Aiden Harper

Someone has a secret

Aiden

After that day at the park with Eden, I would spend time in her orbit whenever she wasn't working. I also hung out at the cafe or bakery while she worked and read. I would read one chapter in the book Conner gave me, then read books on my phone. If anyone bothered Eden, I bothered them.

"What are you reading?" Eden asked, peering over my shoulder.

"Books." I clicked out of my reading app and set my phone down.

Eden sat across from me with her coffee. "Why kind of books?"

"Do you want to know?"

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't," she said as she sipped her coffee.

"Cheesy romance novels."

She spat her coffee at me and started coughing, trying to catch her breath. I handed her a napkin so she could wipe the coffee from her nose and mouth, and I wiped my face from the coffee shower.

"Did you say you read cheesy romance novels?" She asked after coughing.

I nodded. "I enjoy a good train wreck story. The guy is a dipshit and believes the OW, while the main character is innocent. It isn't until she leaves his stupid ass he realizes what a dipshit he is for believing the OW's bullshit."

Eden stared at me and drank her coffee, listening to my take on cheesy romance novels.

"Why are all guys in these stories dumbfucks? Does the author hate men? Do they realize not all men are lying, cheating assholes?"

Eden still stared at me while drinking her coffee.

"And what the fuck is wrong with these men? Ow, so and so pushed me. I twisted my ankle. Can you kiss my lying ass? Of course, the dumbfuck does because he's a dumbfuck while the main is suffering in silence. Fuck that bullshit. The main should beat the shit out of the dumbfuck and OW and find a decent guy who works in a garage." I smiled.

Eden still stared and sipped her coffee in silence before speaking. "I've never heard a guy give an accurate account of romance stories. I've never seen a guy read one." She cocked her head and squinted her eyes. "Are you real? You're not part of my imagination, are you?"

"Yes, I'm real. My family doesn't know I read cheesy romance novels." I rolled my eyes.

"I thought I was the only one who read those stories."

"What?"

Eden nodded. "I would spend hours reading one since my ex would work a lot. It was better than sitting home bored."

"Oh, I have a few good ones you should read."

Eden's lips curled into a grin as I sent her the books I read. She downloaded them to read later. Then she returned to work, and I returned to my current book.

*****
Eden

Aiden is full of surprises. I would have never guessed he read romance novels. I figured it wasn't his cup of tea. But that made me like him more and more.

While I cleaned the machines, Marissa rushed toward the counter. "Oh my God! You will never believe it!" She exclaimed.

I pressed the button on the coffee maker to brew a fresh pot before approaching the counter. "Believe what?"

"Your parents are having a dinner party and invited my family, you, and business owners in the area."

"Why?" I folded my arms and scrunched my nose.

"Something about proving they're a respectable family."

"Ha! Since when?"

"Since Aiden called the cops on your mother."