Love Me

“Oh, yeah, tweaked my ankle. I’m fine.”



“I saw you talking to Dawson earlier. Why isn’t he competing?”



“He says he’s sorta over all this high school bullshit.”



Aiden narrows his eyes at me. “You’re mine today. You promised.”



“I know. But I’ll probably be sitting with him to watch. I promised his brother and they’re together.” I smile at him. I mean, how can I not? He looks like a real god.



I hold the marker in front of him.



“What’s that for?”



I smile, pull the lid off, and grab his arm. “Luck, Aiden,” I reply as I draw a four-leaf clover on his bicep.



He catches my neck in his hand, pulls my face close to his, and kisses my forehead. “Now, I can’t lose.”



I go back up in the bleachers, my mind a jumbled mess of thoughts about Aiden’s kisses, Cooper’s sister, and Vincent.



Embry is bouncing in her seat, excitedly waiting for the first race to start. She hands me a goodie bag. “Here, I got you one!”



“Thanks! Are you having fun?”



“Are you kidding? This is the best place ever. I wish I didn’t have to wait until next year. I don’t want to go home.”



“Neither do I,” Pressley says, giving her a hug.



“I don’t want to go home either,” Braxton fake cries from behind the girls, wrapping an arm around each one of their shoulders in a little group hug. “So, there’s this party tonight, ladies.”



“Braxton!” I bug my eyes out at him. “There’s no party.”



Braxton shakes his head. “Obviously, Keatyn doesn’t have this place wired like I do.”



I turn to Dawson and give him a what-the-hell-are-you-going-to-do-with-your-brother look. He shrugs.



Maggie says to the girls, “Keatyn’s right. You can’t go to a party. If you want to come here next year, you shouldn’t jeopardize that.”



Pressley sticks out her bottom lip. “But we like parties.”



Thankfully, the announcer starts calling off the names of the contestants for the first heat in the 100-yard dash.



Riley wins the first heat, beating out Jake and Ace.



Aiden’s heat is next. As he’s getting lined up, Aiden winks at me. How he knows that I’m looking at him from this far away is a little unnerving, but then he flexes his bicep and kisses the clover I drew.



I let out a little sigh. That is wooing.



Maybe there’s hope for us yet.



A hot, godly, tongue-kissing kind of hope.



“Brad’s gonna win this race,” Dawson says from behind me.



“Aiden’s faster than Brad,” Annie says, rolling her eyes at Dawson, while I rub the little glass shamrock that’s in my pocket.



Contestants. On your marks. Get set. Go!



Aiden is the first one out front, but Brad quickly closes the gap.



“That’s the shirtless goalie, isn’t it?” Pressley says reverently. “He’s going to win. He has on gold shoes. Like that god. Was it Hermes? The one that was so fast?”



“He looks like a god too,” Embry snickers under her breath to Pressley. They put their heads together and giggle as Aiden kicks it into high gear and crosses the finish line first.



I don’t care that Dawson is sitting here. I stand up and cheer.



After all the races, there’s a break while the scores get tallied.



“I smell cotton candy,” I say out loud.



“I fucking love cotton candy!” Braxton exclaims.



“Pussy,” Dawson says, hitting him on the shoulder. “You eating pink chick food now?”



Braxton flips him off then stands up, puts his hand to his chest, and yells at the top of his lungs. “To quote Aristophanes, the ancient Greek playwright, ‘ To blurt it out in a word—we want laying!’”



I cover my mouth with my hand, trying not to laugh. I can’t believe he just yelled that from the stands!



He stays in the stands, amidst cheers, while I follow my nose to the cotton candy.



“Hey, wait up,” Maggie yells from behind me. “I’m glad Logan won his heat.”



“Yeah, me too. I heard he’s a really good wrestler.”



She sighs. “He looks really good out there.”



“Why don’t you talk to him?” I ask, while thinking fate needs to figure out a way to get these two back together.



