The Bad Boys Exception

Chapter 49

I get broken out of my thoughts by a presence sitting beside me, I turn to the intruder and I'm surprised to see Aiden.

We sit in silence for a moment, neither of us knowing what to say. I would have gotten up and left but I enjoyed being in Aiden's presence too much.

"I'm sorry about earlier," Aiden says after a minute. I look at him in surprise and he takes this as his queue to continue.

"I was a dick. I didn't even make sure you were okay after seeing your ex-boyfriend," Aiden finishes.

I smile at him; "if this is your way of asking me if i'm okay now, I am."

Aiden grins back, "so that's the lucky guy that took your virginity?"

Aiden POV:

"Ha. Ha. Very funny," she laughs sarcastically. She looks so cute when she's being sarcastic.

"Hey I'm just saying," I grin.

"I saw you talking to Tiffany, what's happening there?" Em asks. As soon as she says the words I can see that she regrets it but I was extremely happy to hear them. Was there any chance she could be jealous? Was there any chance she could return my feelings?

"Nothing at all is happening there, I regret talking to her at all. I thought that maybe she had become more tolerable but I was dead wrong, now she won't leave me the hell alone!!" I quickly reply, hoping she sees that I don't have any interest in Tiffany because my mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of her.

She nods, turning back to face to the ocean. Once again I was unable to read her.

🎵🎤🎶

"You know, I've told you everything about Katherine but I know barely anything about your ex," I attempt to joke. I had to know, was there still anything between them? It surely looked like it this morning when they saw each other. My stomach drops at the thought and  I find myself jealous of this wimp I've never even met before.

"What do you want to know?" She smiles back. I fucking love her smile.

"Well for one, do you still love him?" I ask, looking at her. She moves a little away from me and it's only then when I realize how intense my stare must have been. I had never wanted anything more than her to say no.

"No," is her immediate response, my heart instantly begins beating faster and a newfound hope sits in my stomach, she continues. "He was always more into the relationship than I was because the relationship happened just as Maddi was dying and I had more important things to deal with. I mean I think I loved him at one point but if I'm being honest, I think I stopped loving him a long time before I broke up with him to move to Pearlacre. He's just a really amazing guy and I guess I liked the familiarity and comfort of him." She finishes, looking into the horizon.

Her words confuse me, she said that she didn't have any feelings for him but the way she talked about him sounded different. I have to remind myself of the quote she once told me about wanting something that was all-consuming and dangerous, I knew that by the way she talked, her relationship with Justin was neither of those things.

Whether I believed her or not, there was still something that had been bothering me from the first time I laid eyes on him. "Do you think he's still in love with you?"

Em looks at me and a pained expression passes through her beautiful blue eyes that looked eerily like the ocean we were traveling on. "Honestly Aiden, I think I still mean as much to him as Katherine means to you." She finally manages.

Her words shock me, what did Katherine have to do with this? What did she mean by that? Does she think I'm still in love with Katherine? I remember telling her a little while ago that I still felt something for Katherine, but I never said I was still in love with her because I'm not. I admit there are some unresolved feelings and emotions that I still haven't figured out, but I knew that I wasn't in love with her. I hadn't been for years.