6. Aaron
SIX
AARON
Aaron glanced at his phone, at the unanswered text from Lars, for what had to be the fiftieth time since waking up this morning in an unknown bed.
He hadn’t remembered where he was right away, and once it hit him, he felt…
wrong. Not that he didn’t have fun with—shit, what was her name? He was pretty sure it started with a D.
It had been a decent, much-needed night, especially since he hadn’t had sex in over eight months. But there hadn’t been anything special. There weren’t any sparks beyond the physical, and even that wasn’t off the charts.
He’d snuck out on Dana… Didi? He’d quickly dressed and left the woman’s house as soon as he woke up. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold outside. His car was still parked near the restaurant where they had dinner a couple blocks away.
Once he had made it home a few hours ago, he’d collapsed in his bed and checked his phone.
Seeing the text from Lars had nearly made him sick.
He’d needed Aaron, had probably been having a panic attack by the sounds of it.
And Aaron had been hooking up with some woman he would likely never see again.
His friend had needed him, and he hadn’t been there.
The guilt was so strong that Aaron hadn’t known how to respond. Which meant he hadn’t yet, and that only made him feel worse. He needed to reach out, make sure Lars was okay, but his own fear and anxiety had him hesitating.
All day.
Unable to take it anymore, he hit the call button and moved from his desk back to his bed. It rang and rang, and for a moment, pure dread coursed through Aaron as he wondered if something bad had happened. But then, the call connected and his friend said, “Hey.”
It was only one word, but the way he sounded so defeated made Aaron feel that much worse. He leaned against the wall and pressed a hand to his forehead. “Hey, sorry I missed your call. What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m… I don’t know, Aaron. There’s a situation, and I don’t know if I’m overreacting or if it’s as bad as I think it is.”
In the distance, Aaron heard Aiden enter the apartment, followed quickly by Charlie giggling. Aaron focused on his friend, even as they stumbled into Aiden’s room and seemingly made it to the bed. “Okay, well, what is it? Maybe talking about it out loud will help?”
“It’s Mel, she—”
“Oh God, yes!” Charlie moaned in the next room.
Clenching his jaw, Aaron rolled his eyes and sat back up. “Sorry, what? Aid and Charlie are home.” The bed started thumping, the moans growing. “I’m going to kill them.”
Grinding his teeth, he closed his eyes and tried to ignore it. But he couldn’t focus on anything Lars was saying.
The thumping stopped, and he let out a breath of relief. But then, it started up again even louder.
Aaron groaned and stood. “Hey, can I call you back? I have to go commit fratricide.”
“Yeah, no worries.” Lars hung up before Aaron could say more.
Staring down at his phone, Aaron’s brow furrowed.
He really needed to find out what was going on.
That tone was more than concerning. Charlie let out a particularly enthusiastic scream as the pace of the thumping and sounds of skin smacking sped up, and Aaron had had enough. This was fucking ridiculous.
He moved to his desk and slammed his laptop shut. There was no way he was sticking around to listen to this. He shoved the laptop, charger, and his iPad in his satchel. He had to get out of here. Now.
From experience, he knew even shutting his door wouldn’t do much good. He slung his bag over his shoulder and stormed out of his room.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted, passing their bedroom door that was still very much open and getting an eyeful of them yet again.
“S-sorry,” Charlie said between moans. Aiden didn’t say anything, didn’t even pause his thrusting.
Aaron rushed to the living room, stepping over their clothes strewn across the floor, and cursed when he couldn’t find his keys.
As he slipped into his shoes and continued searching, he could still hear the distinct sound of his brother fucking his ex…
his best friend. And as much as he hated it, he was getting hard hearing her gasping, the mattress squeaking.
Aaron loved them, he really did, but he couldn’t handle much more of this. He found his keys beneath his brother’s jacket that had clearly been stripped and dropped the moment they entered. Without any more hesitation, he left the apartment, slamming the door hard behind him.
He took off in his car, and without even consciously making the decision to do so, he realized he was heading toward Summersville.
It didn’t take long to get to the familiar farmhouse that had started feeling more like home than anywhere in Perrington. Aaron parked then made his way to the front door. Not bothering to knock—like usual—he entered the house to find it quiet. That alone was alarming. It was never quiet here.