“I tried. I gave up. Part of me feels for Dawson, you know. I know what it feels like to do something and wish more than anything you could take it back.”



Shark bumps Maggie’s shoulder. “You two haven’t bet yet.”



I dig in my bag for some coins and hand them to him. “I’m putting it all on Logan. He needs to win.”



Maggie squints her eyes at me, understanding that I’m not talking about the contest.



He punches my bet into his phone. Then he says, “Oh, here,” and hands me back a temporary tattoo. Of a four-leaf clover.



I shake my head and laugh. “Did everyone get these?”



“A tattoo, yeah,” Shark says, holding out his forearm and showing me a panther with a rose in its mouth.



“Classy,” Maggie laughs.



He reaches in his jacket pocket and hands us his flask. “Ladies?”



“Most definitely,” Maggie says, grabbing it from him and taking a gulp. “In fact, can I have the whole thing?” She pats the other side of his chest. “You always have a spare.”



“You know me too well, Maggie,” Shark flirts.



I shove the tattoo into my pocket and drag Maggie to the cotton candy. We’re holding shots of vodka in our mouth and letting chunks of cotton candy dissolve in it, when Aiden and Logan beeline toward us.



“Shit,” Maggie curses under her breath.



“Congrats!” I tell them both.



Aiden pulls me into his arms. “You look like a goddess and smell like cotton candy. Reminds me of the Ferris wheel.”



“I didn’t look like a goddess then.”



“You always look like one,” he whispers.



I realize that Maggie and Logan are standing there awkwardly.



“Um, so good luck on the rest of the events. We’ll be cheering. Maggie and I have to get back to our students.”



“That’s okay,” Aiden says, patting a tight set of abs. Abs I really want to lick. “We have to go fuel up these bodies.”



I try not to drool but can’t keep from saying, “Yes. Yes, you do.”



“That was awkward,” Maggie says, shoving more cotton candy into her mouth.



We watch the rest of the field competitions. The winners get pared down to just six finalists who must wrestle their way to victory.



After watching all of the wrestling matches, we’re down to Jake and Logan for the championship.



Aiden takes my hand and leads me over to Logan’s side of the mat. It feels odd not being on the same side as Jake and Dawson.



While Aiden fills up Logan’s water bottle, I take the four-leaf clover tattoo out of my pocket and hand it to Logan. “I want you to have this.”



“A tattoo?”



“Yeah. It's for luck.”



“Aiden has been into shamrocks lately,” he says, eyeing me suspiciously, and not taking the tattoo.



“We both want you to have luck.”



“Jake is your friend.”



“Yeah, well, I hope eventually you’ll be my friend too.”



He grins at me.



“I think you should forgive her, Logan.”



“She won’t forgive me.”



“Was she good for you?”



“She was the best thing ever.”



Aiden comes back and hands him the water bottle.



I raise my eyebrows at Logan and shake the tattoo at him. “I’ll even put it on you.”



“Fine,” he says, a little smile playing on his lips.



He stands still while I dump water on a towel, place the tattoo on his arm, and then hold the wet towel against it. After a few seconds, I pull the towel and the paper off and look at the clover now on his arm. “Perfect.”



Logan fist bumps Aiden as he goes out on to the mat. “Wish me luck.”



Aiden puts his hands on my waist and looks straight into my eyes. “Why did you do that?”



“I see how he looks at Maggie.”



“She destroyed him.”



“He said she was the best thing ever.”



Aiden nods. “I was kind of jealous of their relationship last year. They were amazing together. Always happy.”



“Until they weren’t.”



He nods sadly. “Yeah.”



“If they’re meant to be, they’ll get back together, don’t you think?”



“I think he never should’ve let her go in the first place.”



The ref blows the whistle and I go sit on the bleachers to watch the match while Aiden stays to coach Logan.



Maggie takes a seat next to me.



It’s a back and forth battle. One point for Logan. A takedown for Jake.



