I Choose You

22. The Party of the Year (Edited)

Edited

It was now 9:30 and Aiden Parker, along with Blake, were nowhere to be found. Least to say though, the party seemed to be progressing without them. The house was filled with drunken teenagers rubbing their bodies up against one another on the makeshift dance floor. Boys in the kitchen were holding a dude upside down by his legs to see how much beer he could drink out of the keg before losing his balance, and girls were unknowingly giving guys lap dances and dance sessions on the coffee table.

I didn't even know half the people here and to be honest, I don't think Aiden, Blake, or Carter did either. In fact, I think they just showed up because of the free alcohol.

The music was booming so loud in my ears that I could feel the ground beneath my feet shaking as I walked down the hallway and towards the foyer. Carter and Riley were comfortably dancing in the living room with each other, meanwhile Autumn had slipped away to the bathroom momentarily. I walked back into the kitchen, grabbing a water bottle and double—checking that it hadn't been opened, before I took a seat at the island.

I couldn't help but worry about Aiden. He was supposed to have shown up at least half an hour ago and nothing. My brain was starting to come up with all these horrific scenarios of him getting arrested or someone finding out he had a fake ID. I mean what if—!

"Boo!"

I screamed, nearly falling off the stool, before being caught by none other than the culprit, Aiden, who was laughing his head off as people merely glanced our way, before going back to their business. My breaths were coming out heavily not only because he'd scared the living daylights out of me, but also because my back was pressed up against his warm, rock—hard chest. I could feel my cheeks heating up at that thought, before Aiden set me upright on my feet and I whipped around to face him.

"Will!" smack. "You!" smack. "Stop!" smack. "Doing that!"

Aiden was still standing there, clutching his stomach in laughter as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"One of these days I'm going to get you back for all those times you've scared me!" I laughed, smooshing my finger in his chest.

He wiped fake tears from his eyes, gasping. "Was that a threat?!"

"More like a promise," I said, nodding my head curtly.

He merely laughed, before striding over to the keg containing the beer and pouring himself a cup. My eyes couldn't help but involuntarily wonder to his body, completely taking in each and every aspect of it. He was dressed in a brown leather jacket, dark jeans, and a baby—blue button up, that had me wishing I hadn't looked at him. I could feel my stomach drop at the sight of him. There were no words to describe how attractive he looked. Not to mention his hair was styled just as it usually was, but for some reason—I don't know if it was the lighting—he looked more attractive than usual, especially since his jacket didn't help in hiding the outline of his muscular body.

I felt my mouth go dry at that thought and I quickly took a gulp of water as Aiden laid his arms across the counter, leaning towards me.

"Hey Em?"

"Hmmm?"

"You look really beautiful tonight,"

My eyes immediately snapped over to look at him, my heart dropping a thousand floors as he stared back at me. I could tell he truly meant the words that he had said because when I looked into his eyes... I saw something. It was only there for just a moment, just a moment, before he blinked and it was gone.