“Seems a bit like a date, don’t you think?” Quinn’s eyes were on him, and his flat tone gave the impression that he wasn’t overly interested.
“Uh, well, yeah… I was kind of thinking it could be. I mean, I know you wanted to take it slow and all, but it’s been two weeks. How much slower can we get?” Aiden laughed, but he stopped when he saw Quinn wasn’t.
“I don’t understand,” Quinn sounded a little less cold.
“Okay… what don’t you understand?” Aiden asked.
“You’ve practically ignored me for the past two weeks,” Quinn started.
Aiden nodded. “I wasn’t planning on ignoring you. At first, I was simply giving you some space.” Aiden wiped the back of his neck. “Okay, so maybe it was too much space, and I’m sorry about that, but I didn’t want to push you... and then I didn’t know if you were still interested. Plus, I’ve had some family stuff going on, and that had me somewhat distracted. I’ve missed you, and I want to spend time with you… please, let me cook you dinner. I thought we could do it sometime this weekend if that would work for you.”
Quinn’s frown didn’t let up. “I don’t know,” he said.
Aiden sighed. “Please. Dinner doesn’t have to mean anything. In fact, if you would prefer lunch, then so be it. I’m only trying to move things along and see if this—” he gestured between them, “—can be something more...” Aiden paused and studied Quinn. “…unless you’ve decided against it.”
Quinn let out a breath before speaking. “I suppose dinner would be fine. I could do Friday night.”
Aiden grinned. “Friday night it is.” He backed away slowly, saying, “I’ll leave you to your work.”
He left the living room and went back upstairs. He was looking forward to getting together with Quinn, and knew that he would have to work to make up for pushing the omega away. He was terrible at this, but he needed to try harder. Hopefully, they would be able to pick up where they had left off.
* * *
Aiden spentthe early hours of Friday working because he planned to be unreachable for the rest of the day. Once he was done, he left the house and went to the grocery store. Quinn had agreed to be at his house at six thirty, but Aiden needed to buy the ingredients to make his signature dish. Since he knew where everything was, he was able to get in and out of the store in less than an hour and head back home so he could plan out the rest of the evening.
It was just after one o’clock when he pulled into the driveway and went inside. He had just finished putting the groceries away when there was a knock on his door. Aiden glanced at the clock and frowned. “Who could that be?” he mumbled out loud.
He walked to the front door and peered through the peephole, startled at first, but then he stepped back and opened up the door. “Jack? What are you doing here?”
“Bro, you said I could come whenever.” He strode from the porch into the doorway and hugged Aiden.
Aiden allowed the hug to linger, but the whole time his mind drifted. The last thing he knew, Jack was supposed to call and let him know he could come for a visit. With him there, it could put a damper on his date with Quinn, and he didn’t want anything to ruin that. Aiden pulled back from the hug and looked down at the luggage that stood at Jack’s feet and sighed. So much for a romantic evening for two. He looked up and plastered a smile on his face.
“I thought you were going to call me before you came down for a visit?”
Jack shrugged. “Spontaneity is the spice of life, isn’t that how the saying goes? Absolutely nothing is keeping me back home, so just thought I’d spend some time with my big brother.”
Aiden smiled. Itwasgood to see him, and Jack calling him big brother warmed his heart. They didn’t spend nearly enough time together, not only because of the distance between them, but also because they were all still navigating the whole being brothers thing. Still, Jack was here, bags in tow, so Aiden guessed his plans for the evening had changed.
“Are you gonna invite me in?” His brother raised a brow, and Aiden backed up so that Jack could come in with his luggage.
“How long are you staying?” Aiden asked.
Jack shrugged. “As long as you want. All my work can be done over the internet, so I have no time frame”
“Great!” Aiden said, though it wasn’t with as much feeling as it should have been.
He looked back down at the luggage, and he watched as all the plans for the evening literally crashed and burned in front of him.
“Come on, let me show you to the guest room,” Aiden said, then they took the stairs and Aiden led him to one of the rooms. “I hope this will do,” he said.
“It’s great. Thank you, Aiden. I’m really happy to be here. It’s been too long.”
Aiden nodded. “Why don’t you make yourself at home.”
Jack smiled and clapped him on the shoulder before going to his luggage and opening it. Aiden left him to it, departing from the room and going back downstairs. He considered telling his brother to stay in his room the rest of the day so he could have his date—Aiden really wanted to have his date and make up for everything he hadn’t done during the past two weeks with Quinn—but that would be in poor taste. He wasn’t sure what else to do except call Quinn and raincheck their plans tonight.
Aiden grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed Quinn’s number. The omega answered almost immediately.
