Heart of Stone - Book 2: Hearts Collide
Chapter 3 - Aubree (Part 1)

How can I love him when I am still in love with another?

Aubree’s mind swirled with incomprehensible thoughts as her emotions wreaked havoc on her heart. She had strong feelings for Stone, yes, but tearing herself away from Dan in his hospital bed proved as strenuous as it had been for her to tear herself away from Stone earlier that morning.

Traitorous heart. A pox on thee!

She rubbed her face as she stared out the window of the car as they made their way to her and Dan’s apartment.

She didn’t know where the Shakespeare came from, but her situation had to be something right out of a play. If not, Shakespeare would have had a field day, whipping up some kind of masterpiece that would have left the audience on their knees in tears. Or, maybe it was all in her head since she was the one caught in the middle of it all and didn’t trust her own heart with her feelings anymore?

It shouldn’t be this hard.

The tension was back, thick and heavy again. She could almost feel the invisible wisps of it curling around her shoulders and tightening around her.

She was afraid to even look at Stone. She wasn’t blind to his wrinkled nose when she climbed into the car after spending a few hours with Dan. At first, she thought that she had offended him by taking so long, but when Stone asked Gwen to spritz her as best as she could in the car, she realized it was because she smelled like Dan. Did Dan’s scent repulse him that much? She’d always liked Dan’s smell.

If the spritz was supposed to break the ice between them, it failed miserably.

She could see Stone’s jaw locked in place as he drove. He didn’t even reach for her hand like he had on the drive up. Obviously, he wasn’t happy with her. What did he expect? That she’d only spend a few minutes with Dan? Impossible. He had to be more flexible than that, whether he liked it or not.

The tension began to grate on her nerves. What was his deal?

So what if she smelled like Dan? She was still technically engaged to him. She was still going to live with him these next few days or weeks until she broke up with him. What did he expect from her?

They stopped to grab some pizza before resuming their trip home. Gwen ran into the pizza parlor to place the order and pick it up, leaving Aubree and Stone alone in the car.

It was awkward. Stone wouldn’t even look at her. Instead, he closed his eyes and leaned his head on his hand, his elbow propped up on the open window.

A mildly warm evening breeze blew in, the smell of pizza in the air.

By then, she wasn’t even in the mood to talk or deal with whatever pissy thoughts were running through his head. He could sit and stew in his own juices for all she cared.

Luckily, he didn’t say anything to her either. At one point, he looked like he would bring something up. He caught her gaze for a moment, only to mash his lips together and look away again.

Gwen huffed when she got back in the car with four large pizzas and called them both “incorrigible.” She added nothing after that for the remainder of the ride and instead stuffed her face full of pizza.

She had already downed one entire pizza by herself by the time they pulled up to the apartment building. Aubree gaped at her as she threw out the empty box on their way in.

Gwen tilted her head in question at her as she held open the door for Aubree to enter the building. “What? We have big appetites. Wait until you see the guys eat when they’re starving. Ravenous wolves.”

Stone merely grunted as he followed Aubree in.

A few minutes later, they made it to the fifteenth floor and were walking down the hallway. Gwen was already stifling a yawn and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“I’m going to take a nap on the couch right now. You got this, Papa?”

Stone grunted again.

Geez, whatever was on his mind was occupying more mental space than forming a coherent verbal response. Aubree rolled her eyes as she unlocked the door and held it open for them to enter.

Their noses scrunched up at the same time before they even stepped foot inside.

Aubree peeked in and looked around the apartment before turning to them in puzzlement. “What?”

It wasn’t a disaster. Sure, the floor needed to be swept and mopped and the carpet in the living room needed vacuuming, but there were no dirty dishes or clothes lying around.

Gwen brushed her hand across her face, dismissing the topic. “Nothing. Just expected to smell more of you here and less of Dan, I guess.”

“Oh.” Aubree looked to the linens closet between the bedroom and the bathroom. “I might have something to help with that.”

As she made her way to the little closet, Gwen sighed as she slipped her shoes off in the doorway. “If I get really bored, I might scrub this place from top to bottom. Mind if I open a window?”

Aubree shook her head at Gwen before reaching into the closet for an air freshener. “Go for it.”

As she turned and pulled away from the closet, her eyes met Stone’s as he stood awkwardly in the doorway. She couldn’t read his expression but she thought he looked conflicted—as usual.

“You can come in, you know.” She took a tentative step toward him. “You don’t have to stand there looking lost. It’s not that big of a place.”

“Balcony?”

She raised an eyebrow before pointing to the floor-length curtains across the living room. “Over there.”

He nodded before striding toward it. “I’ll keep watch.”

She watched his back before pinching the bridge of her nose.

Could things get any more uncomfortable between them than they already were? Probably. Until Gwen woke up from her nap, she might as well try talking to him. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do with herself to pass the time.

Walking around the apartment, Aubree sprayed a generous amount of “fresh linen” scented air freshener while Gwen sought out all the windows that she could open and let in the evening breeze. As Aubree returned the aerosol can back in the closet, she wondered how Gwen was going to be able to put up with the smell if it bothered her so much already.

Pulling out a spare blanket and pillow, she sighed.

All this because she was Stone’s soulmate.

She shook her head in disbelief. It still boggled her mind.

Luckily for Gwen, Aubree had washed the blanket last week, so it didn’t smell too bad. She had washed a lot of things she found in Dan’s closet because they smelled musty.

She ambled into the living room. “Will the couch be okay?”

“Yup. I’d probably be fine sleeping on the floor. I’m exhausted,” Gwen said as Aubree tossed the blanket and pillow on the couch.

Aubree grimaced with the thought of Gwen sleeping on the dirty, worn-down carpet. Gwen must have noticed because she gave Aubree a tired smile.

“Trust me. I spent half of my life sleeping in a den deep in the earth. This is nothing.”

Aubree twisted a lock of her hair around her fingers. “Was life hard back then?”

Gwen’s smile widened as her eyes glazed over for a second. “You would think that. But life was simple back then. So simple.”

Yawning, she curled up on the couch under the blanket and snuggled in. “The couch still smells like him but I’ll get over it. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Aubree said, even though it was only six o’clock in the evening.

She glanced at the pizza boxes Gwen had set on the coffee table, her stomach growling. She still needed to eat, and Stone was probably hungry too.

Her stomach tightened in a knot at the thought of him standing outside on the balcony.

Gathering air into her lungs, she picked up a box of pizza and headed to the sliding glass door.