𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑎

Chapter 18 ~ Date

Ryder

I'm sitting in my car laughing with the most gorgeous girl I know. This woman seems to like everything about me and Laklyn. I will say, I have had some trouble in the past with some women. One of the biggest reasons being they didn't like the fact that I had a child and my life was dedicated to him.

But Aurora, she finds everything... adorable. She sings along to Disney songs, I have learned that her favorite Disney movies are Ariel and The Lion King.

Laklyn seems to be loving the person singing along, since I hardly do it. He squirms around in his seat as Aurora turns to him while singing and messing around with him.

One of the things I think I have found to be my favorite about her, is her dimples and her belly laugh. Her dimples come out all the time, but when she is laughing, they are the cutest sight to see.

I park into a diner parking lot and look at Aurora and smile. "Fancy places aren't my thing." I say and she nods. "Mine either." We got out of the car with Laklyn in her hands since he didn't want me.

We walk in and take a booth and we sit on opposite sides of each other. A waiter comes back with menus and we look over them for a while.

I'm not sure how to start up a conversation. I was doing so well in the car, but now that she is in front of me, holding my baby, she's a beautiful threat.

"So, I want to know." She thankfully starts while placing one of her elbows on the table and putting her chin in her hand. "What possessed you to put my number into your phone?" I swallow the big lump in my throat.

I love it when she gets cocky, bold Aurora will be my favorite forever.

Forever?

"You had a message from a friend, I saw you didn't have a password, and if i'm being completely honest, I knew I was going to ask you to dinner some day." I wink at her as I copy her motion.

I see her cheeks flush, indicating that I won this battle. The waiter comes back and asks what we want as soon as Aurora opens her mouth.

Once the waiter leaves we go back to staring at each other with more questions being thrown my way. "Why do you call me Aurora and not Rory?"

"Does everyone call you Rory?" She nods. "So who calls you Aurora?" I ask lifting my brow. "No one." She replies.

"Exactly." I pull away from the table. "Exactly what?"

"No one else calls you that, makes me feel special." This gets her lips to curve up in a smirk, she smiles at me before looking down to Laklyn who is wanting her attention.

"Dada." Laklyn points to me so Aurora takes Laklyn and stands up, handing Laklyn to me. Sitting back down on her side she sips on her coke. "Ask me questions." She whispers. My heart does a summersault.

"Um, what do you want to do? Career wise?" I ask. Laklyn tries to take a sip of my milkshake. "I want to own my own restaurant, and be the head chef." She says with such glee in her eyes. Her eyes lit up while talking about it.

"What would you cook?" I ask. She seems a little taken aback, like she wasn't prepared for this question. "I- I'm not sure, but maybe French food? I grew up learning how to cook those meals."

"I would eat there 24/7" I grin and she smiles. Her eyeliner goes to the door that just opened and her smile drops. She scoots a bit closer to the window she was sitting at. I frown and turn my back to look at the door, seeing a tall man that just walked in, sitting at the barstools.

I look back to Aurora who looks scared, almost terrified. I'm not sure if she wants me to ask and I make sure she is making eye contact with me before mouthing, "Are you okay?" She shakes her head and closes her eyes.

I hand her Laklyn over the table, maybe he will calm her down. He does in fact. Her attention is back on him and not the man that I can't keep my eyes off. I really hope he isn't kidnapped.

Our food arrives at our table and we dig into our food in silence. The man still hasn't noticed us and I'm guessing that if Aurora were to speak up, he would.

We are almost finished with our peaceful meals when the man stands up. I look at him and see he has found her. A grin spread across his face as I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Rory! Good to see you again!" He puts his hand on her shoulder. She doesn't look at him though, she looks down and nods. His gaze turns to me. "Who are you?" He asks.

"Ryder, Ryder Collins." I say not bothering to ask him his name. He makes an aha sound and backs away a bit. "I just wanted to say hi, and shoot my shot again, will you be willing to go to dinner with me again Aurora?" This sets me off.

It was the fact that he had called her by her real name.

"Don't call her that." I say. He looks at me and lifts his brow. "What did you say?"

"I said don't call her that." I say looking him in the eyes. "I can call her what I want buddy." I stand up, not getting in his face, but clocking Aurora and my son from his sight.

"Get out of here, it's obvious she doesn't want to speak to you." I cross my arms. He scoffs before looking behind me, trying to see her. "You're going to be crying when another man breaks your heart Rory. I'm still available."

He walks out of the diner and I sigh in relief. I turn around and see Aurora holding onto Laklyn and tears threaten to spill.

I bend down to her level and put my hand on her knee. "Hey it's okay, he's gone." I nod. "He's gone." She finally looks at me and nods her head, still in a trance of what just happened.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." I stand up and hold my hand out for her. She hesitantly takes it and stands up with Laklyn in her arms. I take her purse and walk her out the door making sure that she is okay.

It broke me to see Aurora tearing up for the first time. I have always seen her so happy except that one time. So he did break her heart. He had admitted that. That makes my blood boil and my fist gri[ tighter on the wheel.

I look back to her, who is starring in front of her. And I made a promise.

No matter what. Friends or more. I will never, ever, ever break her heart.