“That cannot be farther from the truth,” Rafe said firmly, and I nodded.
“I know, but she doesn’t. And after everything with Wyatt…”
Rafe nodded, then ran his tattooed hand through his hair. “Alright. I can work with this. Thank you, Aiden. I’ll text you if I need anything.”
“But–”
Rafe disappeared into a shadow, and I was left standing in the hall as if I’d been alone all along. I sighed.
“–you don’t have my number.”
Chapter 11
Skye
“We should do something.”
I popped my head up to look at Aiden, who was sprawled out on the loveseat. He had a book on his chest, but it was upside down, so I knew he hadn’t been reading. I was on my tablet, looking through a few new studies that’d been published in the last few weeks.
I’d been trying and mostly succeeding in acting as normal as possible all day. After Rafe and Wyattbroke into my fucking house, I’d been so pissed I thought I’d explode. My hair wouldn’t stop floating for hours, and eventually Aiden had to coax me into the shower and fuck the anger out of me.
We both ended up sleeping until the late afternoon, then we’d lounged around while Zephyr closed up the café.
I wasn’t expecting Rafe or Wyatt to show back up tonight, but I couldn’t be sure. Rafe had texted me a few times, giving me full consent to enter his mind ‘whenever and however’ I wanted. He’d also told me he’d keep texting me until I decided to mentally talk to him, so naturally, I was ignoring his messages. I glanced down at my phone to see there were more than a dozen texts waiting for me from the Prince.
“What’s got you smiling like that, baby?” Aiden asked with a grin.
I coughed, resisting the urge to throw my phone in alarm.
“I’m not smiling, I’m scowling. Rafe won’t stop texting me.”
Aiden’s grin widened into a smile. “Oh yeah? What’s he saying?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m not gonna check.”
Aiden laughed. “Skye, we could have fun with this. He’s so desperate to apologize, maybe we should see how far he’s willing to go.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh?” I sat up and Aiden did too, swinging his legs down so he was sitting on the couch. “And what should I make him do? Should I make him grovel like you did?”
Aiden blushed, dropping his head so I wouldn’t see. He wasadorable. “No,” he said slowly. “I think he’d enjoy that too much.”
“So did you,” I said softly.
Aiden tilted his neck back, shaking his head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe I enjoy that.”
“I can,” I said, sitting up straighter. “I think it’s exactly what you need sometimes.”
“Being told what to do?” he asked, then shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t be like this for just anyone, Skyes. It’s only for you.”
Some broken part of my heart healed with those words. Aiden could tell, too, by the way he was looking at me. He sat upright, his elbows resting on his knees as he watched me. His brow was furrowed slightly, but his warm brown eyes were soft, his entire expression one of love.
“Come here,” I said softly.
He moved to stand, and I shook my head. I was suddenly shy, even though we’d done this so many times.
Aiden was frozen on the couch, his hands on either side of him on the cushion. He watched me carefully even as he was barely holding back his excitement. I could feel it in my chest alongside my own.
My gaze dropped to the carpet before looking back at him, and he narrowed his eyes before also glancing down to the floor. Realization dawned, and his expression turned to surprise as he grinned.
