I bit down on the banana and chewed, swallowing it quickly as if that would make it less awkward. I knew my cheeks were bright red.
I looked down at the table and wondered if I could get away with not eating the rest of the banana – but no, I was hungry, and we couldn’t waste any food right now.
“Fuck.” Aiden’s muttered exhalation had me looking up at him again, and to my surprise, his own cheeks were heated this time. He reached for his candy bar and ripped the wrapper open, looking away from me.
I ate the rest of the banana in record time before he had the chance to look back, wolfed my cookie just as fast, and then rushed into the bathroom with the excuse of getting changed.
It was only there that I had the chance to pause and breathe for a minute. There was no light in here without the fire to illuminate the room, but I turned on the screen of my phone and then laid it on a shelf so that it would point upwards and give me enough light to see by. Aiden was going to run out of battery a lot sooner than I was now that he’d spent the afternoon listening to music, but that wasn’t my problem. I got changed quickly so I could spend a moment looking in the mirror, poking at my own face.
What was I doing?
What was Aiden doing?
It felt inevitable that something would happen again tonight. Was I going to resist him? Tell him I didn’t want to be some straight guy’s toy for a few days?
I didn’t think I had the willpower.
It had been a long time since I’d had this kind of attention, not to mention since the last time I came that wasn’t in my own hand. Add to the fact that I already thought Aiden was damn hot and a good guy to boot, and how hot his kisses were, and I didn’t stand much of a chance. It was inevitable.
We were going to make out again, and I wasn’t going to do a thing to stop it even though I knew it was only me who was probably going to get hurt.
Not that it needed to be that way. It was just casual, right? And it was okay to be casual. Other people did it all the time. One night stands, friends with benefits, flings that both parties knew were going nowhere. It was fine to do that. I didn’t judge others for living that way. Why should it be any different for me?
I could do this. I had no problem with being casual. Maybe it was just what I needed.
And besides, it wasn’t like I was cheating on Brody. It was only me that still thought about him. Whatever relationship we’d had was over months and months ago.
So there was no reason for me to avoid doing anything with Aiden that the two of us wanted to.
Right?
I groaned inwardly, scrubbed my hands over my face, grabbed my phone, and went back into the main room of the cabin to throw myself into the bed and try to pretend everything was perfectly normal.
Aiden changed quickly and got into the bed behind me, moving up closer to me. I felt his weight shift on the mattress, coming over onto my side of the two frames.
Then his arm snaked around my waist.
Then it tightened and pulled me back against him.
I closed my eyes.
I was lost already.
Aiden
Cade didn’t immediately pull away or push my arm off him, which made my soul sing. He wasn’t mad at me like I’d thought.
After Caleb called, it felt like the room was plunged into ice – and not just because of all the snow outside. It was like he didn’t want to know me at that moment. I did my best to bury myself in my music and not let it get to me – but the truth was, I wanted him badly. We’d started trying something new and then it was put back in the box, just like that. I wasn’t ready to let go.
That was why I’d made up my mind to try again when we went to bed, to see if he would be more open to my advances in a slightly different setting. If he’d forgotten about talking to his brother – and the fact that he was embarrassed to tell his brother about what had happened between us – after a few hours had passed.
I pulled him tight against me and my body instantly reacted to his warmth. He was the perfect fit to spoon like this – his head able to rest right by or on my shoulder, our hips aligned flush. My dick stirred to life as his ass pushed against it. Not my doing. He was pushing back against me just as much as I was pulling him back.
I had a feeling I was getting somewhere.
“Red,” I murmured, because I didn’t want this to be all silent stolen touches. I wanted him to know that I wanted him and I wanted him to agree with where we were heading. “I want to kiss you again.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Cade asked. His voice had a strange tone to it. I couldn’t see his face. What was that? Lust? Desire for something more? Was he challenging me?
