8. Aidan
CHAPTER 8
aidan
I finish my workout and grab a towel to wipe the sweat from my face before jogging upstairs to make a protein shake and a cup of coffee. Dom and Cruz tend to sleep later than I do, but I’ve always been a morning person. No matter how late my nights run, I can’t break the habit.
“Work, goddamnit, work!” A sweet feminine voice floats through the air, laced with frustration. My footsteps pick up their pace, wanting to get my sights on her first thing in the morning.
I find Emma in the kitchen, wearing nothing but one of Dom’s shirts. It hangs to mid-thigh, and I’m disappointed I can’t catch a glimpse of the bottom of her ass. Her legs, however, are fully on display—long, lithe, and toned from the near-daily workouts Dom has been putting her through for the better part of the past year.
“Need some help?”
“For fuck’s sake, Aidan!” she says as she jumps, her hand going to her heart. I laugh under my breath at her startle. “Is this your stupid contraption? Ever heard of a Nespresso? What is this monstrosity?”
“It’s my barista,” I say in mock horror. “Be nice to her. I’ll make you a cup. What do you want?”
“What do you mean, what do I want? Coffee . I want hot coffee. Preferably with an obscene amount of creamer.”
Goddamn. She’s a viper first thing in the morning. That’s fine. I’ve been dealing with Cruz’s shitty personality since we moved in together. I can handle this little pixie too.
“Grouchy in the morning. Noted. Go sit, and I’ll bring you something you’ll like.”
She turns with a huff to stomp out of the kitchen, and I chuckle under my breath.
“Shh. She didn’t mean it,” I say to my machine before getting started. Deciding to make her a vanilla latte since I’ve seen her order one at Bean Haven before, I get to work. While she’s doing her magic, I grab my shaker cup and fill it with milk, adding a few scoops of chocolate protein powder and screwing the top back on.
I return to finish up Emma’s latte, adding vanilla bean syrup to the milk and frothing it. I gently pour it over the espresso and pick it up, confident she’ll enjoy it.
I find her sitting in Cruz’s chair by the fireplace, scrolling on her phone.
“Here you go, Em.”
“Wow. Thank you. This looks incredible.”
I take a seat on the couch and start to drink my breakfast, watching as she purses her lips to blow on the foam before taking her first sip. The satisfied noises that come next are enough to get me hard.
“Fuck, beautiful. That sound.” My cock hardens in my gym shorts, her moan perking him right up. I slide my palm over my shaft to adjust myself as inconspicuously as possible.
“Well, Jesus, Aidan, this is amazing. Holy fuck. Looks like photography isn’t the only thing you’re skilled at.”
“Oh, baby, trust me. I’m skilled at more than just those two things,” I say, giving her a little wink.
She shakes her head with a smile, playing off my words.
“Mmm. My god,” she moans again as she sips.
“Emma. I’m warning you. Keep making those noises, and I’ll be tempted to come over there and see what other ones I can pull from you.”
“What noises?” Dom’s voice breaks the spell Emma has me under.
“Just making your girl moan from the vanilla latte I made her.”
Dom walks into Emma’s space, dropping a kiss on her forehead. She smiles brightly up at him like he hung the fucking stars and moon, and I find myself jealous of their relationship. Dom hasn’t ever been the relationship type, not since shit went down with his psycho ex five years ago.
They had been steady fuckbuddies for a few months when she came to him one day claiming she was pregnant, despite the fact that he wrapped it every time. Dom lost his fucking mind. He wasn’t happy his child was being carried by someone he didn’t feel shit for, but he was determined to make it work because he’d die before he bailed on his baby. The three of us fought for weeks over whether he would move her ass into the house with us when the baby was born. Something never felt quite right. A few months later, we still hadn’t figured out what we were going to do. Having enough of the shit and following his gut, Cruz followed her to a crack house in Tacoma and recorded her shooting up with some lowlife pieces of shit.
After showing the video to Dom, he lost it. Bought a pregnancy test and made her piss on it right in front of us. Guess who was never pregnant? His trust issues run deep, but something about Emma broke through all those walls. If our little fucked-up family had a leader, it would be Dom, he’s the strongest and most levelheaded, but he’s putty in Emma’s hands.
