Chapter 20
Leaning back in the lounger, I bring the beer to my lips and take a sip. The crisp evening air mingles with the flames of the fire burning between the six of us, soon to be seven.
Corey is going on about something I’ve completely zoned out of with Dom, while Kali and Taylor giggle, and Brittany animatedly mocks him. I feel welcome in their family. Even though most of them went to school together, they’ve embraced not only me, but also Ayden, as part of their circle.
Speaking of him, he’s currently wrapping up a call with Alysa. I really should call her—I still can’t believe I missed her visit. When he told me she’d been here for an entire week for the funeral, I could’ve kicked myself.
I’d gotten a new phone as soon as I arrived, along with a new number. I had to, the phone I had before is down in a canyon somewhere. The new number was just a direct consequence of trying to avoid my biological father and start fresh.
To try and forget about the accident…
The sudden thought of it, and my mom, has me chugging the rest of the beer in my hand.
“Here ya go,” Corey says, and when I look up, another drink is flying in my direction.
I catch it and pop off the cap with my hand. “Thanks.”
“Ayden!” Taylor shrieks. “I was worried you’d stay in and not drink with us.”
They all arrived in a rideshare—everyone here understands the importance of not drinking and driving.
“No alcohol for me, sadly,” Corey grumbles while waving his hand weakly, defeated. “The Missus has plans for us in the early morning. Ugh.”
Everyone laughs, including myself.
“Sit here, Ayden!” Brittany says while gesturing toward her lap. “I’m not allowing you to sit on the floor.”
I narrow my eyes on her and take a very deep breath that’s soon released with a near growl. She’s already had two shots of tequila, saying her week of sessions has been brutal, and she wants to get blackout drunk.
The fact that Dom and I will probably be the ones carrying not only her, but also Taylor, into their ride home has me sighing inwardly.
But I’m not going to worry about that right now. What I am going to worry about is her trying to get Ayden to sit in her lap.
She eyes me with a cat-like smile, taunting me to tell her otherwise.
“I’d prefer the ground, Britt, but thank you.”
Her gasp has Kali and Taylor bending over, laughing in their chairs.
“Is my lap not good enough?!”
He makes his way over toward me and tries to sit between Dom and I. I catch his forearm and pull him closer. He stumbles slightly but lands squarely on the armrest of the lounger.
“Don’t sit in the sand.”
His hands rest in his lap, and I can see him squirm slightly.
“It’s probably because you’re too forward,” Kali says sheepishly before turning to Ayden. “Do you want a drink? Shot or beer? You seem like the Tequila Sunrise type of man. I can make you a mixed drink.”
I purposefully move my drink to the hand closest to Ayden. It’ll keep me from doing something stupid like touching him in front of all these people.
“I actually don’t drink alcohol.” He raises his reusable water bottle. “I’ve got the classic H2O to enjoy with you all this evening. However, I’ll indulge in some s’mores.”
“Just one drink! Come on. It’s alright, you’re with friends,” Kali says innocently.
“If you’re worried about saying or doing something stupid, I promise nothing can be worse than Taylor messaging an influencer for his number and him posting it to his story with the title: And they say men are desperate. ”
“Oh my GOD, you did NOT just tell him that! KALI!”
“That is so mean,” Ayden says through a laugh. “What an asshole. I’d give you my number, Taylor.”
No, you won’t… I take a sip and square my shoulders, the itch to let my internal thoughts fly is painful.
“Thank you, Ayden. But seriously, one drink?”
He laughs nervously. “No, it’s not that. I’ve got an allergy to most of them, so I just avoid them altogether.”
My brows pinch in confusion. The only allergies I know he has are to bee stings and nickel. So, I know he’s lying—but I’m not going to call him out. I wonder if the real reason behind it is embarrassing.
I look down at my beer and hum softly.
After barely a moment of thought, I place it down onto the ground beside me and turn to Corey. “Hey, toss me one of those seltzers. The blueberry pomegranate one, I know it’s Britt’s favorite.”
“That’s SO rude, Keoni,” she says through a hiccup.
The moment I catch it, I notice Ayden looking at me quizzically. Shrugging, I pop it open, letting some of the bubbles spill over before taking a sip.
I don’t understand how anyone can drink these things, but I guess the flavor makes it a bit more manageable. I’m not going to let him be sober alone. Hopefully, when I ask him later, he’ll share why he doesn’t drink anymore.
