Page 12 of Vain (Tempest #2)

Chapter Twelve

MATILDA

Aiden is quiet on the plane. Actually, he was quiet the second I entered the kitchen, where he was talking in a hushed voice with Marley. I don’t push him because I know he’s worried about his friend, but I can’t help but wonder if something else is going on, too.

I sigh and look out the window, chastising myself for being dramatic.

“Hey, you okay?”

I turn at the sound of Aiden’s voice as he returns from the bathroom and sits beside me, taking my hand in his larger one.

“Shouldn’t that be my line?”

“I’m not the one sighing.”

“I suck at this comforting thing, don’t I?”

“No. You’re exactly what I need you to be right now.”

“And what’s that?”

“Here, beside me.”

I squeeze his hand. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” I tell him truthfully. Sure, I’d rather we weren’t heading to a hospital of all places, where his friend is hurt, but I’m glad I can support him for a change instead of the other way around.

I lean my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. “Tell me about him.”

“Kellen? He’s a pain in my ass.”

I snort with laughter as he leans his cheek against the top of my head.

“We went to high school together, though he was a couple of years ahead of me, so he doesn’t really remember me.”

“What was he like in high school?”

“A band geek. Actually, he was just a geek. Smart fucker. That’s not changed. From what I remember, he was lanky, skinny, and a bit of a loner. He was on a full ride to fucking Harvard.”

I whistle between my teeth. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about being smart.”

“Yeah. Smart doesn’t make you lucky, though.

His twin sister, Abigail, was diagnosed with something.

I can’t remember the name. I know it was long.

Kellen passed up the chance to go to Harvard to stay and help his mom out when dad bounced after things got too hard for him to cope with.

When Abigail needed a kidney, Kellen was a match, so he gave her one of his.

She was doing okay for about a year before she got an infection, and she went into complete organ failure.

The official cause of death was a heart attack, but everything was shutting down by that point.

I swear he’d have cut out his own heart and given it to her if he could have. ”

“That’s so sad.”

“Death doesn’t care how smart, rich, or popular you are. It comes for us all and gives zero fucks about the wreckage it leaves behind.”

“Is he still close to his mom?”

“She died six months to the day after Abigail died. A drunk driver hit her as she left the cemetery, of all places. She’d been putting flowers on her daughter’s grave, not knowing she’d be lying right beside her a month later.”

I feel a tear run down my face for a man I’ve never met and the loss he’s had to endure. “I’m glad he has you and the others. It sounds like he lost one family but gained another.”

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s enough.”

“It is,” I whisper. “I’ve been with you for a little while, but if you’ve been even half the man with Kellen that you’ve been with me, then yeah, it’s enough, Aiden.”

I drift off to sleep like I always do when I fly. I pass out on any mode of transport other than a car, where I get sick if I’m anywhere but the front seat.

When I wake up, I see Aiden’s face right in front of me. “You with me?”

I nod, still a little disorientated.

“When you sleep, you sleep hard,” he jokes.

“Wish I slept this well in bed. I only sleep like the dead when I’m traveling. I don’t know why. At home, though, I sleep like crap.”

“When you can’t sleep, come and wake me up.”

“Are you going to drive me around the neighborhood until I fall asleep?” I tease, remembering once upon a time my father doing that with me, back before I realized what a shithead he was.

“If that’s what you needed, absolutely. But I’m sure I could think of a much more pleasurable way to tire you out.”

I bite my lip and cross my legs, feeling a sudden ache between them.

It’s been a long time since I’ve let a man get close to me, let alone let one inside me.

But Aiden is unlike any man I’ve ever met.

Sure, he’s good-looking and confident, but that’s all he has in common with the actors and musicians I usually meet.

He’s done nothing but show me respect, something I’ve had to fight tooth and nail for with others.

Aiden does it as naturally as breathing.

He doesn’t make me feel less for being a woman.

In the field I’m in, I’ve worked with some utter bastards who, at the very least, treated me like a shiny bauble.

And, at worst, like they had the right to do what they wanted with me, or I’d never work again.

