The kiss meant more to Aurora than she realized. When she pulled away, she peeked through her lashes to look at Tom, to see how he was reacting to it. He had always been difficult to read and right now was no exception. She pulled away from him and they watched the last bit of the show before they stood from their seats.

"Ready to go, then?" he asked.

Aurora couldn't put the words together so she simply nodded her head and shoved her heads in the pocket of her jacket. How could he so easily dismiss kissing her? He was the one who initiated it, not her. And yet, he was pretending as though the kiss itself never happened.

As they made the slow trek up Main Street, her heart pounded in her chest and every inch of her skin was buzzing with energy. If anyone touched her, she would feel it more so than she normally would have. They didn't exchange any friendly conversation. Aurora didn't trust her voice at the moment and Tom… She wasn't sure why Tom was quiet. Normally, she prayed for such moments because they rarely happened, but now, all she wanted was for him to open his mouth and say something, anything that might be a good indicator of where the two currently stood now.

It was a ten-minute walk to the park exit simply because of the crowd. Aurora felt like cattle being herded to a safe point on a farmer's land, perhaps being led to slaughter, perhaps being led to a better place to feed. She did not know. The night was cool, despite the fact that it was summer, and she zipped up her jacket even more, wanting to tuck her chin beneath the soft material.

Tom stood beside her the whole time, keeping pace. Every now and then, their shoulders brushed. He didn't immediately yank away but he didn't linger, either. Not once did he look at her. He kept his eyes straight ahead, at whatever he was looking at in front of him. She saw a couple of women close to them in the crowd look at him a little too long. It could mean that they recognized that he was a hockey player, but Aurora thought it was because they were admiring how attractive he was.

When she felt herself bristle at the thought, she paused her step. Why would she care if other women found him attractive? That wasn't exactly a lie. He was attractive—until he opened his mouth.

And yet, she couldn't help the wretched feeling tumbling around her insides to claw away at her.

"You all right?"

Tom's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah," she said slowly. "Why?"

"You stopped walking in the middle of the street and you hate when people do that," Tom said.

It was only then that Aurora realized people were shooting her annoyed looks and muttering under her breath because Tom was right. She had stopped walking just before the turnstiles and was causing an obstruction.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head. "I'm just tired. I guess Michael got invited to a pub crawl tomorrow and he texted me earlier in the day to ask if I could drive you guys around."

"I forgot about that," Tom said.

Aurora started walking. She didn't want to be the asshole who was inconsiderate about the world around her. Tom followed suit and they migrated to a long line of people waiting to get on the tram.

"Would you rather just walk it?" he asked. "I don't mind either way, but we'll probably get back to the structure sooner if we head through Downtown Disney than wait."

"Actually, that sounds perfect," Aurora said. She didn't trust herself if she was going to stand still. She needed a healthy way to get the energy out of her system, and what better way to do that than walking?

"I remember Michael saying something to me about the pub crawl," Tom said, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "I just didn't realize he asked you to be the designated driver. I just assumed we were going to be taking an Uber or something."

Aurora shook her head. "From what he told me, he doesn't want to pay an Uber the whole night to wait around for everyone," she said.

"What did you tell him?" Tom asked. He accidentally bumped her shoulder and Aurora felt herself freeze. It was almost like it was too soon after the kiss to be touching. "I'm sure driving a bunch of hockey players up and down the Pacific Coast Highway is not how you pictured your night."

"Yeah, well." Aurora shrugged. "I didn't know what to tell him, so I just took notes. He really didn't ask, if I'm being honest. He just told me he was going to need me tomorrow night and that he would pay me for it."

"Did he invite you to join us?" Tom asked. They had to slow down their walking because they came to a large family taking their time as they stopped and looked at the restaurants that made up the outdoor mall. Aurora had to bite the inside of her bottom lip to keep from snapping, especially considering that she was one of these people only a few moments before.

"Like, participate?" Aurora asked. She shook her head. "Nope. Not that I wanted to in the first place. I'm probably just going to hang out in the car the whole time. Which is fine. It's the perfect excuse to catch up on some reading."

"Wait, wait, wait," Tom said, taking a step back from Aurora so he could look at her completely. He shook his head. "So my brother demands you work at night driving us around to different bars and doesn't even ask you if you want join in? Regardless of the fact that you wouldn't want to do that, that's a little rude."

