Chapter 64 CHAPTER 64
CHAPTER 64
NARRATOR
The dorm room was quiet at 10 p.m., the kind of deep, exhausted quiet that comes after too many tears and too little sleep. The laptop screen had gone dark hours ago, the last rom-com frozen on a paused kissing scene. Empty chip bags and chocolate wrappers littered the floor. Jordan was snoring softly on the air mattress, one arm flung over her face. Liam was curled in the desk chair, hood pulled low, breathing steady. Yael lay on her side, arm still loosely around Mia’s waist like she was afraid to let go even in sleep.
Mia woke first.
Her eyes opened to the dim glow of Yael’s fairy lights strung along the wall. For a moment she just stared at them, chest tight. The crying from earlier had left her raw, throat scratchy, head pounding. She remembered the hospital voicemail, the billing department’s cold voice saying “overdue” and “final notice.”
She couldn’t breathe here. Not with everyone watching her like she might break again.
Carefully, so carefully, Mia slid out from under Yael’s arm. Yael stirred, mumbling something, but didn’t wake. Mia grabbed her phone, hoodie, and keys, slipping her shoes on without tying them.
I’ll be quick, she told herself. Just handle it and come back.
The night air was freezing as she stepped outside, December wind cutting straight through her hoodie. She pulled the strings tight and walked fast, heading off-campus toward the sketchy side of town.
Rusty’s Bar looked exactly like its name—old neon sign flickering red, gravel parking lot full of pickup trucks, bass thumping from inside. Mia’s hands shook as she pushed open the door.
Smoke and stale beer hit her immediately. Pool tables in the back, jukebox playing some old rock song, guys at the bar laughing too loud. She spotted the booth right away: Rico, the loan shark contact, sat in the shadows with two big guys beside him. Twenty grand. That’s what her dad owed now. Twenty grand that had been meant for her mom’s hospital bills.
Mia took a deep breath and started walking toward them.
She never made it.
A hand grabbed her arm just past the bathrooms, yanking her toward the back exit. Some drunk regular—big gut, red face, breath like whiskey—pushed her against the wall near the door.
“Where you goin’ so fast, sweetheart?” he slurred, crowding her space. “Saw you walk in alone. Thought maybe you wanted company.”
Mia’s heart slammed against her ribs. “Let go of me.”
He laughed, hand sliding lower. “Come on. Just one drink.”
“Get off—” She tried to push him, but he was heavy, pinning her with his body.
Then a shadow moved behind him.
Aaron stepped out of nowhere—tall, broad, face hard as stone. He’d been in the corner booth the whole time, watching.
He didn’t say a word at first. Just grabbed the guy by the back of the neck, yanked him off Mia like he weighed nothing, and slammed him face-first into the opposite wall.
The drunk grunted in shock.
Aaron leaned in close, voice low and deadly. “She’s with me.”
Then, before Mia could process, Aaron turned to her, cupped her face, and kissed her.
Hard.
His mouth claimed hers like it belonged there, one hand firm on her ass, pulling her against him possessively. The kiss was fire—angry, protective, electric. Mia’s brain short-circuited, hands frozen at her sides.
Aaron broke it just enough to growl against her lips, loud enough for the drunk to hear: “Back the fuck off before I make you.”
The guy stumbled away, hands up, muttering “Sorry, man—didn’t know—” and disappeared into the crowd fast.
Aaron let go of Mia slowly, eyes scanning her face.
She stared at him, her chest heaving. “What the hell was that?”
“Saving your ass,” he said coolly, like it was nothing. “You shouldn’t be here alone.”
Mia shoved at his chest—half-hearted, more out of shock than anger. “I had it handled.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Sure looked like it.”
She glared, but her voice shook. “You can’t just—kiss me like that!”
Aaron shrugged, hands in his pockets now. “Worked, didn’t it? Guy’s gone.”
Mia opened her mouth, closed it. He wasn’t wrong. And God, that kiss had been… intense. Her heart was still racing.
“Why are you even here?” she demanded.
He glanced toward Rico’s booth, jaw tight. “No reason.”
Silence stretched between them, thick with tension. Mia’s cheeks burned. She was annoyed. She was grateful. She was confused as hell.
Aaron started to turn away. “Go home, Mia. It’s late.”
“Wait,” she said quickly, grabbing his sleeve before he could leave.
He stopped, looking down at her hand, then back at her face.
“I owe you,” she said quietly. “From before. The twenty grand. You paid it off that night. I never thanked you. Or paid you back.”
He shook his head. “You don’t owe me shit.”
“I do,” she insisted. “And I want your number. So I can… start paying it back. Properly.”
Aaron studied her for a long second, something unreadable in his eyes.
Finally, he pulled out his phone. “Give me yours.”
She rattled off her number. He typed it in, then sent a text—a simple 👀 emoji.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
“There,” he said. “Now you have it.”
Mia looked up at him. “Thank you. For tonight. And… before.”
He nodded once. “Don’t come back here alone.”
“I won’t,” she whispered.
He
started walking toward the exit. Paused. Looked back.
“Text me when you’re safe in your dorm,” he said.