Constellations, move over. Y’all got nothin’ on the pull of Aidan Burke’s devastatingly intense gaze.

“No,” he whispers quietly, almost like he knows exactly what I mean by “talk.”

A lump forms in my throat, because I know this should be the end, but my gut is screaming no and my heart is all but reaching out through my chest and latching on to this guy. This guy who’s surprised me from day one with his tender touch and rich laugh. And I so have an obsession with his laugh, but fuck. It’s so incredibly addictive and infectious and happy that I’d have to be Voldemort not to appreciate it for what it is.

And that is perfection.

His laugh is the only fucking perfect thing about him, but that’s okay, because his imperfections are goddamn irresistible, too.

His hand cups my cheek, and my lips part, but he brushes his thumb over them, and closes my mouth. “Don’t care,” he murmurs. “Baby, if we have only twenty-four hours, let me convince you it’s been worth every single second we’ve spent together.”

I turn my face into his palm. “How do— How did you know that’s what I was going to say?”

“It might surprise you, sunshine, but I pay attention to what you do.” His lips curve. “I gave into the fire that is you, Jessie, and sweet fuck, I got burned. I’ll welcome every scar you leave. As long as you know that this relationship has been more than the lie I first promised.”

“I don’t want your scars, Ads,” I whisper. “I don’t want to look in the mirror and see you when I shouldn’t.”

“Then don’t,” he responds simply. “You are you. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. I don’t want you to look in the mirror and see me. I want you to see you. The second you see me is the second you change from the person I know into a stranger.”

“You’re making this hard.”

“Good.” The word ghosts over my lips. “If this conversation is easy, then this really is a lie.”

“I like lies.”

“Me, too, baby. But sometimes lies accidentally become truths.”

“I don’t want the truth,” I whisper. “The truth is scary and blunt and brash. The truth hurts, rocker boy, and I don’t want to hurt.”

“Neither do I, so let’s live our lie until I convince you to accept our truth.”

“You can try.” I swallow. “But lies cut deeper. It’ll always be there. You know that, right? You can do whatever you want, say whatever you want to say, but lies will always scream louder than the truth could ever hope to. You can hook the truth up to Madison Square Garden in the middle of a Linkin Park concert and it’ll still be a fucking whisper.”

His fingers twitch against me. “Sounds like you’ve already given up.”

I don’t answer.

“Get your ass in my truck,” he growls, grabbing my bag and spinning me in its direction. “Twenty-four hours. If I haven’t made you believe in that time, you can go, and I’ll let you.”

“You—you’ll let me?”

“I’m a man not a mouse. I won’t give someone my everythin’ who ain’t willin’ to take it.” He turns back, eyes boring into mine. “You gonna let me?”

Again, I don’t answer.

I can’t.

The intensity in his eyes is too much.

“Your ass. My truck. Now, Jessica.”

I snatch my arm back, annoyance bubbling. “It’s Jessie!”

“I know, but it made you fuckin’ talk. Now move.”

I open my mouth to call him an asshole or an idiot or some variation of, but the knowing smirk on his face, lighting up his eyes, makes me close it again. I seal my lips into a thin line and snatch my bag from him, slinging it over my shoulder.

He takes it straight back, and for a long moment, we stare at each other.

“Fine!” I snap, stomping past him and down to his truck. “But your sweet-ass idiot chat back there hasn’t changed a thing.”

He dumps my bag in the trunk as I buckle in and fold my arms in defiance. Good fucking grief, I’m a toddler dressed up as a fully grown adult.

Aidan climbs into the truck, and with a slam of the door, looks at me, that motherfucking smirk still on his lips. “I know, sunshine.”

That’s all he says as he starts the engine and pulls out onto the quiet road.

Just “I know, sunshine.”

“Bastard!” I scream as we shoot downward at an inexplicable speed. I, thankfully, close my mouth at the very last second. Aidan’s grip on me tightens for a brief second as we smash into the pool at the end of the slide. We separate, and I put all my effort into going upward.

The first thing I hear when I break the surface is his laughter. “I am doing that again!”

“On your own!” I sputter, wiping my hand down my face and breaking into a swim. I find the steps and pull myself out. “Holy shit,” I say to him. “You could have warned me I’d be going down in a Formula One car!”

His laugh simply gets louder, and he sweeps me against him. “But then I wouldn’t have gotten to hear that cute little scream you made.”

“Cute? You wanna sit in front of me? I took the brunt of that whole damn slide!” I shove him away. “I almost died!”

Kye hands me a towel, his laugh just as loud as Aidan’s. “Yes,” he drawls. “Look at all those cuts and bruises you have. Holy shit—did you break your foot?”

I look down instantly, and when I see my foot in one piece, I take the towel and whip it against Kye’s side. “Fuck you!”

Aidan grabs the towel and wraps me in it. “You wanna go again? We go again, and I’ll go in front.”

“Nope,” I refuse. “I’m gonna take Mila on the lazy river.”

“A dragon statue roars.”

“And cold water drips down,” Kye adds.

“Sure you can handle it?” they say together.

I look between them, from blue eyes to blue eyes. “Y’all need to stop that creepy shit before I sign you up for Spielberg’s next horror movie,” I warn, backing away. I wipe my face with the towel and throw it to Aidan balled up. “Me. Mila. Lazy River. Safe,” I stress.

“Wazy liver?” Mila gasps, running over to me from her stroller. “What?”

I smile. “We get rings and float along. I can spin you. And there’s a crocodile that roars!”

“Oh! My want!”

I glance up at Sofie. She shrugs. “Go ahead. I kinda wanna go on this thing . . . with Conner in front of me.”

“Harness yourself to him,” I warn her, taking Mila’s hand.

She waves her hand at me. “I had a baby. I can take a waterslide.”

Snorting, I wave good-bye over my shoulder and lead Mila to the nearest lazy river entry point. She flaps her arms excitedly in her Cinderella swimsuit as the lifeguard hands me a baby tube. Thank God we’re the only people in the park—none of that ridiculously long waiting for the baby tube.

“My!” she yells, reaching for the tube. “My!”

I lift her onto it, and the guard expertly hands me an adult tube while holding Mila steady in her baby one. Unlike hers, there’s no bottom to mine, so I rely on his grip to hold the hoop steady while I jump in and take the handle of Mila’s.

“Ahhh, wazy,” she coos, lying right back.

I laugh, kicking my feet in the cool water so we move a little quicker than the current.

“My lub Uncy Ads,” she says, turning to face me.

“That’s not hard,” I reply honestly.

“He lemme pay drums. Boom boom!” she giggles, slapping her hands against her thighs. “Phooey. Hot.”

“Very,” I agree. “You want shade?”

She nods, and I reach over her with my hand, flapping my fingers so she’s fanned, too. “Silly Jessie,” she giggles. “No shade. Just waves! Whoosh!”

“Silly Jessie!” I laugh and kick off the side when my tube turns away from her.

“Uh oh!” Mila cries. “Jessie! Where you?”

“Here.” I grab the handle of her inner tube again. “See? Hiya!”

“Iyah!” She grins, her cheeks bulging with happiness.

“Raaaarrrrr!”

I lose my grip on Mila’s tube and spin into the side as a body goes barreling past me. I focus on the back of Aidan’s head as it pops up from beneath the water, and he has a tight grip on Mila’s small white ring.


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