Page 72 of His Fated Luna

Rose's POV

I had just finished lab with Marissa when Jake managed to catch me before I could leave. His hand closed gently around my wrist, almost like he was afraid I’d fall apart again.

“I've been so worried,” he said, tugging me back into the classroom to sit beside him. “Those woods are completely unsafe. I’m not surprised to hear rapists hang around there, waiting for girls who get stuck alone.”

He shuddered, and I raised an eyebrow. So that’s the story they were telling people? That I had a flat tire and was just some unlucky girl caught in the wrong place at the wrong time? To be fair, that’s what it looked like. There was no proof otherwise. Aiden still believed my kidnapping was part of something bigger—something connected to what happened to me as a baby—but I wasn’t so sure.

“I heard you helped with the search party,” I said carefully. I didn’t think Jake had anything to do with it, but Josie didn’t trust his family. I had to be cautious. “Thanks for helping them find me.”

He gave me a bittersweet smile. “And now I hear you’re living with Aiden? Guess all it took was a kidnapping to make you guys finally get together.”

I gave a stiff nod. “I didn’t even know what was going on until after I was discharged from the hospital. But yeah…Aiden decided—we decided…” My throat tightened, and I had to clear it.

I couldn’t lie and say we were really together. Not when I wanted it to be true so badly. No matter how much I denied it, every time he smiled at me or did something sweet, my heart betrayed me.

“Aiden said he’d meet me after class…I better get going,” I muttered, standing. Jake rose too, and we walked out together.

But Aiden wasn’t in the hallway like I’d hoped. Instead, I found him under the big tree on the science lawn where students usually studied when the weather was nice. His face was unreadable—shuttered and cold. Something was wrong. I could feel it just looking at him. Maybe it was Lexia. Mentioning her always seemed to unnerve him.

“I’ll see you later,” I called Jake, and before he could say anything back, I hurried toward Aiden.

He didn’t smile. Didn’t soften. Just stared at me blankly.

“Did…did you want me to walk with you to your next class?” I asked hesitantly.

“I don’t have classes on Mondays, Rose,” he snapped.

“You don’t?” I blinked. “But that day… you came to me when I was crying in my car after…” I trailed off, unable to say it. After Jake told me he never liked me and was only using me for help with homework.

“When you invited me to the frat party with you. That was a Monday.”

“Lexia has classes on Mondays. I was here to see her,” he said coldly, like each word was a blade.

My chest tightened like someone had just dumped ice water on me.

“Oh,” I whispered.

Now I remembered—he’d never actually said he had class that day. He’d sidestepped the question. Because he hadn’t wanted me to know he was on campus for her.

“I… are you guys still broken up?” I asked quietly.

“Let me be clear about one thing, Rose,” he began sharply, anger rising in his voice. “I love Lexia. Even if we’re on a break, being apart from her is hard. I can’t live without her. That’s why people still think we’re together. We still spend time together. And once we solve…whatever this is—” he gestured carelessly between us “—I’m going to get back with her. So yes, I was here to see her. Because I missed her.”

I flinched. He didn’t want me thinking he was some lovesick puppy waiting for me. No—he had Lexia. He wanted Lexia.

“Are you on campus today because you miss her?” I asked, barely above a whisper.

“I don’t have to tell you everything,” he bit out.

I blinked at him, unsure what to say. I assumed his anger came from our fake arrangement messing things up between him and Lexia. Why did I keep lying to myself? Why did I pretend this was more than it was? I wasn’t content just being his friend—I wanted more. And that was my own fault.

“Do…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Do you want to go see her now?”

He stared at me for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

Why was I upset? Probably because he was finally making it clear that this whole thing between us was nothing.

“I want to go home,” he finally said. “I have a lot of work to do.”