Page 22 of Eight Weeks
His eyes stay on me the whole time. Even when Lily gets up and walks up to him, slapping her hand against the glass right where his forehead leans on. And even when he feels the vibration, his eyes still stand connected with mine.
Something passes between us. Something oddly familiar but also completely new.
It’s a strange feeling, one I’ve never felt before. A shiver that doesn’t just touch the surface of my skin but also digs deeper.
It’s like my whole blood has been exchanged with lava, but not hot enough to kill me either.
The way his eyes linger on mine, then slowly wander down my neck leaves my skin burning. At least until I realize why he keeps looking at me with such intensity.
The. Goddamn. Necklace.
14
Aaron
“you’re fucking with my head so shamelessly”—Hoping by Alycia Marie
She’s wearing it.
Sofia is wearing the necklace.Mynecklace. The very one I gave her and said to never take off.
Guilt tugs on to my heart when I realize how happy this makes me, knowing fully well I haven’t worn mine in years. And she’s wearing hers still. Even after all these years.
I shower and get dressed in record time. For once, I don’t even wait until everyone else has showered, one thing I usually do because I cannot shower with people around.
As soon as I wear the most necessary clothes—shirt, pants, and shoes—I’m out the door. So is Miles, but he has a whole other reason to leave as quick as possible.
And yet our destination is the same.
“Will you be there tonight?” I ask Miles as we race down the hall toward the exit of the arena. Even though it’s Monday, the guys are meeting up for drinks tonight at Brites. Call it the celebration-of-a-new-week drinking.
Miles shakes his head. “No. I promised Brooke a movie night. And you know how much I hate leaving her in the hands of a stranger.”
True. And he certainly can’t bring her to the bar. Guess we’ll see a lot less of Miles from now on. Or not. He’s our best friend after all. That means parties will from now on be held at our houses. At least team-celebratory parties. Nothing too wild. One has to keep a certain four-year-old in mind.
Lily and Sofia are standing right outside of the arena. My sister has little Brooke in her arms, trying to soothe her as she’s crying. And just like that, Miles is out the door even faster than I could blink.
As soon as I make my way out as well, I hear Miles say, “What happened?” when he takes his daughter from my sister.
I don’t wait to hear an answer even though I’m interested to find out why she’s upset. I don’t have the time to find out because the person I’m desperate to talk to is making her way across the parking lot to get away as fast as possible.
“Sofia!” I yell after her, but she ignores me. Not sure why the hell she would ignore me now. I haven’t done anything to her, and I truly just want totalk.
Catching up with her isn’t going to be difficult, though I do have to say, she seems to be quite the fast walker. I actually have to jog after her instead of taking bigger steps only.
“Sofia,” I repeat the second I reach her, laying my hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking. She tenses at my touch and doesn’t turn around. It’s as though she is praying that if she doesn’t react, I’ll just go away.
Tough luck, that’s not how I handle things.
“Let me drive you home,” I offer, walking around her so we would be standing face to face.
“My uncle offered to pick me up.” Her lips twitch at her obvious lie.
Why does she have to be so stubborn? I just want to talk to her about the necklace.
If she is still wearing it, do you think she is still hoping that one day we’d end up together like I promised we would?
I’ll admit, she was the first girl I ever been interested in, even after she moved away. I had to force myself not to follow up on her on social media for my very own sanity.
