Love Novel 29

We pull up to a parking lot, a park in front of us.
I unbuckle my seatbelt, but Aiden grabs my hand and keeps me there. He looks down at our fingers and smiles. “I want
to tell you something before we join everyone else.”
Worry creeps up my skin. “Is something wrong?”
He lifts his eyes to mine and shakes his head. “No. The complete opposite.”
There’s a moment of silence, like peaceful clarity. His lips tremble into that beautiful smile of his and I swear I see tears in
is eyes.
“UCLA told coach they’re interested in me.”
My mouth drops open and I reach for him, wrapping my arms around him. “Aiden. That’s amazing.”
He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. “It doesn’t mean anything yet.”
I pull away and hold his face between my hands. “They’re interested, Aiden. This is how it all starts.”
“They’re going to watch me the rest of the season and see how I hold up, but if I play like I played today, I’ll finally have a
plan for my life.”
My stomach swirls with excitement and I kiss him, pulling on his hair to bring him closer to me until the air I breathe is his
skin.
He kisses me back, his tongue in my mouth and his hands beneath my shirt.
His sweet affectionate touch, finally turns into a hungry grab that has me pulling back to catch my breath.
He grimaces, leaning his forehead on mine. “God, Alina. I want to do so many things to you right now-”
“Yes,” I breathe into him, gripping his arms.
“But we have to go out there, they’re waiting for us.”
I sigh, disappointed and pull away, smiling. “Let’s go then.”
He groans, playfully rolling his eyes as we get out of the car. Immediately I smell the smoke, and the next second I see the warm glow of the bonfire in the distance.
As we walk, hand in hand, I see how the team has gathered picnic tables and set them in a circle around the fire.
Pizzas and drinks are laid out on one table and all the other ones are taken up by the team and a few other people I do
not recognize.
The moment they all spot us, the team breaks out in cheers.
“Captain! Captain! Captain!” They chat, stomping their feet on the ground and shaking the tables.
Aiden smiles wide at them, shaking his head as he takes a seat on one of the picnic tables. His arm wraps around my
waist and he sets me down on his lap.
It takes me only a few minutes to realize this isn’t some rager, loud party. It’s just the team getting together to wholeheartedly celebrate their win and their hard work.
The conversation flows so naturally, the guys complimenting each other and talking about what teams they think they
will beat easily verus the ones they will have to fight for.
I watch Aiden talk, give his opinion and my heart bursts with a new wave of affection. He uplifts them, and by the way
they listen to him, I can tell they think the world of him.
At one point, the conversation breaks and Nikki nudges me to go with her to get food. Aiden lets me go and he talks
with Parker and a few other players.
“I’m starving!” Nikki chuckles, grabbing a few slice of pizza and drinks.
“Me, too.” I don’t know why I lied, my stomach was too busy flipping around inside me for me to be hungry.
“I’ll be at the table, I’m taking this to Parker,” Nikki walks away with a smile on her face and I find myself alone.
I exhale, grabbing a slice to keep up with appearances.
“Hey.”
I look up, to Evan, one of the basketball players. He has a smile on his face and he reaches for a ginger ale.
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“Hey.”
“You having fun?” his tone is friendly but his eyes a bit loose from the drinks.
“Yeah, it’s great,” I reply, smiling.
He studies me for a moment and I frown, trying to read the expression on his face.
“Can I ask you a question?”
I steal a glance to Aiden, who is still in conversation with Parker. “Uh, sure.”
Evan leans in slightly, lowering his voice. “Has Aiden ever told you what happened between him and Zaid?”
The question catches me off guard and I recoil. “What do you mean?”
He purses his lips together. “I’m just wondering.”
Curiosity has me taking the bait. “All I know is that Zaid is not a big fan of Aiden, but beyond that I am not sure. Why? Do
you know?”
He shakes his head. “No. I do know it’s more complicated than that, though. They used to be best friends.”
I blink, shock spreading through me. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah, they were inseparable. They played on the team together. We all did.”
I cough, pressing a hand to my chest. I’ve been harboring guilt for what happened to Zaid, and learning this puts a weird
feeling in my gut. “Really?”
“Yeah, I mean. Have you not seen the pictured in the gym hallway? Zaid was like, really good. Even better than Aiden.”
I steal another glance at Aiden, my nostrils flaring and my heart hammering in my chest. “Really? I had no idea.”
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Aiden’s been secretive about this. On purpose. He knows that it was Zaid that saved me from Will, right? He knows that
he got expelled, right?
“Yeah, Zaid was our team captain before Aiden. He got badly injured one game, everyone saw it. Tore his knee real bad.
They told him he’d never play again. That’s when everything changed. When Zaid changed. You know he went to juvie?”
I nod, swallowing even though my mouth is as dry as the desert. I put my plate down. “Do you know why he went to
juvie?”
“That’s the thing, no one really knows the whole story. Some say he killed someone in an accident, some say he only
injured someone. Something about street racing?”
I grip the end of the table to keep myself upright. Car accident.
Metal, burning metal, fire, gas, asphalt.
I breathe in slow, closing my eyes.
“Alina?” Evan puts his hand on my back to ground me. “You okay?”
I shake my head, hoping Aiden has not noticed me falling apart over here. “I’m good. What else do you know?”
“That’s about it. Aiden and Zaid stopped talking when Zaid got back, and if you bring it up to either one of them, they
get really angry about it. It’s like this huge school secret that no one really talks about. I was just curios if you knew,
because I’m a bit nosey.”
He grimaces like if what he just admitted is the worst thing in the world.
“Please don’t tell Aiden I asked.”
“I won’t,” I shake my head, nerves trembling all throughout.
“Sorry,” He whispers, walking away like he’s trying to sneak away from a ghost.
I stand there, my mind racing with the new information. I look over to Aiden, who is laughing with his teammates,
completely unaware of the the bombshell that had just been dropped on my lap.
Part of me wonders if I even have anything to be angry about.
Aiden is allowed to have his past and his secrets, just like me. I don’t know what happened between them, but it’s not for me to judge.
I return to him and he kisses my forehead. I let myself melt into him, forgetting about the secrets he holds from the past.
I have secrets too, and even now I have no desire to talk about the