The New Girl

Dinner

Gabby

Watching Ayden drive is nice and all, but I was endlessly grateful to pull into the parking lot of the hotel we're staying at outside of Vegas for the night.

The decision to come visit Lilly was made last minute, Ayden was the one who really pushed me to agree to go.

After Ayden checked in, we trudged over to the elevator and allowed it to take us up to the fourth floor. Again, it was only one bed, but neither of us minded. Even if it had two beds, we'd probably still end up sharing one.

I dramatically dropped my suitcase on the chair next to the bed while Ayden dropped his overnight bag on the desk. The difference between male and female packing, I swear.

"Do you want to go to your dad's now or find something else to do?" Ayden asked, laying on the couch with his hands behind his head. His white v-neck shirt clung nicely to his body that subtly defined his abs.

I crawled into bed next to him and he instantly removed one arm from behind his neck to wrap around me.

"You smell so good." I mumbled absentmindedly, and he chuckled. The sound of his teasing chuckle made my cheeks ting a pinkish color. "I don't care what we do."

"How about we try the mall again? A different one this time?"

Shivers erupted through my bodies as my mind recalled what happened the last time we went to the mall. I can't believe that I was once associated with Melissa, let alone the fact that I was worse than her.

"I'm sorry, we can do something else." Ayden said when he felt my body shiver next to his.

"No, it's okay. We can go to a different one that's closer to my dad's." At that, I stood up and stood by the door to wait for Ayden.

He gave me an uneasy look as he grabbed his car keys off of the desk.

I got in the passenger seat and, while Ayden was still walking around to the drivers side, I answered a phone call from my dad.

"Hey, Gabby, did you make it to town okay?"

"Yeah, we're at the hotel." Well, about to leave the hotel, but it's the same thing.

"How about you and Ayden come by for dinner at 6? You can come whenever you want, though. If you want." He quickly added.

Hesitantly, I agreed. "We are headed to the mall to do some shopping beforehand. I'll let you know when we are on our way." I said into the phone as I twiddled the tiara necklace draped around my neck, kudos to Ayden.

"Okay, see you then." I hung up my phone and placed it in the cup holder between Ayden and I. Ayden handed me his phone and I plugged in the aux so we could jam out with his Spotify premium.

Let's hope my dad doesn't mention anything about the gifts he'd given my family and I because none of us have opened them yet, despite the fact Christmas was a week ago. Instead, they sat on a small table in the corner of the living room next to the TV. We all have had our fair shares of prolonged glances at them, but nobody has made the first move.

Going along to prove I'm no longer the same Gabby I used to be, I didn't see anything at the mall that I needed to have right then and there - Ayden and I just window-shopped at all of the stores we passed.

We stopped by the food court so I could use the bathroom while Ayden waited for me. I was hesitant to leave him there alone and apparently was right to be. I came out and Ayden had an annoyed expression on his face while Melissa and the guy, Trey, who exposed Dom talked to him.

I pushed in between both of them to stand beside Ayden, a glare immediately setting in on the both of them.

"Look, it's the bitch herself." Trey laughed darkly. If I didn't have such a pure hatred for him, I would've been scared by the darkness in that laugh of his. But I hated him so much, it completely overlooked any fear I felt.