Chapter 15
AIDEN
“Ican’t believe you made me bring you,” Aiden muttered.
Parker grabbed him by the shoulders from behind and gave him a little shake. “You know I can never pass up a chance for free food. Besides, I’m Mathew’s friend, too. Sort of.”
“This isn’t Mathew’s baby shower,” Aiden grumbled. “It’s Penny’s, and you haven’t even met her.”
His brother laughed. “I’ve heard so much about her from you and Mathew that I feel like she’s my little sister, too. It’s like we’re one big happy family.”
Aiden whirled around and poked Parker firmly in the chest. He opened his mouth, then closed it.
His brother smirked expectantly, and Aiden lowered his hand to his side.
“I’m letting you come because you’re right.
You’re friends with Mathew and now some of his cousins.
” As much as Aiden disliked that fact. “But I want to make it perfectly clear that I’m not going to tolerate you spilling any more beans. What happened with…”
He cut himself off when Parker’s eyes grew wide.
“What happened with…” Mathew’s amused voice came from behind him.
Aiden stiffened. That had been close. Far too close.
Slowly, Aiden put on a mask of indifference and turned to face his friend. “My brother here has a crush on your cousin.”
Mathew’s amusement faded as he glanced from Aiden to Parker. “Is that so? Which one?”
Of course he wouldn’t care. He didn’t seem upset at all. Merely curious. What was it going to take for his friend to accept that Aiden could be a good partner, too?
When Aiden turned his focus to his brother, he almost expected a look that made it clear he’d overstepped. But in true Parker fashion, his brother just rolled with it. His eyes darted over the growing crowd of people.
He didn’t even hesitate when he grinned and murmured, “Jazz.”
Mathew arched a brow. “Jazz? You mean Jasmine?” Then he grinned, too. “You sure you’re not into Lily? How can you tell them apart?”
Aiden nearly jumped into the conversation so Parker wasn’t put on the spot, but apparently, he didn’t need to.
“Jasmine’s got this little freckle just below her left eye. And when she smiles, there’s a small chip in one tooth. Her voice is slightly lower, but you’d only be able to tell if you heard them side by side. And—”
Mathew held up both hands. “I get it, I get it.”
Aiden stared at his brother in shock. How on earth had Parker noticed all those little things after one evening together? It wasn’t fair. Everything came so easily to him.
“Well, I wish you luck,” Mathew continued. “Jasmine isn’t the easiest to win over. I don’t think she believes in love.”
“Don’t I know it,” Parker mused. “But hey, I’ve got all the time in the world to convince her.”
The words were playful, but something in Parker’s expression shifted too quickly for Aiden to name.
After a little more small talk, Mathew slipped away.
Aiden whirled on his brother. “What was that?”
Amusement laced Parker’s tone as he shuffled them both toward the nearest refreshment table. “What was what? You threw me under the bus, and I survived.”
“That wasn’t survival. That was domination. How did you know—”
His brother shrugged. “I notice things about people.”
“Yeah? Prove it. What did you notice about Lily?”
Parker stilled. His eyes didn’t shift to Aiden for a single second before he started his list.
“She’s got a cowlick on the left side of her crown.
Sometimes a few hairs stick out funny, but she’ll smooth them down.
I don’t even think she realizes she does it.
When she’s happy or finds something funny, she always looks at you first to see if you find it funny, too.
When the two of you are talking, she leans in closer like you’re two magnets and she can’t help it.
There’s a strange kind of dimple on the upper side of her right cheek.
I’ve never seen one there before. And when she’s nervous, she bites her lip.
Like, a lot.” Parker glanced at him. “Does that assuage any concerns you have?”
Aiden snorted. “Concerns? Like what? I don’t have concerns.”
His brother turned to face him fully, folding his arms as though he’d forgotten he was seeking out something to snack on.
“Look, I know what you might be thinking. And no, I’m not interested in Jasmine.
She’s nice, and we have a few similar views on things.
But I’m not interested in a relationship.
