, Jenna. I promise I’ll stop by tonight. I just need to go take care of something super-important. Don’t frown. It makes a little line right here that’ll give you wrinkles later.”
“If you say so.”
I kissed her quickly and ran out of the library like it was on fire. I was having a panic attack about love. I knew I fucking liked everything about her. We’d been together since November, and if I were being honest with myself, I’d stopped seeing other girls in October. She’d been mine since then, so why should I be freaking out?
“Fuck.”
I walked back to the frat to catch my breath. I ran into Jon. I walked right past him and went to my room. I thought about calling my brother or my dad, but that wasn’t going to help me.
“Aiden.”
“What?” I snapped at Jon, who came into my room undetected.
“Jenna just texted me. She’s worried about you because you jumped outta the library so fast you hurt yourself, and—her words, not mine—you were acting like a fucking loon.”
“She texted you?”
“Yes, she’s worried. I am, too. You have this wild look in your eyes. Kind of feral. What the fuck is going on? Everyone okay?”
“My family’s fine. I just…God, this is embarrassing.”
He gave me a flat stare. “Aiden. You’re my brother. Spit it the fuck out.”
“I’m in love with Jenna. I fucking love her.”
“Your point?” He raised his hands and walked toward me. “Are you telling me you freaked the hell out because you ‘realized’ you are in love with Jenna? That Jaiden is actually a real thing?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Not the couple name…even though I like it.”
“Dude. You’ve been in love with her almost since she called your ass out at the bar back in August. No, I wouldn’t say then. Probably when you stopped hitting on girls at our parties and disappointing the entire freshman female population.”
I dragged my hands through my hair. “I’ve never loved anybody before. Love is fucked up. You saw what it did to my parents. Yours, too.”
He shook his head. “I would never want anything near what my parents had. You can’t let your parents’ failed marriage prevent you from being in a committed relationship.”
“It just…freaked me out. Damn.”
“That’s an understatement.” He sighed. “You realize this changes nothing, right?”
“How does it not?”
“Man the fuck up, Aiden Chad. You love a girl. I’m pretty sure she loves you, too. You either tell her or wait. You don’t freak out on her, make her worry, and pout about your parents’ failed relationship. I love you, man, but she’s the best fucking thing that’s happened to you. I know it. You should definitely know it.”
“Wow.” I stared at him, kinda shocked.
“Yeah, sorry. I’ve apparently been holding that in for a while. Normally I’m the chill one.”
“You’re right.”
“I know I’m fucking right.”
I hugged him. Not a weird, sensual hug, but a manly bro hug. “Thanks. I needed that.”
“You going to tell her?”
I needed more time to think. “Not yet. She’s just as messed up as I am, so if I dropped those words on her, she’d probably freak. I need to get myself sorted out first before I say anything.”
“Probably a good call. You feeling manly?”
“After this talk, not at all.” I scrubbed my hands down my face.
“Well, we have an open spot on our dodgeball team for a fundraiser. You’re in. It starts in an hour.” He smacked me on the shoulder.
“Perfect. It’ll help take away the panic.”
“You’re a mess. Text your woman and get dressed. Put on something with our sign on it. And pink socks. It’s cancer awareness.”
“Got it.”
Aiden: I’m really sorry I ran out. I was a dumbass. I got roped into a dodgeball tournament, but I’ll stop by after, okay?
Jenna: Yeah. You going to explain what the hell happened?
Aiden: Sometime, yes. Tonight, no. I’m just working through some shit, okay?
Jenna: All right. I won’t press. Good luck.
Aiden: Did we officially decide we were having our unofficial Valentine’s Day date this Friday?
Jenna: Yes. You really didn’t give me a choice asking me last night.
Aiden: :-) I know.