“Yeah, I get that. It’s hard when things change. Or when you can’t have what you really want.”

“It is,” he says quietly, and tips his head toward the street. “Let’s get going.” He reaches for my hand and pulls me behind him for a few steps before he drops it. I follow behind, giving myself a few moments to enjoy the view. Of the city, the art, and Aiden Emerson. All surprisingly nice.

Our last stop of the day is an exhibit hosted in an old warehouse building. After a half-mile walk from the center of downtown we stood in line for thirty minutes in the expansive space, before being ushered, in a group of twenty or so, into a small room. We follow the guide into the exhibition room—a large makeshift space with a ceiling half the height of the warehouse. In the pitch black, with temporary walls around us, it feels like we’re entering a haunted house and a shiver runs through me. Something grazes my arm and I startle, grabbing toward Aiden and catching a handful of his shirt in my hand. I can feel his hard forearm under my fingertips.

“You okay?” Aiden whispers, his voice amused. I can barely see him, but I feel his breath over me, warm and soft as it brushes across my forehead. He pulls his arm away from me, and I feel like an idiot for clinging on to him like a scared six-year-old.

I hate haunted houses.

If you ask me, anyone who likes them is absolutely masochistic. I hate that you can’t see the other people, or the ground, or what’s coming next. I hate the weird noises and the strange things they touch you with. But this isn’t a haunted house. Get it together, Olivia, you’re embarrassing yourself. A second later, something brushes my back, and Aiden’s arm slowly but firmly drapes over my shoulders, his side pressing lightly into mine. He doesn’t say anything, just keeps his arm there, his forearm resting on my right shoulder as bodies continue to file in around us, filling the room. It doesn’t feel romantic. It just feels … comforting. Surprisingly nice, I think, and almost laugh out loud, despite the eerie shifting shadows around us.