“Lars?” he called out softly, not wanting to wake the girls if they were napping. Dread coursed through him as he remembered that something was going on with Lars. Had something happened with one of the kids? “Mel?”
He wandered into the kitchen at a quicker pace, needing answers. Lars’s car was in the driveway, so he knew his friend was here somewhere. Glancing out a window to the backyard, he let out a relieved breath at the sight of Mel playing with all three smiling girls.
But there was still no sign of Lars anywhere. He debated on whether he should go outside and ask Mel or keep looking. The urge to find Lars won out. He started up the stairs, this time saying louder, “Lars? Are you up here?”
He supposed Lars could’ve taken Mel’s car, or maybe he got picked up by someone else and went somewhere. The guest room was empty, but then he heard a soft bang and a curse down the hall. Making his way toward the sound, he realized it came from behind the partially open bathroom door.
“Lars?” Aaron slowly pushed on it.
His friend was kneeling by the tub, scrubbing it. With earbuds in. As if sensing Aaron, he turned with a slight jump. He grabbed his phone to pause his music. “What are you doing here?” He pulled out his earbuds. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” Aaron said with a chuckle. “I called out your name like three times.”
Lars pushed to his feet and mumbled his own apology. He turned on the shower handheld and sprayed away the cleaner.
Aaron leaned against the counter. “What’s going on?”
“Cleaning while Mel occupies the girls.”
“No, I can see that. I mean, what happened last night when I missed your call?”
Lars turned off the water then looked at him with a creased brow. “I told you on the phone earlier.”
“Charlie and Aiden came in and were obnoxiously loud.” He sighed. “They didn’t even bother shutting his door, let alone checking to see if I was home yet.”
“Wait, where were you? Why wouldn’t you be home?”
Aaron crossed his arms. “I went out last night and… I might have gone home with this girl.”
Lars’s eyebrows shot up. “You finally went out with someone?”
“Yeah, someone from Love Hunters.”
“That’s why you didn’t answer last night.”
It wasn’t a question, but Aaron nodded anyway. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t even hear it ring, and then I wasn’t exactly looking at my phone. It was on the floor of her bedroom—”
“With your clothes.” Lars picked up his various cleaners and carried them out of the bathroom. Aaron followed as he put them away in the master en suite.
“Yeah,” Aaron said with another chuckle. “And I basically passed out after we were done. I thought it would be weird having a one-night stand, that I might want more, but I have no desire to see her again. She was nice, and I had fun, but it wasn’t like… fantastic, ya know?”
“Not really,” Lars muttered, pushing past him to head downstairs.
Once again, Aaron trailed after him. He pulled himself onto a barstool in the kitchen as Lars started emptying the dishwasher. “In the past, I might have enjoyed it more, but after hearing Charlie and Aid the past few months, I think I’ve been missing out on something more… I don’t even know.”
His phone chimed, and he pulled it open to find a text from his mom letting him know she was home. He grinned and replied that he would be there in a bit. It had been almost four months since she left on her trip to paint around the country. He missed her.
“Your new girlfriend you don’t want to see again?”
Aaron looked up. “What? No. My mom’s back.”
Lars dipped his head in an understanding nod. “You going to see her?”
“Yeah, I told her I’d be there in a little while to help unload her art supplies and stuff when she got home.” He stood and stretched his back in an exaggerated motion. “I want to go say hi to the girls first though, and we still need to chat about last night.”
Lars let out a sound similar to a scoff, making Aaron freeze halfway to the back door.
“What?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
Aaron stepped toward him. “Are you mad at me?”
“Nope.” He slammed a cabinet shut.
Closing the now-empty dishwasher, Aaron said, “Clearly. Look, I can’t take anymore today. Between waking up in a stranger’s bed and then dealing with my brother and—”
“And just like that we’re back to you,” Lars said, shaking his head and finally facing him.
“You want to know what’s wrong? You’re not the only one dealing with shit, but even when you ask what’s going on with me, you still manage to make it about you, Aaron.
For just a few minutes, maybe think about someone else for a change. ”
Before Aaron could come up with a response, Lars walked away from him.