He scooted closer and put his arm on the back of the couch behind me.
“I don’t blame you, Em. I don’t expect you to understand why I don’t turn him in. I’ve realized what you and I have is a hell of a lot closer to love than what I had with Devon.”
I curled into his side. “I love you too, Drewskie.”
“So what about Singleton?”
My heart still stuttered at the sound of his name. “What about him?”
“This thing between the two of you, the thing he’s willing to risk jail time for. Is it love or what?”
Somehow in all the chaos of my life, I hadn’t stopped to contemplate this yet.
Did I love Aiden?
I cared about him. I thought about him constantly. I lived for the moments we spent together.
He built me a shed to paint in, bought me new clothes, and put chocolate cake in my locker.
I loved how he made me feel. Alive, cherished and cared for and like my future was full of hope and possibility.
“It’s complicated,” was all I could say.
I knew how I felt. But I also knew it was something I needed to tell Aiden before I told Drew.
Because even if the feelings weren’t reciprocated, I loved him. I loved Aiden Singleton, hockey player, high school history teacher, taker of my virginity.
Strangely, this wasn’t as upsetting as I expected it to be.
Maybe I was emotionally exhausted from watching so many hours of Drew’s cult classic melodrama or just plain exhausted from staying up so late. Maybe I was simply okay with this revelation.
I sighed and Drew laid his head atop mine.
His voice was a whisper when he spoke, as if he was as close to drifting off as I was.
“For what it’s worth, he either really wants to go to jail, or he loves you too.”
