He arrived at Aiden’s house and rang the doorbell, just like he did every time he came here for work. This time, no one came to the door or called out to him. Quinn frowned and rang the bell again. After the third time, Quinn tried the door and found that it was unlocked. He opened it up and entered the house.
“Aiden?” he called out.
There was no answer, but a few seconds later, Aiden rounded the corner, coming out from the den. He had his cellphone to his ear. “Hold on, Jack,” he said.
Aiden looked in Quinn’s direction and whispered, “You can go ahead and get started.”
Aiden hurried up the stairs after that, not even passing another glance his way. “I’m back,” Quinn heard him say before his voice faded away and a door closed in the distance.
Quinn couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering up the stairs. That was strange, but then his heart felt heavy as the realization hit him.
Was this Jack another omega, one without all of Quinn’s baggage? He closed his eyes for a moment. Gods, it felt like someone was using his chest as a trampoline.
Fuck, Quinn wasn’t sure what hurt more... that Aiden was like every other person he’d tried dating, or that he had actually started to fall for the alpha.
Of course the alpha had moved on, because he didn’t want to go as slow as Quinn did. He tried to shrug it off, but he was hurt that Aiden could so easily brush him off like that, as if the time they were in his bed meant nothing.
Get over him. You have work to do.
He went to the closet and grabbed some supplies, then did his best to forget about Aiden. It was not going to do anyone any good if Quinn let the cleaning go, so he would get it done, leave, and then he could sulk all he wanted back in his office.
12
Aiden
“I’d love to see you. It’s been way too long, but are you sure now’s the time?” Aiden sat down on the edge of his bed.
“Yeah. It’s actually the perfect time.” His half-brother was quiet for a moment, then went on. “It will take my mind off of my mother’s passing, and I think that’s how this whole brother thing is supposed to work.” He could hear the smile in Jack’s voice. “Besides, now that you’re in remission, we have some celebrating to do.”
Aiden smiled. “Okay, then. The sooner the better. You let me know when you can get some time off and when you’re coming. I’d love to have you here.”
“Sounds good, Aiden. I’ll call you soon,” Jack said.
“Take care!”
Aiden disconnected the call and sat on his bed for a while, then he lay back, and as it had the last couple of weeks, the image of Quinn and him in bed came rushing back. Aiden hadn’t been able to get Quinn out of his mind since that day, and he was doing everything in his power to try and tamp down the memory.
It wasn’t that Aiden didn’t still long to have that connection with Quinn, but he was trying to give Quinn some space, even though it was killing him. Aiden got up and left his room.
Once he made it down the stairs, he heard the vacuum running in the living room and took a step towards the sound, spotting Quinn. From where he was, Aiden could see that Quinn had his earbuds in. It’d been weeks of spying on the omega as he worked, and he’d gotten pretty good at making himself go unnoticed, even if he said so himself, but as he stood there, Aiden couldn’t take the distance any longer. He wanted to ask Quinn over for supper so he could prepare him a nice home-cooked meal. That didn’t count as rushing things did it? And he would just have to accept it if Quinn turned him down.
Aiden cleared his throat as he entered the living room. Because Quinn had his music playing, he didn’t make any movement to show that he’d even heard Aiden.
“Quinn?” Aiden called out.
Quinn jumped and quickly turned around. He pulled his earbuds from his ears and shut off the vacuum.
“I didn’t see you there,” Quinn said. “You startled me.”
“I’m sorry.” Aiden put both hands in his pockets. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“It’s fine,” Quinn mumbled. “Did you need something?”
He asked the question, but turned his back to Aiden and started to work again. Aiden wasn’t sure if he should take that as a hint of ‘don’t bother me.’
Still, Aiden decided to continue. “Yeah. I was wondering if you’d want to do dinner some night together. I’ll cook. I’m told I make a mean spaghetti and meatballs.”
He chewed on his bottom lip, anxiously waiting for Quinn to look up at him and acknowledge that he was even there, but it took several minutes for that to happen.
