Chapter Sixteen
Bailey
It was nearly eleven before Aiden made it to our flat, exhaustion weighing so heavily on his shoulders it seemed like he was about to be crushed by it.
He was wearing an old Knights hoodie which was probably Jonny’s, considering how oversized it was on him, stained jeans, and a scuffed pair of trainers with paint on the toe.
It made him look smaller, younger, vulnerable in a way I was sure he’d hate. He was always so confident, a million times larger than life, radiating light and fire like a New Year’s firework display.
The fire was still there but it was dimmed. Damped. Like someone had tipped a bucket of water over his head. Which, given the situation, probably wasn’t the best way to think of it.
“Hey,” he said, looking between Hunter and me with a tired smile, running his hand through his hair and making it stand on end. “Sorry it’s so late. We were all chatting for ages. Then I had to wait for Jonny to go to bed. Didn’t really fancy explaining why I was leaving.”
“You’re fine,” I said, opening my arms and letting him fall against my chest. Hunter was watching us with a worried smile, his arms folded across his chest and his fingers twisting the arm of his T-shirt.
I gestured with my head, hoping he’d get the message to join us, and when he did, the two of us sandwiched Aiden between us, holding him tightly.
It was our turn to be his anchor, giving him a steady bearing to cling to.
Aiden let out a long, slow breath, tension bleeding from his shoulders. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”
“You don’t need to apologise,” Hunter said. He leant down and kissed the top of Aiden’s head. It was the same thing he did to me when I was stressed. “You’ve had a shit day. We’d be the same.”
“Do you want to sit down?” I asked.
“Maybe? Moving feels hard right now.” Aiden chuckled. “And I’m very comfortable. You’re a good pillow.”
“That’s an easy fix.” I grinned and reached down to grab his thighs, lifting him into the air like he weighed nothing.
Aiden laughed but didn’t attempt to escape.
He just put his arms around my neck and buried his head into the crook of his elbow, letting me carry him into the living room and sit down on our huge corner sofa, still holding him in my lap.
Hunter sat down next to us, his thigh almost brushing mine. A tiny wicked grin lit up Aiden’s face as he twisted his body and stretched his legs across Hunter’s. “Mmm, this is better,” he said with a sigh as he tipped sideways to lean against me. “Need to touch both of you.”
“Do you want to sit in the middle?” Hunter asked, hand gently resting on Aiden’s shin.
“No, this is good. Bailey’s lap is comfortable.” He yawned and rubbed his face with one hand. “Fuck me, today was bollocks.”
“I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?” I asked as I wrapped my hand around his waist, holding him gently against me. It was for me as much as him. A soft but constant reminder that he was here, with us.
“Not really, but… I don’t know. We’ve done what we can for now, just need to wait for the insurance before I can start clearing everything out.
And I have no idea when the building will be useable again.
Could be next week, could be two months.
” He let out another sigh, this one more frustrated than tired.
“Jonny thinks I should find somewhere else, especially if it’s not going to be useable for a while.
He’s probably got a point, but I can’t be asked to think about that right now. ”
“You don’t have to,” I said, kissing the side of his head.
Hunter nodded as he stroked Aiden’s leg. “It’s fine if you want to switch off for a bit.”
“I don’t know if I’ve got the energy to fuck,” Aiden said and I felt myself tense. Hunter’s face had narrowed too, and Aiden seemed to take that as a bad sign. “Sorry. I should go.”
“No, stay,” I said, tightening my hand on his waist. “You don’t… we don’t have to fuck for you to stay here. You don’t owe us or any shit like that.”
He sat very still for a moment, like he was processing what I’d said and deciding what to do about it.
Being told he was closed off and detached was one thing, but seeing it was another.
He almost reminded me of a stray cat, sizing me up and debating whether to trust me or not.
Trying to figure out if I meant what I said or if I’d hold it against him later.
I knew we were changing the parameters of our interactions by taking sex off the table and that should scare me more than it did.
But seeing Aiden like this—exhausted, worn down, and worried—made my inner caretaker spring to life.
All I wanted was to wrap him in my arms, feed him, and keep him safe from the rest of the world.
There was a good chance he wouldn’t let me. That he’d run screaming as soon as I made any attempt. But would he even be here if he didn’t want to try?
If he was that allergic to letting people in, would he have reached out to us?
“You were here for us,” Hunter said, shuffling slightly closer so the three of us were all pressed together. “Let us be here for you. Please.”
Aiden huffed out an exhausted, strangled sound. “I… Fuck, sorry. I’m really bad at this. Letting people do shit for me. It was hard enough today getting Jonny and Bacon involved.”
“Did they mind? Were they annoyed with you?” Hunter asked.
“No. I think they were glad I called.” He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I’d want them to call me in the same situation. I’m just bad at asking for help myself.”
Hunter nodded, interlacing his fingers with Aiden’s. “I’m the same. Can’t ask for shit sometimes, but I’d give everything to anyone who asked. Bailey’s the same, if not worse.”
“Hey! I’m not that bad,” I protested, even though I knew it was pointless.
Aiden twisted slightly in my lap and raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk spreading across his mouth. “Really? You, Mr Caretaker, aren’t bad at asking for what you need? You’re not so focused on everyone else you forget about yourself?”
“Fuck off, this isn’t about me.” I poked him gently in the ribs and Aiden chuckled.
“Can it be, please? I don’t know if I want to think about how shit I am at opening myself up to people. It’s too fucking late for that.”
“Do you wanna go to bed?” Hunter asked. “You can stay here with us if you want? We can squash in Bailey’s bed again.”
