“What the fuck?” Aiden mutters under his breath, and I don’t even bother to shoot him a dirty look for swearing.
Becausewhat the fuck?
Gaslight much, Andy?
“Are you still there, buddy?” Andy asks.
“I’m here. I’m pulling into the parking lot of where I was going, so I’m hanging up. Thanks for the apology.”
“You bet. You have a good day, and I’ll talk to you soon.”
Ryker cuts off the call before Andy even gets the last word out, and I shake my head.
“There’s something seriously wrong with that guy.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Ry says as Aiden climbs out of the vehicle.
Ryker takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles, then threads our fingers together as we walk behind Aiden, who almost has a spring in his step. The whole way into town, my kiddo talked nonstop about which console he wants to snag, and which games he’s going to buy, and how he has to get an extra controller so he and Micah can play together in the bunkhouse.
He hasn’t been this excited about anything in alongtime. I offered to pay for it, but he shook his head, insisting that he can buy it himself, and that made me proud.
My boy is growing up.
Ryker and I wander through the store, following Aiden as he zigzags through aisles full of cameras, computers, and even car stereos until he finds what he’s looking for.
“Do you need anything while we’re here?” Ry asks me.
“No, I upgraded all my work gear last year. I’m good to go. How about you?”
He opens his mouth, but before he can reply, we hear a voice say, “You been hiding from me this summer, pussy? Maybe you’re too busy fucking your hot aunt to leave the house.”
Ry and I whip around just in time to see Aiden advance on the little bastard from the gas station, and I grab Aiden’s arm as Ry gets in the punk’s face.
“Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Ry demands. He doesn’t touch the boy, but he’s towering over him, glaring menacingly.
“No one.” The boy looks like he’s going to pee his pants.
“Which console do you want, Aiden?” I try to redirect his focus, and he glances down at me, his sweet face red with fury, breathing hard. “Don’t give him this. Don’t let him upset you like this, sweetie.”
“No one gets to talk about you like that.”
I pat his arm, and suddenly the boy has run off and Ryker turns back to us.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Aiden says. My happy boy is gone. In his place is the angry, sullen boy I’ve lived with for the past two years.
“You’re mine,” Ryker says. “You’rebothmine. No one talks to you that way. Now, we’re going to shake that shit off and do some shopping.”
Aiden takes a deep breath, clearly reining in his emotions, and then reluctantly nods. “Okay.”
He chooses his console, a couple of games, an extra controller, and all the accessories he needs, and when it comes time to check out, Ryker lets him pay for half.
“I’m going to get the other half,” he tells my nephew. “And we’re going to talk about money management and how to make that money grow.”
“I make twenty bucks an hour,” Aiden reminds Ryker.
“And you’ll make that twenty bucks work for you. Let’s go, smart-ass.”
Aiden doesn’t smirk the way he normally would, and before long, we’re back in the vehicle.
