A Budding Friendship

I whirled around to face him.

"What the hell was that about?!" His hands were tight around the steering wheel, he answered while staring ahead.

"I saw a bear." His voice was so flat I was taken aback.

"You saw a bear." I repeated slowly and incredulously.

"Yup. And as formidable as I seem I am not inclined to fight a bear." I turned back and mulled over his words. Fear was a logical response but something just didn't seem right. Wouldn't it have been smarter to sit still and stay quiet?

"But if you see a bear aren't you suppose to not move and make as little sound as possible?"

"Rationally thinking sure and had I been alone I might have. But I had you to think about and I didn't want to risk you getting hurt." It seemed to make complete sense and I was honestly touched he wanted to keep me safe do I decided to let the matter go for the time being.

"I appreciate that. So what are we going to do about my car?"

"I'm going to call for a tow then once I have the car in the garage I'll take a better gander at it then we'll decide how to proceed. Most likely I'll have to order some parts."

"How long do you think that'll take?" He paused and thought about it as we pulled into the garage.

"Honestly I can't say, but you are more than welcome to stay with me as long as you need to."

"Thank you I really appreciate that." A wicked thought crept into my mind. "Are yo sure you're not keeping me here because you like me?" I wagged my eyebrows suggestively and he chortled at my faces.

"Oh absolutely doll. I'm keeping you here so I can devour you." I laughed with him but a tingle of thrill travelled up my spine and I could feel the warmth traveling up my neck into my face. Was I so deprived of a man's touch that I was having these racy thoughts about a stranger? Probably but there was nothing wrong with that, I was a grown adult and plenty of people had one night stands. Not that I did but it was normal. Aiden cleared his throat to gain my attention as i had zoned out whil he was talking again. I let go of my bottom lip which I had been chewing on subconsciously while I had been thinking and apalogized.

"I'm really sorry I zoned out again."

"Does that happen to you often?"

"No, not normally, only sometimes. What were you saying?"

"Hmm maybe it's from hitting your head yesterday. I was just asking if you would like to put your things upstairs and then give Frankie a visit while we get some food." The moment he said food my stomach grumbled in anticipation. "I'll take that as a yes" He chuckled.

"What can I say food is life." I shrugged my shoulders as we hopped out of the truck. Reaching for my things I realized Aiden had beat me to it and had started towards the loft. I hung my head and trudged behind, figuring there was no point in arguing especially since he was going to feed me. After we entered his apartment he placed my bags on his bed and clapped his hands as he faced me.

"Alright, you ready to get something to eat?" I thought about it for a moment, I had to look like a mess.

"Sure but umm, mind if I freshen up real quick?"

"Oh yeah that's fine, just let me know when you want to go."

"Ok I will be just a minute." I went passed him grabbing mu toiletries bag and scurried to the bathroom. I stared at the mirror in absolute horror, my hair was a mess of tangles and my face was red from the cold. I yanked a brush through the knots and tried to tame it while adding a tiny bit of makeup. One last breath and I walked out. "Okie dokie let's go I'm starving". I knew the walk wasn't a long one but it was pleasant enough. It would have been nicer though had I not been fighting the urge to hold his hand the whole time. I could not fathom why I felt so drawn to him. One glance at him and I could see him clenching and unclenching his fingers. So it seemed maybe just maybe he was having the same internal struggle I was. I didn't have long to figure it out since we were already approaching the diner. It seemed to be a slow day of business, there weren't to many people about. Then again we had most likely missed the lunch rush. Frankie's head popped up at the sound of the bell ringing as we opened the door.

"Well hi there you two! What a lovely surprise." She had a smile ear to ear plastered to her face. Aiden laughed and answered her in a teasing tone.

"Well I can't keep her away from here so we figured we'd come in and get some food." He shot me a sly wink.

"Who could blame me, the food here should be illegal it's so good." We took a seat still chuckling from the banter.

"What can I get started for you two?" Frankie had her pen poised and ready while Aiden looked at me signaling for me to go first.

"I would love a good ole' cheeseburger and fries."

"Simple, I like it. You got it doll, now what about you Aiden?"

"You know what that sounds good I'll get the same." She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes as she smiled and walked away. Aiden turned towards me. "A burger and fries? That's impressive." I made an unattractive pfft sound.

"It's just a burger and fries, why is it impressive."

"I just figured you would have ordered a salad or something." I rolled my eyes at the blatantly stereotypical statement.

"First of all no, second of all plenty of women are professional eaters. Not that I hate salads but I have to be in the mood."

"Oh absolutely I just meant it's cool you like to eat."

"Thank you. I've always loved food and I've never let anyone bully me into believing I shouldn't." He nodded his head thoughtfully and considered what I had said.

"For what it's worth I think you're perfect and you shouldn't change a thing." His response seemed genuine which made my heart happy and made me smile.