Chapter Twenty-One Willow #2
Ryker and I wander through the store, following Aiden as he zigzags through aisles full of cameras, computers, and even car stereos until he finds what he’s looking for.
“Do you need anything while we’re here?” Ry asks me.
“No, I upgraded all my work gear last year. I’m good to go. How about you?”
He opens his mouth, but before he can reply, we hear a voice say, “You been hiding from me this summer, pussy? Maybe you’re too busy fucking your hot aunt to leave the house.”
Ry and I whip around just in time to see Aiden advance on the little bastard from the gas station, and I grab Aiden’s arm as Ry gets in the punk’s face.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Ry demands. He doesn’t touch the boy, but he’s towering over him, glaring menacingly.
“No one.” The boy looks like he’s going to pee his pants.
“Which console do you want, Aiden?” I try to redirect his focus, and he glances down at me, his sweet face red with fury, breathing hard. “Don’t give him this. Don’t let him upset you like this, sweetie.”
“No one gets to talk about you like that.”
I pat his arm, and suddenly the boy has run off and Ryker turns back to us.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Aiden says. My happy boy is gone. In his place is the angry, sullen boy I’ve lived with for the past two years.
“You’re mine,” Ryker says. “You’re both mine. No one talks to you that way. Now, we’re going to shake that shit off and do some shopping.”
Aiden takes a deep breath, clearly reining in his emotions, and then reluctantly nods. “Okay.”
He chooses his console, a couple of games, an extra controller, and all the accessories he needs, and when it comes time to check out, Ryker lets him pay for half.
“I’m going to get the other half,” he tells my nephew. “And we’re going to talk about money management and how to make that money grow.”
“I make twenty bucks an hour,” Aiden reminds Ryker.
“And you’ll make that twenty bucks work for you. Let’s go, smart-ass.”
Aiden doesn’t smirk the way he normally would, and before long, we’re back in the vehicle.
“Want to stop for dinner?” Ry asks us.
“I want to go back to the bunkhouse,” Aiden replies.
Ryker raises his eyebrow at me, and I nod.
“I’ll make dinner at the house,” I tell him.
We’re quiet in the car for about ten miles. Aiden has his earbuds in, so I assume he’s listening to music, but suddenly, he rips them out and shoves them in his pocket.
“Did they run out of battery?” I ask him.
“Why can’t we just move out to the ranch full-time?” Aiden’s voice cracks, making my heart hurt so much. “What’s the point in being in Missoula anyway? I fucking hate it there.”
“Let’s get out of the car and talk about this.
” Ryker flips on his blinker and takes the exit for a rest area that happens to be empty right now, and as soon as he parks, we all get out of the vehicle, and Aiden starts to pace.
He’s so agitated, so upset, and I wish I could pull him to me and hug him.
But he doesn’t like to be touched.
“Baby, how long has that boy been harassing you?”
“Years,” he says and rubs the back of his hand over his mouth. “I hate him. I wish I could kill him. He’s relentless, and his friends are no better.”
“I want his full name,” Ryker says, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m so over it in that stupid fucking town,” Aiden continues, as if Ryker hasn’t said anything at all. “If I like a girl, that asshole swoops in and makes her hate me. If I so much as smile in class, he finds a way to humiliate me.”
“I’m going to kill him.” My voice is hard as granite. “And I want to know why you’ve never talked to me about this.”
“Because what are you going to do?” His voice is so loud now, but I allow it because I can plainly see that he’s needed to get this out for a long time.
“Talk to his mom? She doesn’t fucking care.
She’s just like him. I’m sick to death of him talking shit about you.
About Ryker and hockey and every goddamn thing.
I don’t even use my phone anymore because he wouldn’t stop texting me. ”
I tilt my head to the side, stunned. “Aiden. What in the hell? Baby, you don’t have to deal with all this bullshit by yourself, and yes, I can do something about it. We can press charges against him. Plus, you don’t have to defend me. I’m perfectly capable—”
“Yes I do,” he roars back. “Because I love you, and you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and if someone’s going to talk shit about you, they’re going to get a goddamn broken jaw.”
“That’s my boy,” Ryker mutters, but I don’t look at him.
“He’s a jealous, miserable kid,” I say, keeping my voice calm. “I’m not saying you need to feel bad for him, and I’m not going to tell you to take the high road because he’s taken all this way too far, but you do know that he behaves that way because he’s jealous, right?”
“I don’t care why he does it.” Aiden pulls his hands down his face. “I don’t give a shit about him. I don’t want to ever see him again.”
“I fucking hate bullies,” I say, shaking my head.
“I want to live at the ranch,” he continues. “All the time, not just this summer. I don’t want to go to school in Missoula. I can go in Paradise Valley, where Micah goes.”
“As far as I’m concerned,” Ryker breaks in before I can reply, “you can move in permanently today. The ranch is your home. For both of you. I want you with me.”
“You do?”
I’ve gone completely quiet, but for the first time since Aiden saw that little shit in the store, he has hope in his eyes again.
This isn’t something that Ryker and I have discussed. The plan was for us to stay on the ranch for the summer and then return to Missoula. I’m a planner. I don’t do well with things being shaken up without warning.
Without a conversation.
“Of course I do,” Ry continues. “I told you, you guys are mine. I don’t want you to move back to Missoula.”
“Thank God,” Aiden says with a relieved sigh. Then he turns his attention back to me. “That’s okay, right, Aunt Wills? We can move to the ranch?”
“We’ll talk about it.”
“It’s perfect. You already have the best recording booth ever, and you like the house. You practically grew up there,” Aiden says, trying to sell me on the idea.
“I said we’d discuss it,” I repeat. “Now, tell me what you need to make you feel better tonight, buddy.”
He shrugs and kicks a rock.
“Can I have a hug?” I ask him, making him roll his eyes.
“I guess.”
I walk into his arms and press my head to his chest and give him a squeeze.
“I love you, baby boy.”
“I love you too.”
I grin up at him as I pull away. “Shall we head out?”
“Yeah, I have to set up my new system.”
He climbs into the SUV, but before I can walk around the car, Ryker grabs my hand and makes me turn to him.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asks. I hate the scowl on his face.
“No, of course not.”
“Wills—”
“Let’s talk about it over dinner. I’m hungry.”
His lips flatten into a line, but he finally nods. “Let’s go.”