Page 214 of The Compass Series

AIDEN

I woke up to the sound of pounding on Hailee’s door.

I yawned and stretched before pulling myself up from her bed. I tossed on a T-shirt as the pounding continued.

“Cinderella, open up. It’s Dad,” Karl said.

With that, I tossed on my pants. The last thing I needed was to have Karl catch me naked in his daughter’s apartment again. I headed to the front door, opened it, and smiled at Hailee’s dad. “Hey, Karl. Hailee is at work already and?—”

“What are you doing here?!” he barked, barging into the apartment.

Well. That was a greeting I didn’t expect.

“Oh. Well, uh, Hailee and I are back together and?—”

“I asked you not to hurt her again,” he spat out.

I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, I know. I haven’t.”

He huffed. “Bullshit. I’ve read one too many articles this morning with the media attacking my daughter again like they did five years ago.”

My chest tightened. “Wait, what?”

“Article after article attacking her looks and her character. I swear to God, Aiden, you need to fix this. I watched what this shit did to my little girl five years ago, and I refuse to have her go through this again. I refuse to sit and listen to her cry herself to sleep each night or wake up in night terrors. You weren’t there.

You didn’t see her at her worst when you went to California.

I was the one who had to soothe her. I was the one who had to help piece her broken heart back together.

She doesn’t deserve to go through that again.

If you are unable to protect her from this kind of cruelty, then you need to leave her the hell alone.

She’s my baby, Aiden, my world, and she doesn’t deserve this. ”

“Karl, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Google it!” he hollered, tossing his hands up in irritation as he turned to march down the stairs. “I’m going to find my daughter.”

Panic rose in my chest as I dashed over to get my cell phone. I opened my search engine, searched my name, and photographs of Hailee popped up all over the screen. Article after article claiming they knew all about Hailee and explaining who she’d been and commenting on her body.

I swallowed hard as I read the words written about Hailee’s character. The false narrative that the internet was spinning about who she’d been.

My mind was taken back to the situation that went down five years ago. I could only imagine what Hailee was going through and how her mind was processing everything if she’d already seen it. Her father was right—she didn’t deserve what the world was saying about her.

I tossed on my shoes and jacket before heading to the Starlight Inn to check on Hailee.

My nerves were shot as I remembered how she almost spiraled to a very dark place the last time people attacked her.

I couldn’t have that happen again. I couldn’t watch her go through that amount of pressure all because she was seen with me.

When I walked in, Hailee’s friend Kate was sitting at the front desk. She smiled my way. I could tell that she knew what happened by the emotions in her eyes. “Hi, Aiden,” she said.

“Hey. Do you know where I could find Hailee?”

“She’s out back talking with her dad.”

I swallowed hard. “Is she okay?”

“I honestly didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her with work and all.”

I nodded and thanked her. I debated going out to talk to her right then and there, but I knew Karl wouldn’t have loved that idea too much.

“Once she’s back, do you think you can ask her to come to my room to talk?” I asked Kate.

“Yeah, of course. Not a problem.”

“Thank you, Kate.”

“Welcome. And Aiden?”

“Yeah?”

“People are dicks online. This isn’t your fault.”

My brows lowered. “What makes you think I’m blaming myself?”

“Because Hailee has told me a lot about you. If you’re the person she claims you to be, which I think you are, then you’re blaming yourself.”

I gave her a lazy smile and thanked her before disappearing to my room.

The moment I stepped inside, I tossed off my jacket and paced my room.

I took calls from my public relations team to see how to spin the story.

My PR team told me to hold off and wait.

To say nothing. Hailee texted me and told me she’d stop by my room during her lunch break.

The waiting was killing me.

It felt like every second that passed, more commentary went live online.

When Hailee finally showed up to my room, I opened the door and felt a wave of emotions as she stood in front of me.

“Hi,” she whispered, a small smile on her lips.

“Hey. Come in.”

She did as I said and closed the door behind her.

“Listen—” we said in unison. We both chuckled, and she gestured toward me.

“You first,” she offered.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I’m sorry this shit is happening again and it’s like some weird fever dream. I’m sorry for the nasty shit people are saying online about you. I’m sorry about it all. I’ve been talking to my PR team, and we are coming up with a plan to?—”

“Don’t,” she cut in. “We’re just going to let it be.”

My heart sank. “What? No. People don’t get the right to talk about you in those ways. I know how hard it was for you five years ago, and your father was right. It’s my job to protect you from this kind of stuff. And if I can’t do that?—”

“Aiden.” She walked over to me and took my hands into hers. “It’s not your job.”

“Yes, it is.”

“No. It’s not. If you feel as if you need to put out a statement on your behalf, by all means, do it. But if you’re doing it because of me, then I urge you not to.”

“But…”

“I’m okay,” she stated. “Did it shock me at first? Yeah. Was I transported back to those old insecurities that existed when I was seventeen? Sure, for a moment. Then I remember how far I’ve come.

I’m not that young girl anymore, Aiden. I’m not broken and scared of what the world thinks of me, because I know who I am, and I’m so deeply confident in myself that the outside noise is nothing more than a slight buzzing sound. ”

I swallowed hard. “I just feel bad about the things they are saying, and the only reason they are saying those things is because of me.”

She placed a hand against my cheek. “I choose you. Back then, I was blindsided. I didn’t know what to expect, but now I’ve had experience with the media, and I know how it works, how it moves.

And this is me saying ‘okay’ to it all. I choose this life because I choose you.

The stories will die down. The internet will find someone else to talk about.

We will ignore it all, and we will be okay.

We have to unplug from social media and live our lives.

That’s how we win—by not playing their game. ”

I swallowed hard and rested my forehead against hers. “But your father?—”

“Is human, which means he’s not perfect.

He reacted from an emotional state and feared watching his daughter suffer again, but I’m no longer suffering.

I know who I am. I love who I am. I love this body of mine in all of its glory.

I love my hip dips, and stomach rolls, and stretch marks.

I don’t live in a world where people could create new insecurities for me anymore because my love for self is so loud that it drowns out their sounds. Do you know why I’m able to do that?”

“Why’s that?”

“Because of you.” She took my hands into hers and guided me to my bed, where she sat me down.

She stood in front of me and removed her shoes and socks.

She took the back of her hand and caressed her cheeks.

“You told me that this was beautiful.” She then moved to her blouse and began undoing the buttons, revealing her bra and stomach.

Her hands wandered across her arms, across her stomach, across her chest.

Her beautiful, luscious breasts…

I could stare at her body for the rest of my life, and it still wouldn’t be long enough.

“You told me to love my thighs,” she said, removing her pants. Her hand moved between her legs as she gently brushed against the fabric of her panties. My eyes were dialed into her every movement, as was my hardening cock.

“What else?” I asked her, not removing my stare from her. “What else did I tell you to love?”

She unhooked her bra, dropping it to the floor.

Her beautiful breasts released from the fabric, and all I could think about was how I wanted to wrap my mouth around her nipples and taste every inch of them.

Her hands cupped her breasts, and she massaged them, making my desire to take all of her right then and there grow even deeper.

“You taught me to love these, and to love…” She took a free hand and slid it into her panties, and within a second, I was beside her, holding her in my arms as my mouth fell against her neck. I moved her back a few feet until she was pressed against the wall.

One of my hands joined hers in her panties. My fingers gently massaged her as her eyes dilated and a quiet moan escaped her lips.

I slid two fingers inside her. “How long is your lunch break?” I whispered against her neck, kissing her, licking her, sucking her.

“Long enough,” she muttered, pressing her hips in my direction.

That was a good enough answer for me.