Flame of Hope

Chapter Two: I missed You

My mom had already left the college parking lot by the time Aiden and I had made it down there. Aiden started walking towards his shiny black car with part of my luggage in hand.

"Aiden, where are you going? My car's this way," I said pointing in the opposite direction he was going. Despite Aiden's, Jonathan's and pretty much all the males I know dislike of the idea of me taking my pearl-colored bug with me to college, I did it anyway. Their reasons for not liking it was "it is a little car, if you got in a crash you wouldn't survive" and "it's too small a car for you to drive in the city by yourself". My reasons for taking it was "why waste the money on buying a new vehicle if I already have one" and "I love my little bug, besides, there's nothing wrong with it, it runs just fine".

"All your luggage won't fit in that small compartment you call a trunk. Come on, it won't hurt to put all your stuff in my car," Aiden said, a teasing glint in his eye and motioned for me to follow him to his vehicle. I gave in and silently followed him. I guess he was partly right. We'd have to put some of the bags in his car anyway.

We put all my baggage in his trunk and he shut it. I started patting my pockets for my car keys and started to panic when I couldn't find them. Aiden put his hand in his front pocket and took out my keys. "I saw them on the counter. I knew you wouldn't remember to grab them, so I grabbed them for you," he told me.

I sighed in relief. "You know me so well. Thank you, Aiden," I said and went to grab them, but he held them high into the air so I wouldn't be able to reach them. I raised an eyebrow. "Aiden, please give me my keys," I said skeptically. I tried to reach for them again, but didn't come close to touching them.

He cocked his head in mock thought. "Hmm, I don't know. I might need something in return if I give them to you," he teased.

I folded my arms across my chest. "Like what?" I asked him. I used all my willpower to keep a straight face and not let a smile slip onto my face. No matter how much I denied it, I missed him and his teasing, though I would never let him know that.

He stood there for a minute more like he hadn't thought of anything yet, but I knew he already knew what he wanted me to do. "How about a kiss from my beautiful girlfriend?"

Ha, couldn't expect anything less from him. An idea came to mind and I cackled like an evil witch in my mind. "Alright, fine," I sighed and leaned towards him. He closed his eyes and waited for me to kiss him. At the last possible moment just before my lips were about to touch his I changed the angle of my head and kissed his cheek. His arm had relaxed just enough for me to reach my keys and I grabbed them in the next second. His eyes flew open in surprise and I jumped away from him laughing my head off.

"You temptress," he said, his voice husky.

I was sober enough for me to talk. "You didn't say where I had to kiss you." I said and whiped a few tears that escaped my eyes. "Maybe next time you should be more specific."

When I was calmed down enough to look up at his expression I froze. He had a smirk on his face and a dangerous spark in his eyes. He started walking towards me like a predator stalking its prey. I gulped in nervousness. "Now you've done it," he said, his voice so low it was sexy.

I started backing away from him, but he was talking bigger steps than me and he was getting closer. I turned and ran around to the other side of his car. I didn't get far when an arm slid around my waist and I was pushed up against his car.

"Not laughing now, are you?" he whispered in my ear and tingles shot up my arms. He was so close that if I moved an inch our lips would touch. By now we were both breathing hard. "I wanted you to kiss me here," he said, still whispering and pointed to his lips. "Is that specific enough for you?"