Karen was quiet too quiet during the car ride. And Aiden didn’t like that. But no matter how much he tried to get her to talk to him, she didn’t open up. He could almost sense her sorrow and confusion. And he could damn well understand where her feelings came from. Thus, after a while, he stopped all attempts to lighten up the atmosphere, and opted for silence instead.
He hurt for her. His heart ached for her.
“You should just take me to Mason’s,” were the first words she uttered as she straightened up in her seat.
Aiden hit the brakes so hard, she was propelled forward. His hand shot out to steady her, and he could thank both his werewolf reflexes and the seatbelt for his mate’s safety.
“Mason’s?” He all but growled out the name.
Should have ripped the boy to shreds the moment I saw him, his wolf said angrily.
“Yeah, I’ll give you the directions,” she said off-handedly, seemingly not picking up on his murderous mood. “He doesn’t live too far from school.”
“You’re kind of missing the point here, Karen,” he said through gritted teeth as he flipped his finger at the driver who had honked at him from behind.
“He’s my best friend,” she told him, shrugging dismissively.
“He’s a horny teenage boy,” he retorted, not missing a beat.
“And you are not?” She shot right back at him.
That had the knack to shut him up, but not for long.
“You’re not going there,” he told her sternly, unable to think of Mason as nothing but her best friend… and that stung.
“I don’t recall asking for your permission,” she told him, her eyes shooting daggers at him.
Good god, I love them feisty!
You’re missing the point, you horny dog, Aiden told his wolf.
I’m a horny wolf, thank you. And I’m missing no point. She’s not going.
“Let’s be reasonable here, Karen,” he tried a different approach. “How about you crash at my house tonight? And if you don’t like it there, I’ll drive you to Mason’s myself first thing in the morning.”
“No,” she cried out. “I want to go to Mason’s.”
“What’s the difference between him and me?” Aiden wondered sullenly.
“Well, for starters, I’ve known him for much longer than I have known you,” she said, holding her right thumb up in the air. “Also, he’s my best friend. Have I told you that?” She held up her forefinger next. “And he’s fucking gay. I know for a fact that he wouldn’t make a move on me.”
“I wouldn’t either,” Aiden said on a sigh, “not unless I had your consent.”
“I don’t trust your word much at the moment,” she said flatly, “you said you would just make sure my dad wouldn’t do anything to me. Look where that got me!”
“Karen,” he pleaded with her to see reason.
This is getting out of control, he sighed inwardly.
“Don’t Karen me,” she bit out, “you said you’d protect me, not that you’d make me move in with you.”
“By doing so, I am protecting you in my own way,” he said before shaking his head and giving in, “Give me the damned directions.”
** ** ** ** ** **
When the car stopped in front of Mason’s house, Karen who had been mostly silentl except for giving Aiden the directions turned to the one boy who had gotten under her skin, and whom she couldn’t shake off it would seem, and told him amiably, “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“It’s okay,” he grumbled. “I kind of deserved that since I wasn’t completely honest with you.”
She frowned at his words, not knowing what to make of them.
Almost as if he sensed her confusion, he plastered a sweet smile on and told her teasingly. “Get going before I ravage you in the car, consent be damned.”
She felt the need to taunt him back, “You’re all bark and no bite.”
He had the nerve to laugh at her attempt to tease him back. And she couldn’t help but smile at him.
She didn’t know where her mixed feelings came from. A part of her wanted to trust Aiden, and to give in to his advances, consequences be damned, but the other part of her the sensible one wanted nothing more than to run for the hills, never to appear before him again.
Indeed, Aiden’s smile was infectious, and she could feel her lips stretch each time to mirror his. But it also felt like there was a lot he wasn’t telling her. Her heart and brain warred viciously. And in the end, she had chosen to remain safe and spend the night at Mason’s.
Who knew what could happen at Aiden’s place after all?
Okay, maybe she was overthinking it, but she’d rather be safe than sorry. Karen didn’t have the time to play games with horny teenage boys all to be discarded after a week.
Besides, a guy like Aiden must have had his fair share of girls. Why was he so interested in her?
“I should get going,” she told him after he had stopped laughing, unable as she had been to stop herself from wanting to listen to his deep hearty laugh.
“Okay,” he nodded at her. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“Sure,” she said with a hesitant smile before opening the passenger door and exiting the car.
She reached out into the trunk of the car to get her bag.
She looked back at Aiden who was watching her with a small smile on. She sighed, unnerved as she was by the mixed feelings she was experiencing, and then walked the few steps that led her to Mason’s door.
Mason, whom she had naturally informed of her need to crash at his place, was waiting for her at the door with a smile.
His smile dropped a little when he saw her.
How was she going to explain her facial bruises?
Why hadn’t she thought this through?
Karen, you idiot! Are you going to shout it on the roofs? She admonished herself almost angrily.