As I’d rather never work again than suck off a man three times my age in the back of a limo, I’ve never crossed the line.

So many other women like me did. I don’t judge them for it, they likely felt they had no choice.

That’s why the movie I’m working on now is important to me.

Aside from the fact that there are still not nearly enough female directors out there, the movie itself resonates with me.

It’s about a popular actress who got eaten up and spat out by Hollywood.

She ended up homeless on the street and alone, but she went on to defy the odds and launch the mother of all comebacks.

She became rich and successful beyond her wildest dreams before passing peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren.

I’ve always been a sucker for a rags-to-riches story, but the journey this one takes us on had a profound effect on me.

“I’ve lost you, haven’t I?”

I flush. “Sorry, I got lost in my head. I do that sometimes. I don’t mean to. My teacher used to say I daydreamed away her lessons.”

I close my eyes briefly, telling myself to shut up. He doesn’t need to hear about what Mrs. Madeline thought about me.

“You’re adorable. If we didn’t need to get moving, I’d show you just what that blush of yours does to me.”

“I’m ready.” I jump up and nearly miss headbutting him. I groan, embarrassed, ignoring his chuckle as he takes my hand and leads me off the plane.

Thankfully, Marley had the foresight to order a car for us so we wouldn’t have to flag down a cab. As we get closer, I feel Aiden getting more and more tense.

“He’s going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” he replies, but there’s no conviction in his answer.

As we pull up outside the hospital, I tug on a baseball cap and oversized glasses as Aiden jumps out and walks around to open my door. He holds it open and helps me out, keeping hold of my hand. I remember how surprised I was the first time. Now, I think I’d be more surprised if he didn’t do it.

He leads me inside and heads for the reception to find out where Kellen is. The receptionist huffs and puffs before telling Aiden to head up to the ICU but be prepared to be sent away. He nods before dragging me to the nearest bank of elevators and pressing the button for the fifth floor.

The hospital is packed, like most hospitals. I expected it, but still, it’s a shock to the system after isolating myself for so long. I tug the hat a little lower.

He nudges me inside when the elevator door slides open before herding us into the corner as people behind us push and jostle to get on.

I feel panic start to claw at me. I try to focus on the black cotton of Aiden’s chest, but I feel like the space is getting smaller and smaller.

I don’t know if he can sense something is wrong or if he just felt me tense, but he presses in closer, blocking my view of anyone else as he slides his fingers under my jaw and tips my head back.

“It’s just you and me.” He dips his head and grazes his lips over mine.

The panic recedes a little under his touch, so I fist his T-shirt and tug him back to me.

He grins against my mouth before licking at the seam of my lips.

I open for him and manage to hold back a moan as fear is replaced with need.

I don’t realize the elevator stopped until he pulls away with a chuckle and tugs me out.

“Your kisses are dangerous.”

He looks back at me and grins before sobering when he sees how busy the waiting room is up ahead.

With the hat and glasses on, nobody gives me a second look.

I take my time gazing around. I can’t say I’m a big fan of hospitals, mostly because of how much time I’ve spent in them.

I don’t fear them, though, as I know some people do.

I’m one of the fortunate ones, after all.

If it weren’t for the hospital I stayed in and the care I received, I wouldn’t be here now.

We pause at the nurse’s station and wait for the people in front of us to finish. Once they walk away, the nurse looks up, her eyes softening in recognition when they land on Aiden.

“Hey, Aiden. You come to see Kellen?”

“Yeah. How’s he doing?”

She looks around to make sure nobody is listening before answering. “Better than we first thought. I don’t know all the details, but I’ll see what I can find out for you. Failing that, Cora’s on duty. She can fill you in.”

Aiden clenches his teeth. “Room?”

“Five. It’s one of the ones at the far end of the corridor.”

“Thanks.”

He tightens his grip on my hand as the nurse eyes us curiously, but he doesn’t introduce us. As we move away from the waiting area, it quiets down dramatically.

“Who’s Cora?”

He looks down at me, his jaw tight. “My ex.”

