Page 23 of Seasons of Love
Aiden was usually chatty as he worked. He'd told me that when he's writing, he needed complete silence, but if he was doing something with his hands, he just couldn't keep his mouth shut.
His words had created a back and forth of comments between us. Just one of the many times we'd flirted all week. I couldn't explain it, but we'd found a rhythm of working and teasing each other that made the evenings go fast too quickly.
I found myself wishing every day away so the afternoon would come and it would be time for Aiden. And most evenings this week, we'd ended up having dinner together at Benny’s.
"Can you give me a hand?" I asked, hoping I could gauge his mood if he was actually facing me.
"Sure."
I explained where he needed to hold the engine while I worked on the last few bolts.
"That's it…nearly there."
With the engine out of the frame, we packed up for the evening.
"Slade?"
"Yeah?"
Aiden cleaned his hands on a rag and looked at the empty frame of the bike.
"How does it feel? Riding a bike?"
I smiled. Riding a bike was like staring into Aiden's eyes. It was scary and exhilarating, pleasure and anxiety.
"Riding a bike is…life, Aiden. It's the scariest thing you can do, but also the most freeing. When you're on a bike, it's just you, the power between your legs, and the road. There are no expectations, no judgement, no history, no past. Sometimes there's no future, but you always have somewhere to go. The destination rarely matters, it's the journey that makes the difference."
I didn't realize Aiden had come closer until his arms wrapped around my waist and I was enveloped in a pine-scented hug.
My heart beat so fast that I wondered if I was at an age where I needed to see the doctor for it, but I knew it was all Aiden. He was the one bringing out all the feelings I mostly shied away from.
"Thank you," I said.
"What? No, I'm the one who needs to thank you for sharing that with me." He stepped away from my embrace and put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
It was such an adorably Aiden gesture.
"Are you doing anything on Sunday?" I asked.
"Not particularly. Do you want to work on the engine? I've been reading the manual. You can test me on it."
That was another uniquely Aiden trait. Despite his initial lack of confidence about the challenge of rebuilding the bike, he'd made it his job to learn everything he could.
"Not quite. Meet me outside at ten on Sunday morning."
"Okay, what are we doing?"
"You'll see."
10
AIDEN
It didn't matter that I'd had a whole day before my date with Slade.
I ran through all my clothing options and still came up short on what to wear. If it wasn't for the certain inquisition I'd get from Tom about this supposed date, I'd have called for his help.
And I definitely did not need anyone else to blow this out of proportion.
