“What are you doing here?” Aiden asks, folding his arms across his chest.
“What isshedoing here?” Wyatt counters, pointing at me. “Getting naked with Coach’s daughter? Are youcrazy?”
“I—I should go,” I blurt out.
“No, you’re not going anywhere,” Aiden says, grabbing my hand and holding it firmly in his.
Wyatt sees the move, stares at my hand in Aiden’s, and then he groans. “Oh my God, this is a disaster,” he says, rubbing his hand over his face. “Shit, Aiden. Are you thinking? With your brain and not your—”
“Shut up,” Aiden interrupts. “Sit down, and we’ll tell you everything.” He turns and looks down at me. “We have to, Scarlett.”
I swallow hard. I know he’s right.
Wyatt picks up the box of pizza that Milo has been trying to open off the floor and sinks down on one end of the sofa. Aiden and I sit down together, and he runs his thumb back and forth over the top of my hand that he’s still holding.
“Scarlett, nothing against you, you seem like a cool chick and all, but this is a bad, bad,badidea,” Wyatt says, flipping open the lid and picking up a slice of pepperoni pizza.
I know it is,I think miserably. Seeing Wyatt’s reaction has reminded me of the reality of the situation.
Nobody associated with the Manatees will think this is a good idea.
Especially my dad.
“Wyatt. You remember how I was about Madison,” Aiden says slowly. “You saw how messed up I was when we broke up.”
Wyatt chews his pizza thoughtfully, then swallows. “Yeah, I do. What does that have to do with Scarlett?”
“I never told anyone how badly I was hurting,” Aiden continues, ignoring Wyatt’s comment. “But I was devastated when she dumped me.”
“Dude, I know that,” he says, an impatient tone in his voice. “Hold on, I need a paper towel.”
“And a plate,” Aiden adds. “You’re going to spill all over the sofa.”
I manage a small smile. I cannot imagine these two brothers ever living together.
Wyatt opens the cabinet and grabs a plate, then picks up the entire roll of paper towels and comes back to his spot on the sofa.
“I didn’t want to be with anyone after Madison,” Aiden says as soon as Wyatt sits down. “I didn’t think I could care about anyone the way I cared about her. I didn’t want anyone else to rip my heart out like that.”
“So you decide to go out withCoach’s daughter?” Wyatt asks incredulously. “Again, nothing against you, Scarlett, but Aiden,thinkabout this. You could pick a million girls to mess around with. Have a situationship with, whatever you want. But bro, this is adisasterwaiting to happen. Because this is all going to fall on your shoulders, not Scarlett’s.”
I want to cry. Wyatt is not saying anything I don’t know.
If I cared about Aiden, I’d leave. I’d end this now. I’d end this because I’m falling in love with him, and his career in Miami could be destroyed as a result. I know how my dad thinks. If we can’t win him over, and if he’s mad enough, he could request to trade Aiden.
“I know that,” Aiden says, breaking through my tortured thoughts. “Do you really think I’d even think about taking this risk, let alone doing it, if Scarlett weren’t worth it? We have arelationship,Wy. This isn’t a hookup. It’s not casual. We’recommitted. If I didn’t feel something intense about Scarlett, I’d never put my career on the line like this.”
Wyatt leaves his pizza untouched for a moment, and a thinking expression passes over the face that is similar to Aiden’s.
Then he shakes his head, as if he’s pushing the thought away. “I still think this is a bad idea.”
It’s getting harder not to cry by the minute.
Aiden brings my hand to his lips and presses a gentle kiss onto my knuckles. “Don’t worry about this,” he says, shifting his attention to me. “I know what the risk is. But I also know I have you, and that’s all that matters.”
“How long has this been going on?” Wyatt asks.
Oh God, do we really want to tell him? That we’ve only been on a few dates, but we’re already in this deep? Will Wyatt even believe that what we have is real?
