5. Soren #2
She has no clue how he’s looking at her. Like he’s already smitten.
If I hadn’t found her first, I wonder what Aiden would have thought. Or what he’d have said if she’d crawled into his bed instead of mine. He’s not the type to hold himself back if he gets a green light.
Neither of us are anymore.
If Gilli was any other woman, if I hadn’t forced her away?—
I take a long swig of beer.
“Want me to remind you how I have every right to be here?” Gilli asks suddenly, her soft voice going off with the force of a gunshot. “Because I do.”
I pause my sipping. “You’re doubling down?”
Her stance widens, the buttons on her flannel straining. “Yes.”
“So it’s okay to be a part of the family when it’s convenient for you?” I leave her standing in the kitchen and head to the table, grabbing the seat opposite Aiden.
“God, Soren. Just stop,” she says.
“Or maybe you want to call me a bully again.”
Her brows crash together into a dark arch. “When you put it that way?—”
“You may have needed a break, but let me make this clear right now,” I interrupt. I balance my elbows on the table top. “This isn’t going to be the vacation of your dreams. Not in this place. So go. Go anywhere else. Just go.”
She tosses her head defiantly. “I’m not going anywhere.” Despite her insistence, her lower lip trembles.
Aiden and I both zero in on the movement and my gut reaction pisses me off. “Gilli?—”
“Maybe you're the one who should leave.”
My eyes are back to bulging as bitter laughter escapes. Oh yes, steel goddamn balls on this girl. She always had a mouth on her, from what I remember, but she’s honed it into a weapon.
Made all the more potent by her soft-spoken vowels.
She squares her shoulders. “I’m going to grab my stuff. I’ll take another room.”
Without waiting for either of us to answer, she turns on her heel and strides toward my room.
She erupts out the door a second later with a bag dangling from the crook of her elbow.
Her chest rising and falling rapidly, she casts one last look at us before heading across the living room toward the last empty guestroom.
The door slams and I still can’t breathe.
I feel her. The softness of her truly delicious ass nestled up against my cock, the way it would have been so easy to keep her there. Who knew I’d be so weak-willed?
Who knew I’d have such a hard time controlling myself?
I shake my head, blinking to clear away the bullshit. I need to find a woman immediately if this is the kind of reaction I have to a female I can barely tolerate.
“What the fuck is up with that?” Aiden asks once we’re alone.
I lift my eyes to meet his. “With what?” I chug the rest of my beer, needing the buzz.
“Your attitude. I haven’t seen you this pissed since college. And then it was justified. This time? Not so much. You went unleashed Hulk on me. Is there a reason?”
“She was being kind of shitty.”
“You were shitty right back.” Aiden furrows his brow at me. “Why is she here?”
“You heard her. She needed a break,” I reply sarcastically.
He rolls his eyes. “We both know it’s a total lie.”
I drop my voice low before saying, “Of course it’s a lie. There’s more going on than she’s admitting. You saw her face.”
“I know the look of someone on the run.”
Unfortunately for Aiden, he does. But people grow. People change and evolve. As much as I want to know Gilli’s story, I’m hesitant to push her because a much larger part of me doesn’t want to know.
“You think she’s gonna go?” he asks.
I shrug, defeated. No, this is one situation I’m going to assume won’t work in my favor.
Aiden grabs my empty bottle but makes no move to replace it. “I’m sure you’ll get used to her.”
The one thing I won’t get used to is him placating me, but he does it often enough for it to be second nature.
“Actually, you know what I’m thinking? And this probably makes me the worst person in the world…” A sudden burst of adrenaline brings a smile to my face. “This is the perfect opportunity to rankle her. To deeply get under her skin.”
And the more I think about it, the more sense it makes .
“Why?”
Aiden knows as well as I do. Except he’s not willing to say it out loud and for once, I’m happy to explain.
“You know why. To pay her back for what her mother did to this family. For my mother…You know.”
Aiden waits, silent, for me to continue.
“I’m not saying I’ll actively do anything to her, but if she insists on staying, she’s not going to find me welcoming or friendly. And I don’t want you rushing in like a white knight to play her rescuer,” I warn. “Keep your hands to yourself.”
Aiden holds his palms up in front of him like he’s read my mind. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything.”
“Your paws stay in your pockets.”
If Gilli insists on staying, then she has to deal with the consequences.
Aiden leans against the table, staring at me curiously. “You sure this is what you want? Come on. She’s just a girl. We’ve been through enough, dude. We’ve up-leveled where a lot of other people wouldn’t,” he finishes.
“I don’t need a reminder about the past.”
Aiden has always had an easier time of it. Sometimes I wonder if it’s his superpower, his ability to learn and grow and adapt to change where others might stagnate. He’s had a rough fucking go of it, too.
But this cabin is our place.
It’s always belonged to us, not to Gillian or her sisters or her mother.
“Just…keep your distance,” I tell him. “Soon enough, she’ll get tired of the cold shoulder and she’ll make the right decision.”
She’d better . Otherwise she won’t like the person she sees when she looks at me. And I’ll hate the man in the mirror even more.