More With You (24 page)

“So, you’re still coming next week right?  I have a ton of things planned for us.  I need you with me on this.”

“Yeah, I’ll be there, but maybe I should get a room. I’m not sure how Aiden will feel about me staying there. It’s his house too,” I tell her.

“Not gonna happen.  You have your own room and Aiden will just have to deal.  You two need to talk anyway, hopefully that can happen while you’re there,” Liam says.

“Okay,” I say softly.  Liam gets out and retrieves my bag from the back of his Pathfinder. 

“Give me your keys and I’ll take this in while you two say goodbye,” he tells me.

I hand him the keys and turn to find Allison standing there with her arms open wide, waiting for a hug.  “Trust me, this will work out.  I’ll see you in a week,” she says, squeezing me one last time.  Liam wraps his arms around both of us for a group hug. 

“I love you, Hales.  Everything will work out.  You’ll see.” With that, he releases me and I stand there and wave as they pull away. 

I make my way inside and it feels empty.  I’m all alone again.  I take a long hot shower and curl up with my kindle.  I read until I can’t keep my eyes open.  I’m exhausted from no sleep the night before.  I crawl into bed and sleep claims me. 

I sleep clear through the night.  Thirteen hours.  I still don’t feel rested.  My emotions are draining me.  I pull my hair up in a knot on top of my head, slip into some scrubs, brush my teeth, grab a granola bar, and hit the road.  I’m dreading today because I’ll see Macie. I know she feels terrible and so does Miles. He should. I told him it was a bad idea and that I wouldn’t lie to Aiden. He took that out of my hands by completely catching me off guard. Miles is a good guy, but he has shit for timing. I can’t blame him completely. I should have had the guts to tell him no and to tell Aiden how I felt. I should have followed Aiden and made him listen. Now I have to wait four more days to see him and try to convince him that he is who I want, always.

This week our clinical rotation is at a local nursing home.  I pull into the lot and see Macie standing by the front door.  I assume that she’s waiting on me.  Taking a deep breath, I grab my bag and climb out of my car. I walk slowly to the door. As soon as she spots me, she starts in my direction.

“Hailey, how are you?  I’m so sorry that this happened.  Miles feels terrible.  Hell, I feel terrible.  We both know how you feel about Aiden.  I had no idea that he would take it that far.  He said he was going to flirt and dance close to you, not attack you in front of him.  I ripped him a new ass for you, multiple times.  Kaden too.” She stops, taking a deep breath.

“I’m okay, I guess.  My heart hurts.  I’ve wanted Aiden for years and when he finally says he has feelings for me, not Liam’s little sister, but me, Hailey MacCoy, Saturday night happens.”

“What can we do to help fix this? Miles is a mess,” she asks.

I shrug my shoulders. “He won’t talk to me. I’m going up there Friday night to spend all next week with them. I hope by me being there in the same house, he will finally give me a chance to explain. If not, well, I guess it wasn’t mean to be.”

“Don’t say that. Everything will work out. I saw the way he looked at you. He’s in love with you.”

I laugh.  “He wanted me, yes.  Loves me, no.  Hell, I don’t even think he even likes me right now.”

Macie smiles sadly as we walk through the doors to start our second and final week of clinicals. This is going to be one of the longest weeks of my life. I can’t help but worry about Aiden, about our friendship. Wondering if there is any way he can find it in his heart to forgive me. I send up a silent prayer that he does. He’s all I want.

This week has sucked donkey nuts!  Coach has been riding my ass all week.  I can’t say that I blame him though, I deserve it.  I can’t seem to focus on anything, anything that isn’t Hailey.  I’ve had time to cool down, and I’m now pissed at myself for not punching that fucker and fighting for my girl.  Allison and Liam both keep telling me that it wasn’t what it looked like.  They both keep urging me to talk to her.  She’s going to be staying with us for a week, and will be at our place tonight around eight depending on traffic.  I plan to be in bed, or in my room at least, when she gets here.  I don’t want her first night to be ruined with us fighting.  I want her to feel comfortable here. 

“So, Hales should be here in a few hours,” Liam says as we walk out of the stadium.

“Yep.” I keep it short.  I feel like he and Allison have talked me to death about her and what happened that night.

“You going to let her explain?” he asks.

“I’m sure we’ll talk while she’s here.  Tonight, no.  I want her first night with us to be pleasant.  I’m going to hide out in my room.  Haven’t been sleeping too well this week.  I need to get caught up.” Lame ass excuse I know, but it’s all I got.

“You don’t have to do that, man. I know she wants to see you. She’s scared as hell that you won’t talk to her again.”

I feel a ping of sadness in my chest that she’s scared. I’ve avoided all her calls and messages since that night. I wasn’t ready. “I promise we’ll talk while she’s here. Just not tonight, okay?”

“All right, man. Just let her explain,” he says again.

As soon as we get home, I head straight to the shower. I rush through so I have time to eat and lock myself in my room. Allison comes in the kitchen while I’m making my sandwiches.

“Why are you eating when we’re going out?” she asks me.

“I didn’t know we were going out. I thought Hales was coming tonight.”

