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“She obviously sees you as her son or her little brother,” he says. “I find it endearing.”

“If you say so,” I mutter before gazing at him. “It’s a long story.”

“Are you talking about you and DeeDee or you and the place you are working at?”

“Both, I guess.” I pause. “I don’t like the bar I work at, and I hate the club even more. But at the moment, I don’t have many other options. It brings me the most money, and I need it.” I pause. “I am sorry, I am not sure if I am ready to talk about it all.”

“You don’t need to,” Aden reassures me. “What you said is all I needed to know.”

Mateo keeps telling me that whenever I fuck up a potential relationship my pride is what gets in my way. Ster keeps saying the same, just with less words. I realize I did the same tonight, I was just lucky enough to have met a guy who is polite and respectful, and apparently sees a little more in me than just the pretty shell I am. Taking a deep breath, I gather all my courage. “I am sorry, okay?” I blurt out.

Yeah, that came out convincing. Good job.

Aden looks at me with his usual thoughtful eyes.

“For dragging you around,” I add. “And for my weird stunt earlier tonight. I know others call me complicated and dramatic, and it’s true. So, fuck it, thank you for not running tonight.” I feel my cheeks heat up again. Why the fuck is this so difficult? And why does it look like I am making it worse?

Probably should have kept my mouth shut.

Aden’s gaze turns to one of surprise now, then a smile curls his lips. “Thank you for apologizing,” he says, his low voice warm now.

My god! I did it! The world’s worst apology, but hey, at least it worked.

“DeeDee is coming with our food,” I say, waving at her. I notice she doesn’t just bring the usual finger food, she also made some dips and brought fresh bread. That’s not on her usual menu; she did it for me.

“As I said,” she tells Aden. “It’s nothing fancy.”

Aden smiles at her. “It’s perfect, don’t worry.”

When DeeDee turns around to wink at me, I can’t help but roll my eyes at her. This is either the worst night of my life or the best. I am not sure yet.

nine

*ADEN*

For half of the evening, I’ve asked myself ‘what the fuck I am doing here’. I came to the bar Noel wanted me to meet him at, just to realize it’s the place he works at. If there is one thing that’s a dealbreaker for me, it’s mind games and tests. I have enough drama in my family, I don’t need the additional one in my private life. However, it seems that ‘usual’ is not the fitting word for how I am handling things with Noel.

Any other guy, I would have politely told him I am leaving, and then never contacted him again. But one look at Noel when he approached me and asked me what I wanted to drink, one look into his eyes, and I couldn’t bring myself to leave.

From the first time that I met him, there’s been this vulnerability in his gaze, the one Sterling so perfectly captures in his pictures. But there was more than that… there was fear. Noellooked scared, and it stopped me from doing theusualthing. Instead, I stuck around and watched him handle the patrons and his job. He is diligent, I know that now. Despite his sass, he obviously works hard.

Now I am glad I didn’t leave.

“DeeDee’s food is pretty good,” I say.

Noel’s eyes light up. “Right? It’s not the fanciest stuff, but she knows what she is doing!”

“She does.”

He looks so happy now, munching on his fries. The gloominess around him is gone suddenly. This place must be one of his favorites, yet he decided to take the risk and bring me here. It means something to him. He opened up a little by introducing me to DeeDee and this place.

“Aden, can I ask something?”

“Of course.”

Noel stares at me through his deep blue eyes, but furrows his brows. “Why exactly did you decide to meet me? It’s because of Ster’s painting, right? You must know by now that I am not like the guy he draws!”

I shake my head. “You are like the guy he draws.”