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Aden snorts. “I might take you up on your offer.” He tugs at my sweater. “Just to clarify something: You are wearing my clothes, aren’t you?”

I feel my cheeks heat up again, but my stubbornness outweighs my embarrassment, easily. “Yes, and I will never return them, just so you know!”

Aden looks at me thoughtfully. “The sweater is nothing special.”

“It smells like you,” I say.

An amused smile curls Aden’s lips. He reaches out his hand, tugging at my sweater until I bend down. His hand clasps the nape of my neck, while he pulls me down into a kiss. The position should be uncomfortable, but all I feel is a flock of butterflies chasing through my stomach.

“Are you taking me home with you tonight?” I ask against his lips, my nerves almost painfully strained thanks to my anxiety.

Aden moves back a little, eyeing me again. “Are you going to run from me again?”

I shake my head.

“Then, yes, I will take you home with me.” He pauses. “But you are aware that we promised Sterling we would meet him for dinner?”

I groan. “Oh shit, I almost forgot.”

Aden smiles. “I am looking forward to meeting your friends properly. Besides,”—a smirk curls his lips—“we have plenty of time afterwards.”

My heart stutters at the way he looks at me. The smile he just showed me is so beautiful. It’s the first time he’s looked at me like that. It feels like, little by little, he has come closer and let me in. But Ster is right, I am asking more from him than I am giving.

“Aden?”

“Hm?”

“I… I want to tell you more about me, but I am scared,” I admit.

“You have told me plenty,” he says.

“But you have said more.”

At that Aden, just chuckles. “Noel, it’s not a competition. I shared it willingly with you. And once you are ready, you will do the same.”

“There are things I did in the past that I am not proud of,” I say.

Aden tilts his head, his signature thoughtful look in his eyes. “I figured,” he says, “when you mentioned your parents. It’s okay, Noel. As long as you try to communicate with me, we should be fine.”

“The same goes to you,” I retort. Like, I am the only one who has communication issues.

Aden looks amused. “Yes, the same goes for me.” He stands up too now, reaching out his hand to touch my hair. “But seriously, there are things I can’t tell you yet, either. Let’s do it at our pace.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in. “Okay, we did it. Crisis averted.”

“Noel…“ Aden takes my hand, wrapping his fingers around it gently. “There is something I have wanted to ask you ever since our first meeting.”

“And what’s that?”

“Won’t you tell me where we met before? I know we did. You said so yourself, and I know your face from somewhere. To be honest, I feel bad not knowing it. It seems to be important to you.”

Fuck, he looked through me. I thought I could play it cool and pretend like it was just a fleeting moment. Well, time to put that new communication rule to the test. “I… It is important,” I admit. “I am scared that if I tell you, I will need to tell you a lot more about myself, and I don’t know if I am ready for that. But you helped me out once, years ago, when I was about seventeen. You were just a stranger, but you helped me. It made an impression on me.”

I hold my breath, scared it won’t be enough for him, but Aden just takes my face between his hands, planting a soft kiss against my lips. “Thank you for giving me a little piece of information.”

“Is it really enough?”

“We can revisit it another day,” he says. “Come.” Aden puts his arm around my shoulder. “Let’s meet your friends before we find ourselves in a new crisis.”