I’ve been burned before, and I’m content to never go down that road again. ”
“Well, maybe you should.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Parker’s gaze drifted toward the crowd. “But right now, I have a lot on my plate. And I don’t think it would do me any favors if I started having feelings for someone who’s just like me when it comes to trusting people. We’re too alike. It would never work.”
The certainty in his voice sounded rehearsed.
Aiden considered his words. Parker had made several good points. As much as Aiden wanted to see his brother happy with someone, Parker clearly wasn’t ready for that kind of life-changing event.
He blew out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I get it.” He shifted so he could take in the outdoor party. “Lily and Jasmine seem to have outdone themselves, yeah?”
Aiden needed a change in subject. If they continued discussing relationships, he might find himself drowning. Already, he was struggling to keep his head above water when it came to the guilt over keeping his relationship from Mathew.
“Yeah, it looks great.”
Pink and blue balloons floated from centerpieces at every table.
There were at least a dozen tables, if not more, covered with white tablecloths and baby-themed confetti.
Two refreshment tables stood off to one side.
One with sweets and another with small hoagies and savory snacks.
Music played from a speaker somewhere, and presents were gathering on yet another long table.
People grouped off with others they knew, and Aiden couldn’t help but seek out the one person he wanted to spend time with.
Parker nudged him. “You know, it’s probably a good thing you said I had a thing for Jasmine.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, that means if the girls are together and we hang out with them, no one will bat an eye.”
Aiden straightened, and for the first time since he’d arrived, he grinned. “You’re right. Mathew will think we’re chatting with them because of your crush and not my…”
“But that doesn’t mean I approve of you keeping this from him,” Parker interrupted, throwing a pot of cold water over Aiden’s excitement. “I still think it would be best for you to say something. I don’t want to see you get hurt if this blows up in your face.”
The grin slipped from Aiden’s face. He knew Parker was right.
That was the worst part.
“Well aware, brother. I know exactly how you feel on the matter. No need to remind me.”
At that very moment, Lily and Jasmine slipped through the crowd. Lily’s eyes landed on him, and the world felt righted once more. He exhaled and took a step forward, only for his brother’s hand to shoot out and grip his bicep.
“Easy, tiger. Let them come to us. We don’t need anyone getting the wrong impression.”
Aiden glared at Parker, and his brother chuckled. “How about we pick through some of these cookies and brownies? Then we can all go sit at a table and chat.”
“Did someone say brownies?” Jasmine asked as they reached the group.
“Hey,” Lily murmured quietly. “I wasn’t sure you were going to come.”
“Oh, Penny and me? We go way back.”
Aiden glanced past her toward the crowd in search of Mathew. When he didn’t see him, he leaned a little closer to Lily.
“Twenty minutes,” he murmured. “Meet me on the south side of the barn.”
Her eyes widened, and warmth flashed in their cerulean depths.
Aiden pulled back and grabbed a plate. “Parker here gave us a genius cover story. Wanna tell them what you confessed to Mathew?”
Parker chuckled. Then, in the most nonchalant way, he looked over the group before letting his eyes land on Jasmine.
“Shh. Don’t tell Jazz, but I have a major crush on her.”
She snickered. “You didn’t.”
“Aiden here didn’t give me much of a choice. He’s the one who nearly…”
With that, Aiden dug his elbow into Parker’s gut. He grunted, then laughed out a wheeze.
Lily’s eyes met Aiden’s, full of curiosity and amusement.
“He’s just trying to get a rise out of me,” Aiden murmured. “Not gonna let him.”
But beneath the teasing, guilt tugged at him. Parker’s fake crush had become one more layer of cover.
One more person helping Aiden avoid a conversation he already knew he needed to have.
Twenty minutes later, they were tucked out of sight behind the barn.
Lily slipped into his arms, and the kiss they shared carried all the urgency of two people who had spent the afternoon pretending they were nothing more than acquaintances.
Aiden kept one hand at her waist and the other against her cheek, letting the kiss soften before it could become more desperate than tender.
