Smolder Chapter 12

Minutes passed, and the silence stretched between them. Eventually, they gave up, breaking eye contact almost in perfect sync.
“Nothing?” he asked, leaning back with a smirk.
“Nothing,” she sighed, blowing a stray curl from her forehead. “What was it, anyway?”
“Five,” he said with a shrug. “In case that helps.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not exactly mind-reading if you give me the answer.”
They both laughed, but her mind was still racing. This was more than just guessing numbers. “I think we need to try something with more meaning,” she said, leaning in thoughtfully. “I only seem to pick things up when there’s a strong emotional connection. Can you think of something really important to you? Something you want or a moment when you were super happy? Maybe that will trigger something.”
He hesitated, his smile fading as he leaned back on his hands. “Not sure that’s something I want to test.”
She gave him a gentle nudge. “Come on, Aiden. We need to know if I’m just losing my mind or if I can read your thoughts. Don’t you want to find out?”
He studied her face for a moment, weighing the decision. “Alright,” he finally said, sitting up. His expression grew serious as he closed his eyes, clearly focusing on something important. “Give me a second.”
She watched him carefully, feeling the air between them change. Something was happening. There was a shift in the atmosphere, and her heart started to race as she tried to tune into him, to feel what he was thinking.
And then, all at once, it hit her like a wave crashing over her.
Longing.
It was overwhelming, a deep, persistent yearning that almost knocked her breath away. It wasn’t for a thing it was for someone. And as the feeling flooded through her, a face flashed in her mind: her own. Her eyes flew open in shock, and her breath caught in her throat.
He opened his eyes too, catching her wide-eyed stare. “Did you...?” he started, his voice trailing off, uncertainty creeping into his words.
She couldn’t answer at first, still processing the rush of emotion she had just felt. It wasn’t just a crush or a passing thought it was something deeper, something that had been building for a long time. Aiden... wanted her.
“I—” she started, her voice shaky. She hadn’t expected this. Not this.
His face was suddenly guarded, his easygoing demeanor gone. “You felt something, didn’t you?” he asked quietly.
She swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. Do I tell him the truth? She could feel the vulnerability in his question, the fear of what she might say next. If she confirmed it, there was no going back.
“Yeah,” she admitted softly, still holding his gaze. “I... I felt something.”
His expression darkened, but not with anger. It was more like resignation like he had known this moment would come sooner or later.
“And?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Then closed his eyes.
“Okay,” he finally said, opening his eyes and looking directly at her. “Okay, let’s try this out. I’ll think of something from when I was a kid, and you focus on me. We’ll see what happens.”
She nodded, her heart racing from the moment they’d nearly shared. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to concentrate on him. She studied his face, trying to push past the awkwardness and look deeper, behind his features and into his thoughts. The eyes are the gateway to the soul, she thought. If she was going to connect to him, it would be through his eyes.
Slowly, a switch flipped in the back of her mind. She felt a flicker of joy, like the warmth of laughter spreading through her. It gave her goosebumps. The sensation was so pure, so light. She could feel it radiating from him. Whatever memory he was thinking of, it made him happy.
But she stayed focused. She didn’t want to lose the connection. She kept her gaze locked on his, hoping to dig deeper. The joy in her body grew stronger, and Jade couldn’t help but smile it was as though his happiness was infectious, spreading through her until she could feel it lighting up her face. She didn’t notice it, but her eyes began to shine, twinkling like stars too bright to ignore.
But his thoughts shifted, she could feel it. The joy was still there, but now it was tinged with something else an edge of longing, something complicated. It wasn’t nerves exactly, but more like... anticipation. The happiness wasn’t so pure anymore. There was a weight to it, a pull she couldn’t quite name.
And then, she felt it.
A whisper of emotion, like a flutter inside her, mixing with her thoughts, making her head spin. She felt like she was floating, her body growing lighter as his emotions bled into hers. Were these her feelings or his? The lines between them blurred, and she couldn’t tell anymore. Was it her hesitation, or his excitement?
Then, like a soft breath carried on the wind, two words echoed across her mind.
“Kiss me.”
Her breath caught in her throat. Were those his words, or hers? She couldn’t tell. Her eyes locked onto his again. His pupils were wide, darker than she’d ever seen filled with a depth that both scared and intrigued her. He was leaning in, his eyelids lowering as if shutting her out from his thoughts, only to open up differently.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t think enough to decide what she wanted. Did she want this? Did he want this? Were his thoughts stopping her from pulling away, or were her own?
Closer. He was only a few centimeters away now, and everything was happening in slow motion. The two words kiss me swirled in her head, clouding her judgment, and keeping her frozen.
And then... trumpets.
Trumpets? She blinked, her mind suddenly snapping back to reality. Why are there trumpets playing?
Her eyes shot open in realization. It was his ringtone. Trumpets. He’d changed it recently, and she’d forgotten.
Panicking, Jade jerked to the side, pulling herself away from his approaching lips. She practically dove for his bag, fumbling for the vibrating phone as it rang out. “Uh, do you want to answer this?” she blurted, her voice shaky, trying to mask the awkward moment.
He was still frozen, leaning forward from the almost-kiss, clearly caught off guard by the sudden shift. It took him a moment to process what had happened, his brain catching up to the reality of the ringing phone.
“Sure, sure,” he finally said, sitting back down, running a hand through his hair as if to shake off the tension. He reached out for the phone, still looking a little dazed.
Jade handed it over, avoiding eye contact. What just happened? Her heart was still racing, but now it was from the adrenaline of dodging what would have been a monumental mistake.
“Hello?” she heard him say, his voice calmer now as he put the phone to his ear. There was a pause, and then his face shifted slightly.
“Benjamin?”
Jade’s stomach flipped. Benjamin?
Her eyes zeroed in on the phone.