“No, you can’t,” I said, aware I sounded rude but unable to stop myself. “You don’t know me well enough.”
“I know that cheating is never justified,” Aiden said, with a gotcha tone in his voice.
I shook my head. “I must have done something wrong,” I said. “I’ve thought about it a lot. He wasn’t even acting guilty when I caught him. I know I must have given him the wrong impression somehow.”
“Okay,” Aiden said. “Let’s make a deal. I’ll spend however long we have in here getting to know you. And when we get rescued, I’ll give you my verdict. But if I still think the same thing, you have to get yourself back out there and think about finding someone new who will treat you right.”
“I’m not ready for that,” I scowled.
“I didn’t say you had to do it – just that you have to think about it,” Aiden said. “And if I change my mind about you, by the way, then you get to choose my forfeit.”
“You’re that confident?” I asked. “I could choose anything. Something embarrassing or expensive.”
Aiden stuck his hand out towards me over the table with a cocky little smile.
I sighed and reached out. “Fine. Your funeral,” I said, shaking on it.
His hand was warm in mine, and when we were done shaking he didn’t just let go. He turned his hand to lay it on top of my arm, soothing. He rubbed it up and down twice. “You’re a good person, Red. And I’m going to prove it to you.”
Oh no.
What the hell was wrong with me?
I couldn’t be getting half-hard from a simple touch – from a man I barely knew – who I knew was straight!
I cleared my throat. “We should get to sleep.”
Which was a really stupid thing to say, given that I really didn’t want to get up and show him the fact that there was a tent in my pants.
“Good idea,” Aiden said. He grabbed all of our food waste – leaving my chips behind – and carried it over to the garbage bin in the corner of the room. I waited until he’d dumped it all and then managed to stand up, having calmed myself down enough. I hurried over to my bed and got under the covers without bothering to get undressed. The last thing I wanted to do was to rock the boat in any kind of way while I was stuck in one room with a straight man. There was no telling how he would react.
Aiden grabbed clothes from inside his drawers and headed to the bathroom, and I reluctantly considered that I should do the same. Sleeping in the same clothes I had been wearing all day long wasn’t going to increase the comfort level I was feeling. I got everything out and then waited, not wanting to risk getting changed out here in case he came out of the bathroom unexpectedly.
“It’s all yours,” he said, emerging in a pair of long sleeping pants and what looked like an old, faded t-shirt. It looked cozy and warm and I wanted to borrow it and sleep in his scent.
I grabbed my things and rushed into the bathroom like I’d been lit on fire.
This was going to be a long few days waiting for rescue if my brain wasn’t going to quit being so attracted to Aiden that it was awkward.
Aiden
We both lay in our beds under the covers, which were thick and comforting – but yet somehow not quite warm enough. At least, for me. Given that I was bigger and had a lot more packed onto my body, I was guessing it was even worse for Cade.
One thing I knew for sure was that neither of us was asleep. I could hear him breathing, not quite calm and steady enough to be restful, and in the light from the fire, I could look over and see his eyes open and staring at the ceiling.
“It’s going to be okay, you know,” I told him out loud. “We have the fire and we have the beacon. They know we’re here and they’re going to come and rescue us. In fact, I bet we don’t even manage to stay for the whole of the booking we paid for.”
Cade snorted. “Right, because getting my full money’s worth was what I was really worried about.”
At least he was amused instead of scared, even if just for a moment. “Well, it’s important,” I protested. “Those of us who don’t come from mega-rich families have to work part-time jobs to cover these kinds of expenses.”
“I don’t come from a rich family,” Cade said. His tone was odd like he was offended by the suggestion.
“Then how come I had to work all summer every time I came out of practice, and Caleb didn’t?”
Cade made another snorting noise. “Is he telling everyone he’s rich?”
“He didn’t say anything.” I shifted on my side to look at Cade. Sensing my movement, he did the same. “I just guessed because I know he doesn’t work.”
