Page 48
Story: Hold Me
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.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99