“She is and we’re taking her to dinner,” she tells me, hand on her hip, just like my momma used to. I smile at her.

“Thanks, but I’m beat. Haven’t slept much this week.”

“You need to listen to what she has to say.”

“I know, and I will while she’s here.  Not tonight.  I’m exhausted and I don’t have the strength for that kind of conversation,” I tell her honestly.

She nods and I feel myself relax.  I hate this.  I hate that there is tension between all of us.  I hate that no matter how bad she hurt me, I can still taste her.  I can still feel her breath against my neck, the feel of her hips grinding against mine. I miss her like fucking crazy, but she made her choice. I know Liam and Allison say it was a huge misunderstanding, but I saw it with my own two eyes. They didn’t see what I did. If they did, they would understand this pain I feel.

I scarf down my sandwich and a glass of milk. I say goodnight and retreat to my room. It’s seven thirty. She will be here anytime. I can’t deal with it tonight, but I have a feeling that I’ll sleep better knowing that she’s sleeping in the room next to mine, alone.

At eight o’clock I hear Allison squeal. Hailey’s here. I hear voices and they get louder. They’re in the hall outside my door.

“Is Aiden here?” I hear her ask.

“Yeah, he’s exhausted. This week has been tough. Coach has been riding him. His focus has been shit this week,” Liam tells her. At least he was honest without completely ousting me.

“I miss him,” she says and it breaks me. I can hear the sadness in her voice and I want to fling open the door, pull her inside, and lock her in here with me. I want to rewind to last Saturday by the pond, when everything in my world made sense. When Hailey was in my arms and the thought of her being mine looked like a real possibility.

I hear Allison showing her around her room.  The room that I furnished and decorated for her, to make her feel like this was her home, too.  Anytime she wanted to be here, I want her to feel like she can be.  I want her to know that she is still a part of us, even though we now live three hours away.  I was so excited to show it to her.  Instead, Allison gets to.  She gets to see Hailey’s face light up with happiness. 
Fuck my life!
  I hear their footsteps go back down the hall, and eventually, the front door closing.  They’re gone.  I hope to be asleep by the time they come back, afraid the will to see her will be too strong, and I won’t be able to resist.

I toss and turn for the next two hours, not able to relax. I hear the front door open. They’re home. They talk for a few minutes and then silence. I hear Liam and Allie’s bedroom door shut and I wait for Hailey’s. I quietly climb out of bed and tip toe to the door and rest my ear against it. Did I miss it? It’s then that I hear her soft voice.

“God, Aiden. I hope I can make this right. I hope I can make you understand. I can’t lose you. I’m in love with you,” she whispers. I hear her walk to her door. I hear her enter and close the door.

I stand there at my door shocked, confused, and angry.  Too many emotions flowing through my veins.  I slide to the floor and bring my knees to my chest as I run my fingers through my hair.  She didn’t know I could hear her.  She thought I was asleep.  She poured her heart out to my bedroom door.  This is the second time Hailey has said those three little words to me.  The first time, she was asleep and I wasn’t really sure she knew what she was saying.  There was large amounts of alcohol involved.  Tonight, well tonight, she was wide awake.  Her voice was soft and clear, no alcohol choosing her words for her.

I want nothing more than for her to love me. Love me as much as I love her. For the first time since that night, I feel hopeful. Maybe we can figure this out.

I get to my feet and drag myself to bed. I fall asleep quickly knowing that Hales is next door, safe and apparently she loves me.

I wake up to a quiet house. I use my private bathroom, brush my teeth, and make my way to the kitchen. There is a note on the counter from Allison.

I look up at the clock and see that it’s nine thirty. 
Holy shit!
  I never sleep this late.  I grab a box of cereal from the cabinet and make myself a bowl for breakfast.  Allison comes in just as I’m finishing up.

“Hey, you.  Sleep okay?”

“Actually, yes.  I’ve been up about ten minutes or so.  So what’s on the agenda for today?” I ask her.

“We have the wine tasting at seven.  Liam and I have an appointment at the jeweler to look for wedding bands at five, so would you mind meeting us there?  Aiden is meeting us there also.  He’s at the stadium most of the day.  They’re doing a tour for children with special needs and Aiden volunteered to be there for the meet and greet.  Liam wanted to, but we have a lot to get done before the season starts,” she explains.

My shoulders sag in defeat.  It looks like I won’t get to see Aiden and beg for forgiveness until tonight. 

“The rest of the day is open. I thought maybe you and I could go to lunch and go shopping. You know, just hang out. I’ve missed you.”

That sounds perfect. Let me grab a shower and then we can go.”

I quickly finish off my cereal, rinse out the bowl, and place it in the dishwasher before scurrying off to the shower. I’m excited to spend the day with Allison. I’ve missed being able to just hang out with her.

An hour later, we are pulling into the local mall.  Allison begins dragging me from store to store, and I can’t help but smile.  I really missed this.  This is the first time I have smiled since the night I allowed Aiden to walk away from me.  On the drive here, Allison told me not to worry, that everything would work out.  She and Liam both told me that last night as well.  I hope to hell they’re right.