We fall into conversation, moving from how work seems to be getting busier, to the latest small-town gossip. They ask about Ayden, which is nice for me too—I’m getting to know him as though I hadn’t spent years living across the hall from him.
He graduated college and says he was lucky to get a residency at San Francisco General. I don’t think it was luck. He’s brilliant. He didn’t graduate high school with a 4.0 because of luck. Even though he hid his genius behind jokes and a contagious laugh, it never diminished how smart he is.
“So, are you single, Ayden?” Kali asks.
She’d asked me last week if it would be weird for her to hit on my friend. I told her he wasn’t looking for a relationship… even though I have no idea if that’s true. But I’ll be damned if I ever set her—or anyone—up with Ayden.
Over my dead fucking body.
“I am.” His voice sounds uncomfortable, and he shifts slightly on the armrest. At some point, I’d draped my arm behind him, careful not to touch. He’s bumped into me a few times, murmuring apologies, but he hasn’t gotten up to leave.
Good. That would’ve bothered me more than his ass brushing against my bicep.
“Honestly, that’s surprising. Right, Britt?”
My therapist, and friend, is completely wasted, so when she waves her hand and nods, I’m confident she doesn’t even know the question she’s agreeing with.
“Why’s that surprising?” he asks, leaning forward and crossing his legs. “Is it my riveting personality?”
She fucking giggles.
“And you’re hot. Please don’t act like you have no idea.”
“Me? Hot? Pfft.” He’s playing along. He’d never call himself unattractive, but he’s too humble to label himself handsome or sexy.
He doesn’t need to—I’ll do it for him. Kali might be stepping over my line, flirting with Ayden, but she’s not wrong.
He’s flawless in the looks department. A jawline that’s sharp yet relaxed, full lips that don’t vanish when he smiles, like most white men’s do, and a nose that’s perfectly balanced to his face.
Don’t even get me started on his eyes. As much as looking into them—knowing they’re filled with lies—hurts and angers me, their hazel reminds me of sanctuary.
Too bad I can’t have them, or the man they belong to.
And maybe it’s selfish, but while he’s here, if I can’t have him, then no one can.
“Oh shit, Britt!” I’m yanked out of wherever my head had gone just in time to see the blonde topple into the dirt, rolling around while Taylor, also a little wasted, falls to her knees, laughing beside her.
A soft ahem pulls my attention upward. Ayden’s staring at me, the firelight flickering across his face and catching the red in his cheeks.
“Keo…”
The way he says my name makes my stomach dip. For a second, I panic—did I just say my thoughts out loud?
No. That’s not it. Because when I shift in my seat, I realize my hand is resting against his hip, holding onto him.
Well… that’s possessive of me.
Shit.
I pull my arm back, slow but deliberately, and start to push myself up.
“No, it’s fine.”
Clearing my throat, I stay standing, too unsettled to sit back down. Did anyone see?
Thankfully, Britt’s too wasted to make a comment about me touching my stepbrother in front of everyone. But sooner or later, they’ll all find out who Ayden really is to me.
Who actually cares…
“I’ve got to use the restroom anyway, and I think maybe we should get Britt…” Both her and Taylor are rolling around together, cackling. “And maybe Taylor into a cab.”
“Do you have a spare room, Pierce?” Dom asks as he follows me to his feet.
“No,” I say.
“Yes,” Ayden says at the same time.
Shit.
“Okay… Which is it?”
I look at my stepbrother with questioning eyes. We technically don’t.
“I could lay down too, if you don’t mind,” Kali asks. “We all sleep together anyway at the station.” She stretches her arms way over her head. “Plus, I think I’m full, drunk, and sleepy. The triple threat.”
“We have three rooms.” Ayden stands and takes a few steps toward the cabin. “And a couch. It should be enough.”
“I get to bunk with Aydennnn?”
“No,” I swiftly cut in before he can even joke about agreeing to that. After running through all the options for sleeping, I groan and rake my fingers through my loosely up-done hair. “Alright.”
“Sleep overrrrr,” Taylor coos for so long, I’ve no doubt the echo reached clear across the lake to the other cabins.
I tilt my gaze down to Ayden, who wears a coy smile. I’m not going to question what that look is for, but instead, just roll my eyes and head into the cabin with him.
“Dom,” I call over my shoulder. “You got the girls?”
“Yup.”
“I gotta get going,” Corey calls out. “I’ve already ordered my cab. The Missus will—”
“Kill you if you don’t get home,” all three girls say simultaneously. “We know.”
I can’t help but laugh, just as both Ayden and I begin climbing the stairs to the cabin.