Aurora smiled to herself. Tom was right. What Michael asked her to do was rude, but how was she supposed to respond? Sorry, boss, but that's not happening? Aurora still wasn't sure if Michael would bring her out to work with him once he did make a decision. All signs pointed to him doing so, but Michael kept things close to his chest until he actually took action. Pittsburgh didn't know the brothers weren't going to re-sign until they offered him a contract and Michael refused. Because Michael didn't want to come back, Pittsburgh chose not to re-sign Tom, either. Aurora didn't know if they made the assumption that Tom didn't want to return without his brother or if they didn't see the point of having Tom without Michael. Either way, both let their contracts expire. Pittsburgh was pissed, but Michael didn't care and Tom couldn't actually do anything about it.

The walk to the Disneyland parking structure was brisk and crowded. No one seemed too much in a rush to get home. Everyone was taking their time and, minus a few exceptions, no one was being a hindrance to others.

Aurora felt sorry for the parents pushing strollers. She saw people zip in front of them with no regard whatsoever, cutting them off like they had the right away because they weren't pushing sleeping toddlers. She had hoped parents would teach them lessons and just push the plastic bumper of the stroller into their ankles, but so far, she had yet to see that happen.

"Are you going?" Aurora asked as a mom let her sleepy child press the button to the crosswalk. The two stopped walking and waited for the light to turn green.

"Yeah, I think so," Tom said. "Don't worry. I've learned my lesson. No beautiful women for me. It's a good thing I already lost my phone and my wallet."

"You didn't lose them, they were stolen from you," Aurora said. "Just be smart about the whole thing. There are still good people in this world, you know? And good women too. Just maybe not at bars or waitresses."

He laughed. "You're really cutting my options down, aren't you?" he teased. "I guess I'll have to settle for event coordinators and personal assistants."

"Whoa, we don't want to stretch." Was Aurora actually flirting with him? How was this so natural for her? Inside, she was shaking. She thought she sounded like a shrill shrew and that Tom was going to see through how cool she thought she was being at any second. "Those office and assistant types probably aren't going to want to dick around. They want a commitment."

"Oh, really?" Tom took a step closer to Aurora as the sidewalk started to fill up more. "And how do you know all I'd be doing was dicking around?"

Aurora felt her breath disappear. She watched as his eyes dropped to her mouth and lingered. Could he—did he want to kiss her again? She rubbed her lips, almost as though she were preparing for it. She wanted him to kiss her again. Her heart pounded against her chest the way someone might pound against the back of a choking victim to pop an obstruction out of their airway.

"You're right," she forced herself to say. She turned her head and looked at the construction site. Apparently, Disney was building another structure in preparation for Star Wars Land opening next year. "I shouldn't make assumptions. You have the power to change."

"You really think so, or are you just saying that?" Tom asked. He seemed genuinely curious regarding her assessment.

"I think," Aurora said, grateful for the time to slow her thoughts down, "you can do anything you set your mind to."

"Really?" Tom asked. He seemed genuinely surprised by what she said and her heart broke because of it. Did he really think so little of himself?

"Of course I do," Aurora said. "Why do you think I criticize you so much? It's not because I think you're incapable. It's the opposite."

They came to a stop as they waited for a tram to pass. From there, one of the workers waved their group through and they began to head toward the escalators.

"Tom, to be honest, you frustrate me a lot because you have so much potential but you ignore it," she said. "This whole thing about you and Michael being a team is great, but I think you forget that you're just as much a part of the team as your brother. And when you make dumb choices, I know it's because you're acting out because you don't have confidence in who you are. That's what I mean when I tell you to grow up. Not that I think you're irresponsible or immature—most of the time. But because you choose to ignore how awesome you are. For some strange reason, you compare yourself to Michael and I think that's shit."

Tom's eyebrow wrinkled his brow. They stepped onto the escalator and Aurora leaned against the handrail.

"What am I supposed to do?" Tom asked, throwing his arm out. "Everyone talks about me with Michael. Sometimes, they'll talk about Michael without me, but never me without Michael."

"Who gives a shit what other people think?" Aurora said. They stepped off the escalator and started to head to the car. "You're better than that. You're better than how you behave sometimes. That's what I mean by dicking around. Don't let Michael dictate how you play. How you act. Who you like, who you don't like. You are in control of your actions. You are in control of your life. And I realize I sound like a self-help guru, but it's the truth."

"Thanks, Rory," Tom said, giving her hand a little squeeze.

She didn't want him to ever let it go.