“Huh...” he trailed off, following my gaze. He lasted almost a minute without speaking before he opened his mouth again. “So. you and Lily?”
I’m gonna kill him.
I slowly looked at him, my face blank as I waited for him to say whatever he needed to before I decided whether or not to smash his face through the drywall.
“I’ve got to admit, I wouldn’t have picked you to be the type of guy to go for that.” He nodded to her, speaking of her like she was an object.
Breathe.
“What’s she like?”
I snapped my eyes back to him. “Excuse me?”
“Well, Kira likes the rough stuff. When I—”
“Why are you tellin’ me this?”
He scoffed in amusement as if I was missing some messed up inside joke. “We’re the boyfriends. We talk about that shit.”
“What makes you think I want to share that with you? Or anyone?”
The knowing smile that crept onto his face as he nodded in consideration, gave me a headache. But that also could’ve been because I was clenching my jaw too tight listening to him. I rubbed at it, looking back at Lily again when I thought the conversation was over for good.
The girls began drifting in the direction of the next room.
Good.
“She’s a virgin, isn’t she?” Aiden said under his breath as he nudged my arm and moved to follow them. “Want some advice?”
Kira and Lily disappeared around the corner up ahead, leaving Aiden and me alone as I fell into step beside him.
He glanced over his shoulder as he spoke again. “I say just give it to her. Virgins will always say they aren’t ready, but they really don’t know what they want—”
I grabbed the collar of his gray plaid shirt and forced him to stop, leveling him with a glare as I kept my voice low. “Do me a favor. Don’t give me advice. In fact, don’t talk to me again for the rest of the fuckin’ day.”
“I’m just making conversation—”
“We aren’t friends, Aiden. I’m here because this is somethin’ Lily finds joy in.” I turned to face him, standing over him by a few inches. “So, pull your fuckin’ head in, shut your fuckin’ mouth, and go treat Kira with a little more respect.”
He paused, and the look in his eyes was almost unsettling before he smiled slowly. “You don’t like me much, do you?”
“What gave it away?” I backed off, releasing his collar just as Lily and Kira returned.
“We thought you two might’ve gotten lost,” Kira said, skipping right up to Aiden’s side. She pecked him on the cheek while his eyes lingered on me a second longer.
“Nah, babe,” he smiled, pulling his attention to her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her toward the doorway. “Just talking.”
Lily’s hand made its way into mine and I looked down at her. She was frowning slightly in Aiden’s direction as he walked out of view with Kira.
“Is everything okay?” she asked hesitantly.
I smiled genuinely and kissed the top of her head. “It is now.”
“Dean, I saw your hand on his collar,” she deadpanned.
“We just had a little chat about respect,” I shrugged as we started walking.
“You looked like you were about to knock his head off.”
