“Jessa, you’ve met my brother,” Aiden says in an irritated tone, and I can’t decide if he’s annoyed with his brother at this moment or because he approached me at Avalon.
“Hey,” he says, tilting his head, and Penny makes a noise in the back of her throat. Lincoln looks over at her. “What?” he asks her and she glares at him.
“You can be a little nicer to Aiden’s girlfriend, considering he hasn’t had one in forever.”
Lincoln laughs at his brother’s expense and shakes his head. Aiden sits down next to me and places a reassuring hand on my thigh.
“How much have you had to drink?” Lincoln asks Penny, like he hasn’t been drinking a shit ton from the way he stumbled out of here.
“A few rounds, but one of them was free?”
“What?” I ask, and Penny looks at me and shrugs.
“This older dude wanted to buy us a round. I might not be the brightest, but I don’t turn down free drinks.”
Lincoln glares at his cousin, and Aiden shakes his head back and forth, clearly irritated by the entirety of this situation.
“Can I please drive you two degenerates home now?” he says, speaking to Penny and Lincoln. I’m glad that I’m not one of the degenerates he’s irritated with.
“I need to eat something,” Lincoln complains. He looks a lot like Aiden, but he’s a little shorter, younger, and his hair is just as long but in a crazy way, like he’s constantly running his hands through it. Unlike Aidens, his eyes are more blue than green, and he also just seems to be a little more on the grumpy side, whereas Aiden is more optimistic and upbeat.
“I swear, if you fucking throw up in my car,” Aiden warns him.
Lincoln rolls his eyes but picks up the menu. He orders two pizzas, and I can’t help but feel uncomfortable. I’m not sure what the tension is between these three, but it’s thick. I put my elbow on the table and accidentally knocked my phone down into the sand. I lean forward and pick it up, and when I look forward, I notice that Lincoln’s hand just so happens to be rubbing back and forth on Penny’s thigh.
When I pop back up and blink at my friend, her eyes are wide, and she gives me a curt shake of her head. Well, that’s fucking interesting.
“Aiden?” I say, looking over at him.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Do you want to dance with me?”
“Sure,” he says, holding out his hand, and I give Penny a concerned glance as we leave the two of them at the table. Is he really the guy she was crying about over lunch that one day? She mentioned that they couldn’t be together. Is it because they’re legally cousins? It’s too complicated for me to even wrap my head around. Instead, I wrap my arms around Aiden’s neck as we sway to the acoustic guitar playing at the venue.
“Your brother seems…” I can’t think of an adjective, and I regret speaking.
“Like a drunk asshole.”
I feel heat creep up my cheeks and rest my forehead on his chest.
“I hope I didn’t ruin your night with Penny. I can drop you both off at the cottage if you want and then go take Lincoln home.”
“No, I want to go home with you.”
“Oh yeah?” I nod my head, and he leans forward and kisses me softly. “I need you in my bed tonight. I have a conference in Atlanta next week. I want as much time as we can have before I leave.”
I wonder how I’m going to cope with him not in the office, but I’m sure I’ll survive.
“Then it’s settled, we’ll drop the children off and go home.” I just sway against his body, not a care in the world. When I glance to my left, there’s a man leaving the bar, and I swear he looks familiar, but he’s too far away. I hold Aiden closer. My heart breaks for Penny with how complicated her situation must be, and my only concern right now is Aiden going on a business trip.
“Sounds good. At least we still have tomorrow,” I say, playing with the ends of his hair.
“Do you have enough stuff at my place?”
I nod and lean closer to him, his arms wrapping around me. All I can smell is his cologne. I inhale deeply and exhale; everything is going to be fine.
22