Then a tied match.



They are grappling and twisting out of each other’s arms, when Logan makes a sweet move, flipping Jake over and pinning his shoulder to the mat.



The ref gets down on his knees and the crowd shouts as he counts by hitting the mat. One. Two. Three.



The ref pulls Logan up and his arm into the sky, proclaiming him the winner.



Maggie forgets who she was supposed to be cheering for and rushes out onto the mat, throws her arms around Logan, and hugs him.



He hugs her back in excitement.



But then he pulls away from her.



Maggie lowers her head just for a minute. Then she straightens up her shoulders and walks tall and confidently over to Jake. Jake grins at her, grabs her around the waist, and kisses her hard as Logan looks on.



Can kisses speak?



10pm



After the banquet, Aiden asks me to go for a walk, leading me down to the gym where we watched the movie on Friday.



“I didn’t get to show you this last night, so I had them leave it up.”



When we get to the door, he says, “Okay, close your eyes.” Then he leads me about ten steps across the gym floor.



I was here watching the movie. What could he possibly want me to see that I didn’t already?



He stands closely behind me, entwines his hands with mine, and rests his chin on my shoulder.



“Open your eyes.” I open them while he continues. “This is the view from a gorgeous hotel in Crete. Someday we’re going to stand on this balcony and watch this sunset together.”



“You had a sunset made for me?”



“I was the liaison between the drama department’s set designers for the gym, like Peyton worked with the art students to do the café.”



“You had a sunset made for me?” I blubber again.



“Yeah. I want to watch a million sunsets with you.”



I can’t speak. I want to stay wrapped in his arms forever and not move.



“We should probably get going before curfew, huh?”



“Yeah,” I say, but I don’t move. I just turn and look into his eyes.



He runs the back of his hand gently across my cheek. We lean towards each other and our lips melt together in a kiss.



Can kisses speak?



I hope so, because I’m trying to tell him everything I’m feeling but am afraid to say.



Aiden’s kisses are so different from any other kiss. Maybe it’s because he’s the God of all Hotties, I’m not sure, but his kisses say so much more.



Did you see the movie, Independence Day? There’s a scene where an alien does some kind of mental telepathy with the President, which allows him to see the alien’s plans.



That’s what it’s like with Aiden. When he kisses me, I feel like I can see our future.



It’s like he has the power to send me mental messages with his mouth.



His mouth. The source of all his power.



I don’t know why this surprises me.



He pulls his lips away from mine. I really wasn’t ready for the kiss to end. I don’t even care that there was no tongue. I’m never ready for it to end.



He moves his mouth to my ear as he slides his hands across the exposed skin on my back. “I’m not quoting Keats this time. Let’s try something else. ‘The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.’”



“That’s beautiful. Who said it?”



“Blaise Pascal. He was a French philosopher in the 1600s.”



“It’s beautiful.”



“You’re beautiful. Like, you take my breath away. Sometimes when you’re tutoring me, I feel like I can’t breathe.”



I feel that way any time he touches me.



And especially when he kisses me, which he does again.



A slow, tender, amazing kiss.



It’s like when Prince Charming kisses Sleeping Beauty. He gives her that single, slow, perfect kiss to wake her up.



That’s how I feel with Aiden. Like he’s waking up something inside of me.



Kissing him is like watching fireworks: a little flash as it goes up in the sky, an explosion of colors, those colors falling and fading in the sky, and then you hear the boom.



Feel the boom. The beat of your heart booming in your chest.



“I’m really glad we’re getting to be friends, Boots,” he says. Then he chuckles. “Well, the kind of friends who kiss.”



What the hell?



Really?



Ohmigawd, I really do not understand him. Why all the wooing if all he wants is a friends with benefits relationship? Why a million sunsets?



You’re like my idol.



1am



Braxton decided he’s going to be the life of the party and, unfortunately, Riley helped him. He’s already tipsy on coconut rum when I meet him at the Cave.