CHAPTER FIVE
“UH …” I MOANED FROM MY BED, MY STOMACH twisting in knots.
“Baby,” Aiden said, standing at the edge of my bed and resting his hands on the wrought iron frame. “You can’t go to school like this.”
“I can’t miss practice again,” I mumbled, putting the pillow over my head to block out the sunlight streaming in my window. “And if I don’t go to school, I can’t very well show up in the gymnasium at three thirty.” I wished Aiden hadn’t pulled up my blinds. My well-dusted furniture was highly reflective, and my room was filled with prisms. They were making me dizzy.
My gut took a sharp turn. “Good golly.” I sat up, dazed, nauseous. “I’m going to be sick again.”
Aiden walked over, holding my elbow out to help me out of bed. “Let’s try and make it to the bathroom this time,” he said.
I’d made it as far as the hallway twenty minutes ago. My parents were setting up for a big show in Seattle and wouldn’t be back until Monday, so Aiden had to take care of my mess. I bet when he showed up for breakfast, he hadn’t expected to find me in this condition. In fact, I don’t think Aiden had ever seen me sick, let alone cleaned my upchuck.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered as I hung over the toilet. I looked back to see Aiden sitting on the edge of the tub, his elbows resting on the knees of his long nylon shorts.
“You’re sick, Tess. Nothing to be sorry about.”
I felt a little better. Moving across the blue slate floor, I slid against the wall and looked at him. He stared back at me and smiled softly, but something was bothering me.
“Why didn’t you call me last night?” I asked. My eyelids felt heavy, and my fingers were trembling, but my gut wasn’t twisted anymore. That was a vast improvement.
Aiden furrowed his brow. “Last night?”
I swallowed, feeling my throat burn, and rested my head against the cool wall. “Yeah. I was sick, and I called you, but you didn’t call me back.”
“I didn’t know you called.”
Aiden stood and walked over, climbing down onto the floor in front of me. He reached out to rub my thigh. “I’m sorry, baby,” he said quietly. “Figured you were sleeping.”
I watched his eyes. They looked honest, worried. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t in SOS mode. I shouldn’t be looking for signs of guilt, like twitching mouths or upturned eyes.
I exhaled and then got to my knees, trying to stand. “Help me get dressed?”
“Tess, I’m not taking you to school. I’m going to call your mom.”
“Don’t! They’re probably sleeping at the hotel.”
Aiden took my hand, helping me to my feet. Then he put his arm around my waist and led me back to my room. “Fine, I won’t call her, but you have to get in bed. Now.”
“No.” I turned, putting my hands on his chest as I tried to make my way to my closet.
Aiden chuckled, taking me by the wrists. “Stop being so f*cking stubborn, Tessa.”
I shot him a look.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so effing stubborn.”
“Better.” And I knew he was right. There was no way I could function in an academic setting at this point. I needed a day in bed. Chicken soup. Possibly a foot rub.
“Will you come over after school?” I asked. Aiden smiled.
“Baby,” he whispered, wrapping me up in his arms and burying his head in my hair. “I’m not going without you. I figured I could stay here and take care of you.” He kissed my ear softly, making a little growl.
It felt good. Even though I’d been throwing up all morning, Aiden had a way of still making me feel beautiful.
“You need to go to class.” But I put my hands under his shirt against his hot skin, hugging him. Snuggling with Aiden sounded like the best medicine ever. But we couldn’t. He was barely passing Language Arts as it was. “Just come back at three.”
“Of course I’ll come back,” he murmured, gently nibbling my neck. “And you better not be sick anymore. I have plans for this weekend.”
I grinned, squeezing him a little tighter. “Oh, yeah? What about your mom?” I tilted my head up to give him better access to my skin.
“Don’t care.” He kissed my collarbone.
“She won’t let you sleep here.”
“That’s why she thinks me and Darren are going camping,” he said, mocking my tone.
I laughed. “I love camping.” I would have kissed him then, but … I’d just vomited. Instead, I moved back and looked up into his green eyes. “I love you,” I said.
He winked. “I know you do, baby.” Aiden patted my rear before he let me go and pulled back my sheets.
I got on the pillow-top mattress, curling up as he covered me. He leaned down and kissed my forehead.
“Take care of that body for me,” he said, smiling.
“You can take care of it when you come back.”
He straightened up and walked to the door. “Oh, I will,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t you worry about that.”
I watched as he left, and when I heard his car start, worry was exactly what I tried hard not to do.
Kira called me at lunchtime. SOS had obtained photographic proof of Selena and Paul. The two had been meeting secretly in the cafeteria storage room. In fact, they’d been hooking up in there. Where our food was kept! Now that was tacky. And completely unsanitary.
On top of that, we’d suspended Corey Panchilla’s investigation even though the stakeout had already been planned. Sometimes our clients got cold feet. I didn’t fault them for that, but it did make our job a little harder. Especially when Leona had already bugged his place.
Plus, we’d gotten a new assignment. It was a good thing I’d let Kira keep the Society of Smitten Kittens’ phone yesterday. I was in no shape to organize a mission. She promised to meet with the girls after practice and give them the skinny.
Kira was really improving. Last year, she was a pill. Totally boy crazy. Sort of easy. But I let her join the squad because I could see her potential. I was talented that way: seeing the good in people. And after a few months, she was a total Smitten Kitten. Polite. Sweet. Great at herkies.
Now if only I could find her a nice guy. I’d thought it was Darren. He was handsome, talented, and friends with Aiden, who had even helped get them together. But Darren cheated, and I couldn’t understand why. Kira was a natural blonde. Who cheated on a natural blonde?
That reminded me—I still didn’t get how Aiden hadn’t known about Darren’s extracurricular activities. I knew everything about my squad. In fact, I even knew that Izzie was menstruating this week!
A quick flash of suspicion flooded me, but I pushed it away. Just because Aiden had seen him talking to Charlie Meyers, didn’t mean he knew they were messing around. No. Aiden would never keep something like that from me. SOS was making me overly suspicious, and it was seriously warping my senses.
By the time Aiden came over, I was feeling better. Not a 100 percent, but easily 95. He appreciated it. He practically attacked me the minute he walked in. He was so cute when he had to be away from me.
“I’m missing the uniform right about now,” he said as he looked me over at the front door.
I laughed, dragging him by the T-shirt into the house. “I’m not going to practice, remember?”
“Yeah,” he said, stepping close to hug me tight. “But I like looking at your legs.”
“You need to calm down, Wildcat.”
He grinned, then stepped back. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re right. I’ll behave.” He straightened up, looking very controlled. And outrageously hot.
“Good,” I said. “I like it when you behave.”
Aiden bit on his lip, staring into my eyes before reaching out to take me by the hand. “No, you don’t, Tess. No, you don’t.”
My stomach fluttered. He was right.
SOS
Dear Cathy Hazard,
Thank you very much for your donation. SOS is a nonprofit organization, and your donations go directly to assisting others with their relationship needs by giving us the funding for the latest surveillance equipment.
We are especially grateful for your inclusion of photographs of you and your new college boyfriend. It truly warms our hearts to see our clients happy.
Once again, thank you for your generosity, and we wish you all the happiness in the world. Have a great day.