“Or you can have the sofa? Or Hunter’s bed?
We’d just need to make it up,” I said, noticing how Aiden had tensed at the idea of us sharing.
I wasn’t sure whether to feel hurt by that or not, but I partially understood it.
Hunter was huge and took up a lot of space, with his preferred sleeping arrangement being across my chest, and I wasn’t exactly small either.
If he was used to sleeping by himself, then sharing with us would be a big shock.
“Do you mind if I take Hunter’s bed? I’m a light sleeper,” he asked as he looked between us, scrutinising our reactions.
“No, that’s fine,” I said, shooting Hunter a pointed look over the top of Aiden’s head, hoping he’d get the message and wipe the crestfallen look off his face.
“Yeah, of course.” Hunter didn’t look convinced despite his words, but I wasn’t going to bring it up now. In front of Aiden. We could talk about it later.
“Sure?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, all good. I’ll grab some clean sheets,” Hunter said. “Do you need, like, a toothbrush or something? Anything to sleep in?”
Aiden grinned. “I usually sleep naked. But I’ll take a T-shirt and some pants if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
“I don’t give a shit. You can sleep naked if you want.”
“I will then. But if you’ve got a toothbrush or some mouthwash, that’d be great. I left all my shit at Jonny’s.”
“I’ll find you one,” I said. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got something.”
“Yeah, there’s a spare toothbrush head under the sink,” Hunter said. “You can put it on my brush.”
“Cheers,” Aiden said. He was still leaning against me, eyes closed and almost dead to the world.
My chest tightened as I watched him, something hot igniting deep within me.
It wasn’t just a spark, igniting and burning out in the blink of an eye.
Instead, it felt more like a bonfire crackling into life. I didn’t really know how to explain it.
It wasn’t the same as my feelings for Hunter. Those had emerged slowly, forged through time and shared pain, unnoticed until they weren’t. They sat there now, a warm weight in my heart, and one I still struggled to acknowledge.
The idea of admitting them to anyone was alien. I couldn’t even bring myself to consider it, no matter what changed between us.
And things had changed, there was no denying that.
But I was prepared to live in ignorance for as long as possible, because if I had to start talking about them, who knew where I’d end up.
Maybe it would be fine and everything would work itself out.
But there was another chance it would crash and burn, and I’d lose all the things that were important to me.
“You’re falling asleep,” I said, casually brushing Aiden’s hair out of his face and gently jostling him, trying to keep him awake.
“Yeah, well, you’re comfortable.” He tried to laugh but instead it came out as a yawn. “You must… Sorry, this isn’t what you signed up for when I said I’d drop round.”
“It kinda is. It’s late and you’ve had a shit day.”
“Still, you didn’t ask to take care of me.”
“Fuck off, I want to.” I kissed the side of his head.
“’S nice. I like it,” he said. Then he added quietly, “Shouldn’t get used to it, though.”
“Who shouldn’t?”
“What?” Aiden asked, lifting his head and shooting me a sleepy glare, like a tired, pissed-off cat. I tried not to laugh.
“Nothing. Ignore me.” I cupped his jaw and gently drew him into a long kiss. He hummed softly, the sound curling itself around my soul.
“Mmm, you’re good at that. You have a pretty mouth, Bailey.”
“So do you. But yours causes trouble.”
Aiden scoffed. “And you never do?”
“Sometimes. When it’s fun.” I kissed him again, enjoying the taste of his tongue.
There was a pointed cough from the door and we glanced over to see Hunter holding a pile of clean sheets in his hand. “Are you two going to help or are you just going to sit there making out while I do all the work?”
“It’s putting sheets on the bed. It’s not hard,” I said teasingly as Hunter pouted.
“It’s okay, babygirl,” Aiden said, beckoning Hunter towards him with a curl of his fingers. “You can have kisses too. I don’t want you to feel left out. You’re too pretty to pout.”
“I don’t pout,” Hunter said, clutching the sheets to his chest as a blush spread slowly across his nose. “And I’m not… pretty.”
“Yeah, you are. The prettiest.” Aiden waved his hand again. “Come here and get your kisses. Then we’ll go to bed.”
Hunter hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the sofa and bent down so Aiden could kiss him. The heat inside me flared again. I really loved watching them kiss.
“Give Hunter a kiss too,” Aiden said to me, putting his hand on my jaw and gently pushing me towards him. “And tell him he’s pretty.”
“You don’t… I’m not…”
“You’re very pretty,” I said, reaching out for Hunter. We’d started kissing a little more. Just now and then, in the privacy of our own home, when we were too tired or needy to think about what it might mean. And every time I did, I felt myself falling a little more in love with him.
“Mmm, you two are so hot together. I love watching you,” Aiden said.
“T-Thanks,” I muttered.
“Next time I want to watch you two fuck,” Aiden said, desire lacing every word. He looked between us. “Have you? Fucked yet?”
“No,” I said. “Only… kisses. Handies. The blow job yesterday.”
“Do you want to fuck?” Aiden asked, so matter-of-factly it was like he was asking about the fucking weather.
I glanced at Hunter, who’d gone wide-eyed and was blushing. “Y-Yeah, I want to fuck Hunter.”
“Hunter? Do you want Bailey to fuck you?”
“Yes. I do.” His response was barely a whisper but there was so much need in his eyes. My cock was growing hard under Aiden’s arse and he chuckled as soon as he realised.
“Screw the sheets,” he said, kissing us one at a time. “I want to watch you two fuck instead.”