Page 6 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
“Aidan, it’s me,” she finally said.
I could have sworn that was Leah’s voice, but I refused to believe it.
Five years ago, that girl had walked out of my life and never returned. The truth was I could have gone looking for her. I would have found her too if I really wanted to. But I let her go.
I had always known she would eventually struggle with the moral dilemma of choosing me over her family. The kind of family she was raised in—they would never have approved of me. I was exactly the guy her mother had warned her about.
So why was she calling me?
She had a chance to make a clean break from me. Why slice through healed wounds now?
“What the fuck do you want?” I growled at her.
“I thought maybe we could meet. I wanted to see you. I’m back in town for a bit.”
I rubbed a hand over my face while my head throbbed. She couldn’t be fucking serious. She was back in town five years later and she expected us to just meet up for a coffee and a chat? Like we were buddies?
Didn’t she remember the night I took her for the first time in the backseat of my truck? How she moaned with pleasure and begged me not to stop?
And now she wanted to sit across from me in a cafe somewhere and show me photographs of her new life?
Fuck that shit.
“What makes you think I ever want to see you again?” I ended the call before she had a chance to respond.
I banged the phone down on the counter, making people turn to look at me. Then I reached over the counter and grabbed the first bottle of alcohol I could reach. I poured the drink straight down my throat to numb the pain.
Leah wasn’t like any of the other girls I used to fuck around with. She was in high school, just turned eighteen. I was twenty-three and thought I was a man.
She had red hair that came right down to her knees, and the first time I saw her, she was buying oranges in the grocery store a few blocks from her parents home.
I was drawn to her immediately, and even though I had two chicks hanging off my arms as we picked up a few six packs, I had eyes only for her.
She didn’t seem fazed by the girls with me, and instead of shying away, she stared right back at me.
I abandoned the girls as soon as Leah walked out of that store. I dumped the beers down on the floor and ran after her. I didn’t want to lose sight of her.
When I stepped outside the store, I saw her waiting for me at the end of the sidewalk. It was like we had some unfinished business to discuss. Like we had communicated something to each other in complete silence. She knew I would follow her out.
“You can buy me a coffee.” Those were her first words to me.
I didn’t even know this girl’s name. The truth was, I didn’t know where to go for coffee. She turned on her heels and started walking, and I felt like I had no choice but to follow her. I felt like I would go anywhere this girl led me.
We sat together in a coffee shop nearby. She sat close enough that I could touch her if I wanted to, but I didn’t. I had never practiced self restraint like that before and I didn’t understand the hold she had on me. It was like she’d cast a spell.
She told me about her family, about her interests and hobbies. She asked me about mine. The conversation was like nothing I’d had before. I wasn’t in the habit of just ‘talking’ to girls.
Then, as abruptly as she suggested coffee, she stood up to leave.
“I have to go home now because my parents are expecting me. But meet me behind Sylvio’s Garage tonight. Eleven.”
She smiled at me before leaving and I knew I felt something in that moment. Something I’d never felt for anyone before, and I wouldn’t feel for anyone since then.
That night I took her virginity in the backseat of my car and she laughed afterwards when she smoked her first cigarette. Before she left for home, I pulled her close to kiss her again and she weaved her fingers with mine.
“I think I’ve been waiting for you all my life, Aidan Doherty,” she said, kissing my neck and chest gently.
After she disappeared, those words haunted me. I could never forget she said that to me.
Now I was convinced she had lied to me that night.
I carried the bottle from the bar to the toilet in the back. I needed to be away from the music and I needed to be by myself. Besides, my brothers would start noticing I was acting strange and they’d want answers. I wasn’t prepared to talk about Leah with anyone right now. Not ever.
