Page 70 of The Compass Series

CONNOR

“ H ave you seen Aaliyah?” Jason asked, walking over and patting me on the back.

It was clear that since the last time I saw him, he’d had a few more drinks. If there was anything you could count on with Jason, it was taking everything a step too far.

“Did you see her?” he slurred. He was drunk. When Jason was drunk, he repeated himself and frequently brushed his finger against the side of his nose. I hated that I was learning his small habits because whenever he did them, they irked me.

“I haven’t,” I replied, lying on Aaliyah’s behalf. Jason grimaced, and I couldn’t help but notice. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I was talking to Trevor Jacobs, and he mentioned how crazy it is that I’m getting married, which got me thinking…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Aaliyah is pretty young.”

“She’s mature, though.” Everyone Jason had dated was younger than him. He had that way about him. I had food older than some of his exes in my pantry. If anything, Aaliyah seemed too old for him because she was around our age. He wasn’t really robbing the cradle with Aaliyah.

“Do you think she’s too young, though?”

“No, I don’t. Even if she were, it’s a bit late to be asking that, don’t you think?”

He grimaced.

“You’re thinking too much, Jason. You’re drunk. Stop thinking so much.”

“Yeah…it will be fine.” He nodded somberly to himself. “Have you seen Aaliyah lately? She’s so damn unsocial.” He asked me about her location as if he had already forgotten he’d asked me that question twice.

I parted my lips to lie once more, but I was cut off.

“I’m right here.”

Jason and I both turned around to see Aaliyah. She looked refreshed. I assumed a few moments of fresh air had been exactly what she needed to clear her head while spending the night with some of the worst humans on the planet.

“Babe, where were you? I thought you said you’d be back in five minutes, and that was like an hour ago. Where were you that whole time?” Jason repeated, his brows knit with concern.

“Oh, I, uh”—she fumbled with her words—“I was talking to, uh…”

“She was talking to Daniel Price,” I told Jason, covering for Aaliyah. Her eyes locked with mine, and she smiled.

“Oh? Is that so?” Jason asked, perking up a bit. “He’s one of the people I wanted you to meet. That’s great.”

“Oh yeah, totally,” Aaliyah said, her cheeks turning red. It was so clear she was guilty, though Jason was too wasted to pick up on the clues. “Daniel was very nice.”

“Nice?” Jason snickered, stunned. “Never in my life have I heard someone describe him as nice.”

He was right. Daniel was a rat.

“Maybe nice wasn’t the right word. Maybe, um, intriguing?” she corrected.

Jason laughed even more. “Intriguing? Are we talking about the same Daniel Price?”

“I meant, well…” She started to stumble over her words as she rubbed her hand up and down her arm. Her nerves were getting the best of her.

“Knowledgeable,” I spat out. “I’m sure Aaliyah meant he was knowledgeable.”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s what I meant. He knew a lot about…a lot. Like all things. Daniel knew so much about?—”

Clearing my throat loudly, I caught Aaliyah’s eyes and shook my head slightly.

Don’t push it.

She stopped talking.

Jason didn’t notice anything at all.

“Perhaps it’s a good time to shut everything down for the night,” I mentioned, patting Jason on the back. “We have a few busy weeks ahead of us.”

Jason nodded. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll go say good night to a few people, and then we can wrap it all up.” He hurried off, and Aaliyah moved in closer to me.

“Thank you for that, for covering for me,” she said. “I’m a pretty crappy liar. I don’t have much practice with it.” She laughed, combing her hands through her hair.

“Stay in this room long enough, and you can pick up some tips from anyone here.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing. So, um…” Aaliyah rocked back and forth on her heels. She was nervous around me. I felt the same around her. “Before I came over here, I ran into Walter, and he said Jason is staying at your place the night before the wedding?”

My insides cringed. “That’s the plan.” Not my plan, but alas.

“Perfect because, well, you know the rule—the bride can’t see the groom before the wedding and all.”

I nodded once.

A part of me wanted to ask her why Jason.

A part of me wanted to know how she’d been and if her dreams had come true.

Another part wanted to tell her not to marry the man crashing in my guest room in a few days.

I wanted her to run, wanted her to find someone she deserved.

I wanted her to fall out of love with him.

Instead, I turned to Aaliyah, and said, “You should probably catch up with Jason to say your goodbyes.”

“Oh.” She stood taller, and I wished I could read her thoughts. “Yeah, of course. Okay. It was good seeing you again, Ca—Connor.”

I smiled at how she almost called me Captain. Hell, I wanted to call her Red.

It wasn’t my place, and I shouldn’t have said it, but the words left my mouth before I could stop them. “Are you happy?”

She tilted her head, and confusion swirled in her eyes as she tried to comprehend my words.

I shouldn’t have said anything, but how was I not going to say anything?

She was about to tie her life to a loser who didn’t deserve her.

Sure, I didn’t know the state of their relationship, and I didn’t know if she was the woman who could magically change a manwhore into a househusband, but the odds were against her on that.

No matter how good a woman could be, a bad man would always mistreat her and try to devalue her strengths to make himself feel bigger.

There was nothing big about Jason. He was a small, small man with an unstable mind. There was no way he’d be deserving of Aaliyah’s love.

“Am I happy?” She repeated the question as if hearing her own voice would make it clearer. She smoothed her hands over her dress, and I watched as she did it because every time her hands moved across her figure, I wanted to see exactly where they’d go.

“I’m getting married in a few weeks,” she said, smiling. That smile…I remembered that smile, the one that made others want to smile along with it. “What’s there to be sad about?”

I nodded. If she was happy, then I was ecstatic for her. Okay, maybe not ecstatic. Not in the least.

Run, Red, run!

I pushed out a broken grin as I slid my hands into the pockets of my slacks. “Good. I’m glad. The best of luck with everything.”

“Thank you.”

I turned to walk away and was surprised when she called out my name. I looked back at her, and her eyes held a bit of worry. Did she know? Did she know she was about to make a big mistake?

“Yes?” I asked.

“Can you, um…it sounds silly, but can you make sure Jason doesn’t drink too much the night before the wedding? He doesn’t really know his limit at times, and I’d hate for him to be hungover. Ya know, big day and all.”

Fuck. She was really going to marry that man.

I gave her that fake smile again. “Of course.”

Relief hit her, and at least I was able to give her some comfort. “Thank you, Connor. That means a lot to me.”

Are you happy, Red?

I wanted to ask her again, but this time, I wanted to really focus on her eyes because those eyes had a way of telling the stories her lips seemed to refuse to reveal.

As she turned to walk away, I reached out and grabbed her forearm without thought. “Red, wait.”

She appeared confused by my sudden action. I was confused by it myself, but I didn’t let go. My fingers stayed glued to her arm as my lips parted.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Please don’t.”

“Please don’t what?”

“Marry him.”

Her eyes grew dull as the words hit her ears. She stumbled back and pulled her arm away from me, staring as if I’d slapped her right across the face. I didn’t want to make her feel that way. I didn’t want her to look at me as if I were a complete stranger, but she did because I was a stranger.

That hurt more than I could’ve expected it to.

“Aaliyah, come on, we’re leaving,” Jason called out with a tone I didn’t like. Shit. I hated all of his tones, but I loathed how he used them to order her around.

She kept her stare on me, appearing hurt by my insane but warranted request. Her eyes stayed with me as she spoke to him. “I’m coming.”

And with that, she left.