A Good Boy Is Hard to Find (The Naughty List #3)(26)
Author: Suzanne Young

So during this time of crisis, I ask that we wear our uniforms daily to support the squad. Extra uniforms are available for those who need them.

We’re going to get through this, girls. All we need is the right sort of pep!

Go, Smitten Kittens!!!!

Keep smiling,

Tessa

Chapter 12

We all sat there holding our breath. Had anyone heard Leona? Was she totally busted and in need of reinforcements? I tried her cell, but she didn’t answer.

Guns n’ Roses! We needed to save her!

A loud knock on my window startled me, and I screamed out. Izzie tried to duck under the dashboard, and Kira slid down in the seat. It was our natural undercover reflexes.

The door opened, and Leona’s flannel came into view. “Holy cannoli, Leona! I was so worried. I thought we’d have to—”

I stopped dead. Right behind her was a very nice pair of thighs. “Tessa,” he called. “May I speak with you for a second?” His voice sounded scoldy. I didn’t like getting scolded.

I nearly refused, but at the same time, I wanted to know what Aiden was doing here. He should have been at college.

Gathering my crutches from the floor, I scooted over, careful to keep my booted cast from bumping against the seat. When I swung my legs out, Leona helped set up the crutches, and I climbed out.

Her mustache was gone. She looked at me and shrugged. “I didn’t do too well,” she said, looking disappointed.

“You did great. No negative talk.” I smiled reassuringly. I mean, yes. We didn’t get the info we needed, but at the same time, Aiden was here. Maybe he knew something.

Leona looked over her shoulder at Aiden. He was looking down the street as if he weren’t paying attention, but he had a satisfied little smirk on his face.

“I’ll wait in the car,” Leona mumbled before moving behind me to get in the backseat. When she slammed the door, Aiden finally looked over at me. My heart fluttered.

“I see the crutches haven’t stopped SOS,” he said.

“We’ve decided that our job is important, Aiden. But tonight, we’re here on a different mission. We’re trying to find a tattletale.”

He laughed. “Ironic that the same girls that have been …”—he paused—“tattle tailing for the last three years would now want to find the person that spied on them.”

“It may be a little ironic.” I adjusted my weight on my crutches. “But it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t investigate.”

Aiden was quiet, and I began to feel the awkwardness. I wanted to look at him, but I fought it.

“How’s the ankle?” he asked, motioning toward it.

“Getting better. The girls made it sparkly so it didn’t look so tragic.”

He laughed and looked down at it, but when he did, his face changed. He tilted his head, reading it and then glanced up, his green eyes wide. I didn’t understand at first, but then I remembered. Joel’s note.

Aiden looked away, taking in a jagged breath. After a quiet second, he turned back to me, his jaw tight. “Well, I’m glad to know you’re up and hobbling around.”

He was hurt. “It’s not …” But I stopped. Not what he thinks? It sort of was. And besides, I didn’t have to explain anything to him. At least, I wasn’t sleeping with the ex-captain of my cheer squad. Ew.

Aiden nodded, acknowledging that I didn’t have to finish my sentence. Then he took a step closer to me, making me feel off balance. I could smell him, his familiar scent.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, my own breathing quickened.

“I was worried about you.” His mouth twitched with a smile. “And I sort of figured you’d be out spying, getting yourself in more trouble. Leona could have gotten hurt in there.”

I didn’t need Aiden’s protection. “SOS is perfectly capable of handling our own business. If anything happened, we would have—”

“What? Hobbled in to get her? You need help, Tess. Eventually you’ll have to admit that.” Aiden’s green eyes seemed to look right into me, sparkling under the street light in that devious way that I’d always loved.

“And I’m sure you’re volunteering for the job.”

“Of course, baby.” He grinned.

When he called me baby, a chill ran over me. But not the good kind. It made me think of all the other times he’d called me baby. The times when he was secretly seeing Mary Rudick but still pretending to love me.

“I’m not interested.” My tone turned icy. “Is there anything else, Aiden? Because we have to analyze the data and—”

“Tess—”

“—and come up with our list of suspects. It’s a very busy and important time in the investigation. There’s not time for distractions—”

“Am I distracting you?” I looked up to see him smiling at me.

I paused. “Yes.” With his tan skin, piercing eyes, and blond hair; Aiden was highly distracting.

“Can I drive you home?”

His question caught me off guard. I went to move back and bumped into the car. “Oh. No. No, thank you.”

“I’d like to, Tessa. I’d like to take you home.”

I closed my eyes. It was such a simple thing, and yet it broke and fixed my heart all at once. It’d been a really long time since I’d been alone with him. It just seemed like a really bad idea.

“I promise I’ll behave.”

There was the sound of an electronic window rolling down. “Pardon me, Tessa,” Kira called, the hint of a laugh in her voice. I turned. “We really have to go. Izzie has a twelve o’clock curfew tonight.” In the background Izzie nodded.

I looked at Aiden. “I have to go.”

He exhaled, as if he were about to say something he didn’t want to. “I have information for you. I really think you’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”

“Information?” Had Aiden heard something or was he just trying to get me to ride home with him?

“Just go with him,” Kira said. She was smiling. “Aiden doesn’t bite. Right, Aiden?”

“Not usually.”

“See.” She had a twinkle in her eye that told me she was enjoying my little reunion. “Besides,” she added, “maybe he does know something.” I could tell that she didn’t believe that.

I considered my options for a second, wondering what I should do. Even if Aiden could help, should I accept it? And what about Joel? I was so torn!