“Oh.” I don’t know why I’m surprised. The guy is gorgeous. Of course, there’s an ex. “Wait. Is this the same ex you mentioned before?”

“One and the same,” he grunts.

“How long has she been your ex?” I don’t remember asking that before. I’m not sure it’s any of my business either, but I can’t stop myself from wondering.

“Not long and yet not long enough.”

I pause and wait for him to explain. “We were dating casually for six months, then exclusively for another six, or at least that’s what I thought.

When the lease was up on her apartment, we rented a place together.

We discussed buying a house, but something always held me back.

And when I came home early one day to find her getting railed by someone who wasn’t me, I figured my subconscious had caught on before the rest of me had.

I let her get away with a lot of shit and stuck with her even though none of my friends particularly liked her, but I don’t share.

Ever. My friends helped me pack up my shit, which I put in storage and crashed on a sofa or two while I figured out my next step. ”

I bite my lip, unsure what to say. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not. I wish that had been the end of it, but she’s been relentlessly hounding me ever since.”

“That’s why you took the job. You needed an escape.”

“It was one of the factors in why I volunteered, and thank fuck I did.” He kisses the tip of my nose before leading me the rest of the way to his friend’s room.

I ponder his words, wondering if he still has feelings for her.

I get that cheating is a deal breaker for him, and I have zero doubts that he would take her back.

Trust is important to him, and once it is broken, you can’t get it back.

But feelings aren’t quite so easy to turn off.

You can both love and hate a person at the same time.

It’s how I feel about my mother, after all.

When we reach the room, Aiden taps the door before opening it. He sucks in a sharp breath as he takes in his friend’s too-still form.

“Aiden? Oh, thank goodness. I was wondering when you’d get here.

” A tall, leggy redhead dressed in blue scrubs hurries over.

The scrubs should make her look frumpy, but instead, she looks like she could double as a runway model.

Her arms lift for a hug but then freeze in place when she sees me.

A scowl slips over her features as she folds her arms over her chest. “Who’s this? ”

“My girlfriend. Tell me about Kellen.”

“Your girlfriend?” she screeches. “She can’t be your girlfriend. I am.”

Aiden snorts. “Fuck sake, Cora, you haven’t been my girlfriend since I came home and found another man’s dick inside you.”

“I said I was sorry. I keep saying it. He meant nothing?—”

“No. I meant nothing, or you wouldn’t have cheated. Now tell me about Kellen’s condition.” His voice is cold, far colder than anything he’s ever used around me before.

“No. I refuse to give up. We were good together. I love you.”

Aiden chuckles, wrapping his arm around me. I won’t lie, I’ve never felt so fucking uncomfortable in all my life, and I’ve done sex scenes in front of a room full of people.

“I didn’t love you, Cora. I liked you and hoped something might develop and grow between us. But now I know it would have just been a waste of both our times. Hell, I should be thanking you. If you didn’t do what you did, I wouldn’t have met Tilly.”

I wince at his words, but Cora physically flinches back.

“Why are you being so mean to me?”

“I’m not trying to be mean. I’m trying to tell you the truth so you stop fabricating some great love story in your head. I’m half in love with this woman.” he nods his head at me, stunning both his ex and me. “I never felt anything like this toward you.”

The silence that blankets the room is suffocating. Just when I think I might scream, the door bangs open, and a police officer walks in.

“Only two visitors at a time,” Cora spits out, glaring at me.

“I’ll wait outside.”

“I can come back,” the cop offers, sensing the room’s tension. I shake my head, needing a moment to take a breath anyway.

“No, it’s fine.” I look up at Aiden, who is clenching his jaw. His grip on my hand tells me he wants me to stay. I step up on tiptoes and kiss his jaw. “I’ll be just outside, I promise. Spend time with your friend. I’m not going anywhere.”

I step away, but he tugs me back, planting another kiss on my lips, not giving a single fuck about anyone else in the room.

“Don’t leave the hospital.”

I roll my eyes. I already told him I wouldn’t. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

The cop snorts, and the nurse gives me a death glare, but I leave the room with a smile on my face and the taste of Aiden on my lips.