When Lily pulled back, breathless, he rested his forehead against hers.
Their heartbeats seemed to be in sync.
But then she eased farther away and looked up at him with beseeching eyes. “Have you figured out how you’re going to tell Mathew?”
Aiden grimaced. “Not yet. It just… doesn’t seem like a good time.”
She huffed and withdrew enough that he could no longer hold her. “When will it be the right time? Aiden, I hate keeping this kind of thing from my family. I love you. I want to be able to introduce you to my father as my boyfri…”
Shouts.
Screams.
Startled laughter.
And more yelling startled them both.
They inched toward the edge of the barn to look out at the party.
“What in heaven’s…” Lily whispered.
Aiden peered over her head. “You have got to be kidding me.” He dragged a hand down his face. “Please tell me that isn’t a member of the Meyers family shoving a cupcake into your sister’s face.”
Lily sighed. “That’s Lincoln. But it looks like he already got hit. Isn’t that mustard in his hair and down the side of his cheek?”
Squinting, Aiden confirmed it. “You don’t think your sister threw a sub sandwich at him, do you?”
“That or squished one onto his head.”
“Why?” Aiden muttered.
She sighed again and turned to face him. “Because those two can’t stand each other. Rose loves to get a rise out of him, and he’s too hotheaded not to fall for the bait.”
By this point, several people were involved in the food fight.
Mathew, Jason, Royce, and Parker were trying to break it up.
“I guess you’re right,” Lily said, resigned.
“About what?”
She turned to face him, sadness in her pretty blue eyes. “This probably isn’t the right moment to tell Mathew. He’s still trying to play peacekeeper with my cousins.”
Aiden searched her face. Relief should have been the first thing he felt. Instead, her disappointment settled heavily in his chest.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Jason seems to be helping.”
“Yeah, but he doesn’t have as much pull.” Lily glanced back toward the chaos. “And if we put this on Mathew’s shoulders right now, I’m afraid he’d react badly.”
Aiden’s jaw tightened. Why did those words hurt so dang much? They sliced through him in ways he hadn’t been prepared for. It was one thing to believe he wasn’t good enough by himself. But now that Lily was admitting she thought Mathew felt the same?
She must have noticed because her expression shifted. “That came out wrong.”
“Did it?” he asked.
“Aiden.” She reached for his hand. “I only mean he’s already dealing with a lot. When Mathew gets protective, he doesn’t always think before he speaks.”
Aiden let her take his hand, though the ache in his chest didn’t fully ease. He knew what Mathew thought of him. He’d made that clear enough. Still, hearing Lily suggest Mathew might react badly stirred up every old insecurity Aiden had tried to ignore.
“If he told you to stop seeing me, would you?”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“If Mathew told you I wasn’t good enough for you.” Aiden swallowed. “Would that change anything?”
Lily stared at him for a moment, then tightened her hold on his hand. “I’d listen to what he had to say because he’s family. But I’d make that decision for myself.”
Aiden searched her face.
“And I already know how I feel about you,” she added softly. “Mathew doesn’t get to decide that.”
Something in his chest loosened.
Lily stepped closer. “But I do want us to tell him soon. I don’t like hiding this.”
“I know.”
“And I don’t want there to always be another reason to wait.”
Aiden glanced toward the party, where Mathew and the others were still trying to calm everyone down.
“Today probably isn’t the right time,” he admitted. “But I know we can’t keep putting it off.”
She studied him for a second, then nodded. “Okay.”
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Aiden wanted to believe that would be enough to settle him. But even with Lily beside him, some part of him still expected everything to fall apart the moment the truth came out.
A throbbing ache in his chest had him pressing his knuckles to the spot if only to distract him with a different kind of pressure. Even though he had the girl. Even though his brother was rooting him on.
Aiden couldn’t help but feel more alone in this moment than any others that he could remember in his past. And he was beginning to realize that waiting wasn’t protecting what they had.
It was only going to make the fall harder.