“Glad you made her feel good this morning, brother. I took care of her last night so it’s only fair.”
Emma’s eyes widen as she looks from Dom to me and back again. Her face is a pretty mix of shock and arousal at his innuendo, her cheeks turning pink and her mouth dropping open slightly. Goddamn is she responsive.
“Happy to serve her, Your Highness,” I deadpan.
“Thank you, Aidan, really. I needed this,” she says in a much softer, more human tone than the creature I met in the kitchen.
“Good. You seem . . . happier?”
“Mmm,” she moans between sips. “I am.”
I set my cup on the coffee table and stand, her eyes widening as if she isn’t sure what I’ll do next, knowing her little mistake and my previous warning.
“Emma, Emma, Emma,” I tsk. “What did I tell you?”
I walk across the small living room until I’m right in front of her, dropping down on my knees at her feet. Her face is flushed a bright pink that spreads down her neck, her chest rising and falling harder. Fuck, I love seeing her like this.
“Well?” I ask.
“That if I made that noise again you’d be tempted to come find out what other ones you could pull from me.” Her voice is a hushed whisper and only turns me on further.
“Good girl. You were listening.”
Her eyes flutter closed as she takes a quick inhale of oxygen. So, she likes praise. Noted.
I extend my hands toward her to spread those bare legs open when her knee raises slowly, her foot coming out and resting on my chest. Those bright pink toenails are a flash of color on her pale skin. The position gives me a clear view between her legs, a strip of bright crimson lace covering her hairless pussy, the bottom of her plump ass peeking out. I nearly groan out loud at the visible wet spot at her center. Fuck, she likes this just as much as I do.
She presses against me slightly, not enough to push me away, but enough to hold me back. She smiles behind her mug, and it takes all my self-control not to say fuck the plan and spread those legs and fucking devour her pussy with my mouth right here and now.
Fuck.
I look over at Dom, hoping like hell he’ll just say fuck it and let me feast, but he shakes his head ever so slightly. I’m gonna fucking kill him for making me wait. I’ve waited long enough.
“Hey.” A black boot nudges my Vans where I sit against a shelf of books in the high school library. I pull my AirPod out of my ear and look up to see who’s bothering me and I nearly choke on my spit.
Emma Juliet Davis.
I’ve had a crush on this girl since before I knew what a fucking crush was. She’s gorgeous, smart, and funny, and everyone likes her. Because, how could you not?
“What’s up?”
What’s up? Way to play it cool, Aidan, shit.
“Trying to hide out?”
“I guess? Just trying to find some peace and quiet for ten minutes.”
She sits down next to me, shoulder to shoulder, and I have to work overtime to keep my breathing steady. She’s so fucking pretty, and she smells like the red cherry lollipop she keeps popping into her mouth.
“Aren’t you usually in the darkroom?”
She noticed?
“Yeah, Mr. Kirby let’s me use it to develop my photography.”
“That’s pretty cool.”
“You trying to hide out?”
Her eyes dart away, and she pulls the sleeves of her shirt down further over her wrists. Warning bells go off in my head. Maybe she’s just as lost as I am. For the first time since I’ve known her, she looks vulnerable, unsure, and tired. The kind of tired that’s bone-deep and can’t be fixed with a good night’s rest.
Silence stretches between us, sitting in a random aisle of the library, while she continues to lick and suck that damn lollipop. I don’t realize I’m staring at her until she speaks.
“It’s wild cherry. Want to try it?”
Can sixteen year old’s have heart attacks? It sure as hell feels like we can.
“Sure. Want to listen? It’s Weezer.”
“Sure.”
She hands me the white stick holding her lollipop and I give her the AirPod I had taken out to talk to her.
The taste of wild cherry and something else that is just so her explodes on my tongue. Hell, I wish I could taste it from the source. Wish I could kiss her. Wish she’d look at a loner kid like me like I was someone important to her. If this is as close as I’ll ever get to Emma, I’ll die happy.
I’ve wanted Emma for years, and now that she’s here, now that she’s finally a goddamn option, waiting is killing me. I’m fucking done waiting.