Page 28 of Unbroken

Sometimes he fell asleep while she was talking, but she didn’t mind. He told her that he loved hearing her voice right before he fell asleep, and that was the best feeling in the world.

It was crazy to have this kind of connection with someone she’d spent so little time with, but she couldn’t help the way she felt.

Maya had her weekly appointment with her counselor yesterday, and they’d spoken about dozens of things: work, resuming normalcy in everyday life… Aiden.

To Maya’s surprise, Dr. Patton was incredibly supportive of her relationship with him. She didn’t see it as a case of hero worship, as Maya had feared she would. Instead, she thought Aiden had a unique perception of Maya’s situation because he’d been present during the aftermath.

For nearly an hour, Maya regaled Dr. Patton with stories of Aiden’s loyalty and his apparent feelings for her. She explained how they’d met and how instrumental he’d been in helping her move forward after the abduction and everything that had happened afterward.

Maya and Dr. Patton had delved more deeply into her emotions during that one hour than they had in the entire past year.

With the warning to take things slowly and listen to her heart, Dr. Patton encouraged Maya to foster the relationship, promising they would talk about it more next week.

For some reason, as Maya stood in front of the bathroom mirror fixing her hair and makeup, she felt unaccountably nervous.

Aiden had promised he had the day off today, and he’d asked to take her on another date. Instead, she’d offered to cook.

Her stomach flipped when the buzzer sounded from the foyer.

Studying her reflection, she drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. She felt a tingle running through her veins, butterflies kicking into flight in her stomach. It had been so long since she’d felt like this.

Nervous, but excited at the same time.

In a way, it was different even from last week.

During their date, things had gotten a little out of control. Not that he’d seemed to mind. When Aiden left, it had seemed as if he had to force himself to put one foot in front of the other as he made his way out of her apartment.

He wanted her, and she wanted him more than anything.

What she’d said the other night was true. She was tired of being the victim, tired of feeling repressed. For the first time in a year, she felt like her old self.

She’d never been the type to actively pursue a man, but she’d never downplayed her reaction when she was attracted to someone, either. This thing between Aiden and her was more intense than anything she’d experienced in the past.

It was scary, but exhilarating at the same time.

Mostly exhilarating.

There was just something about him that made her brain and body go absolutely haywire.

That kiss…

She’d never felt anything like it before. She felt an undefinable connection to him. He understood her in a way that none of her friends did, not even her family. They had all pushed her to forget what had happened and move on.

And she’d tried.

For the first couple of months after the attack, she’d resisted going out in public. Now, whenever Maya went out, she constantly kept an eye on her surroundings. She didn’t like anyone getting too close to her, which had made dating difficult.

Ironically, she didn’t have the same reservations about Aiden.

He understood her.

He didn’t try to push her or tell her how she should feel. Instead, he listened and validated her concerns. She couldn’t tell if that was because he was trained for these kinds of situations or if he truly cared about her.

The way he’d kissed her last week told her it was the latter.

Her heart stuttered rapidly in her chest as she replayed the events of their previous date. She was both disappointed and relieved that they hadn’t gone any further.

At the time, she’d wanted to.