Aiden had spun through his twenties on a merry-go-round of women who hopped on and off with ease. But a few months ago he’d shut the carnival down entirely. Not like he waslookingto settle down, but he’d faced the fact that he needed to stop sleeping around for a bit to focus on the family’s construction business. As a bonus, it might make him the subject of a little less gossip around town. But fast, easy, no-strings sex was a hard habit to break, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been tempted to go back to his old ways once or twice or ten times.
“No backsliding, no hookups. That’s the plan.” He said it out loud, more as a reminder to himself than anything else.
Dave smirked as he grabbed the next sheet of drywall. “Your legions of fans will be devastated.”
Aiden just grunted and was saved from further conversation on the topic by the arrival of Dave’s extremely pregnant wife hauling an overstuffed laundry hamper behind her.
“No, no, I got it,” Ana announced as the hamper bumped down each step in her wake. “Really, Aiden, what man leaves his pregnant wife to deal with mounds of their children’s laundry all by herself?”
She hit the bottom of the steps and slumped dramatically against the wall, resting a hand possessively on her belly. But her eyes danced as she looked at her husband, and Aiden bounded forward to play his part.
“A monster, that’s who.” He grabbed the handle of the hamper and dragged it the rest of the way to the washing machine. “Dump him and get with me. I’ll carry anything you want. I’m very strong.”
“Hear that, husband?” Ana twined a strand of hair around her finger and batted her lashes. “I’ve got other offers.”
Dave pulled her in for a kiss. “Go back upstairs and put your feet up, woman. We’ve got this.” He sent her on her way with a butt pat, and Aiden pointedly focused on placing the next sheet of drywall while Dave started on the laundry.
A hard knot of jealousy lodged in his throat. Not because he was in love with his friend’s wife or anything, but they were so… happy. Settled. Comfortable. They were a team, and for all that Aiden had great parents and good friends and an important role in the family business, he’d never had that kind of partnership with someone else, that ease and familiarity.
Staying single was a choice he’d actively made years ago. He’d dutifully majored in construction management at ISU and even dropped his music minor in favor of business, like his dad wanted. He’d started his career at Murdoch Construction the Monday after he’d graduated from college, and he’d never complained that he’d been groomed from day one to take over the business someday. But he’d drawn the line at marrying some nice girl way too young, the way his brother had. Sleeping around and staying unattached was his single act of rebellion, and he didn’t regret it. His life was great.
Sometimes though. Sometimes a tiny part of him did wonder if he was missing out. Wondered if he even had it in him to be a boyfriend, husband, father.
“Hey. Lazy ass.” Dave’s voice snapped him out of his impending spiral. “I’m not paying you zero dollars to stand around daydreaming.”
“I’m gonna start charging you by the insult,” he warned as he picked up his drill and got back to work. By midafternoon they hit a stopping point, so Aiden packed up his shit, bid farewell to the Chilton family, and headed to the hardware store to grab the joint compound he’d need to fix the crack in his bedroom ceiling. Anything to keep his hands and his mind occupied so he wouldn’t be tempted to backslide into “fuck first, ask questions later” territory. Sticking to the plan was easier when he filled his time, which usually wasn’t hard. He had Moo Daddies gigs. He met up with his buddies at the Tenth Inning for pizza and beer while they watched whatever sports were in season at the time: Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks. Hell, he even kept up his volunteer maintenance work for a handful of nonprofits around the area.
But tonight was wide open, and as he left the hardware store with his purchase, the siren song of the familiar started up in his head. It’d be so easy to head to a bar or call up one of the handful of women in his phone who had no expectations of him. It’s how he’d spent his weekends for so long that it felt weirdnotto. He could text Paige, or maybe Jen. One of them might—
His phone buzzed as he slid into his truck.
Thea:Does the offer still stand?
For a split second, the question confused him. God, what had he promised her? And then he remembered the run-down house and Thea’s nervous face as she asked him about it. Why nervous though? It had bothered him at the time, how tense she was in his car and how reluctant she was to ask for his help. He tapped out an immediate response.
Aiden:Of course.
Thea:Is this afternoon too soon? Like in half an hour?
Perfect. A house-walk-through distraction would keep him from making bad choices.
Aiden:Sure. Meet you there.
He tossed the phone on the seat next to him and started to put his truck in gear, then notched it back into park and reached for his phone.
Aiden:Did my guy get your tire fixed?
Jumping dots. No jumping dots. Jumping dots again, and finally a response.
Thea:Not yet. He had to order a new one.
His thumbs started to work across the phone, but he abandoned that in favor of just hitting Call.
“Um, hi!” She sounded surprised to hear from him—fair, since he himself was a little surprised to have called her—yet her voice remained as chipper as ever.
“And how are you planning to get to the house if your car’s still at Troy’s shop?”
“Beaucoeur has Lyfts,” she said in the friendliestduh, idiotvoice he’d ever heard.
