Aiden slowly slips free, meets my eyes, and gives me one last soft and lingering kiss.
My lips tingle as he pulls away. Without another word, he wipes us both down, then steps away to retrieve a camera rig from one of the guys.
I hear him chuckle and say to Leon, “Well, I blew a little early, so I’ll just be a cameraman.” Leon gives him a knowing smirk.
I lie there, trying to gather myself, knowing I’m done. Thankfully, everyone is taking a break between rounds and leaving me alone. After what just happened, I can’t go through the motions with anyone else.
I slide off the bed and head toward the bathroom. Aiden stands nearby, messing with a camera rig. He looks up with a questioning expression, but I say nothing; I just keep walking.
Riley’s at the sink, rinsing out a rag. I grab my clothes, and he beams at me. “This is so awesome! I’ve never had this many guys fuck me in such a short time. How about you? I was so wrapped up, I didn’t even notice what you were doing.”
“Great sex,” I say, brushing past him. “I just need the bathroom for a minute.”
He winks and heads back into the room, eager for another round.
I shut the door behind me and lean against it, closing my eyes as my chest rises and falls. That was the most intense experience of my life. I just had the best sex of my life with the man I once loved, whom I haven’t seen in years, right in the middle of an orgy.
My only choice is to leave. Leon made it clear I could tap out anytime, and I need to tap out. I take a piss, dress quickly, and splash water on my face, but I avoid looking in the mirror. I’m not ready to face what’s staring back at me.
When I open the door, Leon’s waiting for me on the other side.
“You okay, kid?” He checks me over, noting my clothes. “That looked pretty intense between you and Aiden.”
I can’t meet his eyes. “Um…yeah. I’m fine,” I lie. “But I need to go. Is that okay?”
Firmly gripping my shoulder, he gives me a steady, reassuring look. “Hey, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it, we’ve got plenty of footage already.”
“Thanks, Leon. I appreciate it.”
As I open the door, I glance back one last time and see Aiden watching me, his eyes filled with concern.
I mouth, “I’m okay,” then slip out and close the door behind me.
Ray isn’t expecting me to return anytime soon, so I head to the beach. The day spins in my mind—the moment I saw Aiden again after fourteen long years, our brief chat by the pool, and the raw intensity of what just happened between us.
I don’t know what this means, finding each other after all this time. But I do know I don’t want to lose him again. Our connection is too strong, too real, too familiar, and too right to let go of.
But threaded through all of it is the reality of my life: Ray—our toxic relationship and how unhappy I am with him. The only logical move is to end it, but I know what that means. Ray’s temper and his need for control. It won’t be clean, and it won’t be easy.
I walk the shore for over an hour, waves licking at my feet, yet I feel untethered, my mind drifting between fantasy and reality. I know I have to go back to the hotel eventually, but the thought of facing Ray knots my stomach. Once he realizes who Aiden is, the explosion will come, and I’ll be standing in the blast radius.
I spot Ray in the hotel lobby as I walk in. He’s holding court with a few of the guys from the shoot, animated and laughing a little too loudly. I’m relieved he hasn’t noticed me, because it means I can slip by without explaining where I’ve been. I overhear them making plans to grab dinner before heading out to thecircuit party. We weren’t planning on going; it’s not our scene, but Ray decides on the spot that we’re joining them for dinner.
I head upstairs for a shower. I don’t want to lose the scent of Aiden on my body, his fingerprints embedded in my skin, the remnants of him marking me. But for my sanity, I need to scrub him away.
It doesn’t help; his memory is burned into my brain.
By the time I pull on clean clothes and make my way back downstairs, the group is ready to leave. Aiden is with them, and my pulse spikes the second I see him. His presence feels like a live wire across my skin. Ray still doesn’t know who Aiden is, but the clock’s ticking.
We walk to a nearby sports bar, the kind with sticky menus and framed jerseys on the walls. Mac has reserved a long table, and in a cruel twist of fate, Ray and I end up sitting directly across from Aiden.
Ray leans forward, stretching a hand across the table. “Hey, I’m Ray.”
Aiden grips it firmly. “Aiden. Nice to meet you.”
“So, you’re the guy that bumped me earlier, huh?” Ray says, his smile tight, the words carrying a faint snarl beneath the politeness.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Aiden replies evenly, meeting his gaze without blinking. “I’ve worked with these guys a lot before. No hard feelings?”
