Despite Aiden’s cold response to my birthday gift, I still wanted to get close to him. I wanted to know more about him, to get to a point where he could truly trust me. Call it stubbornness or misplaced optimism, but I wasn’t ready to give up on the idea of at least a cordial relationship with him.

My thoughts were interrupted when Ethan approached me at my desk. “What are you still doing here?”

I stared at him in confusion. “Where else ...