There it is. His way of subtly reminding me that there was no way he could ever see me out there, in the real world. No way he could allow it to affect his career. I’d already know that; he didn’t need to tell me twice. I nodded sagely like I could see how terrible it must be for him. “At least you get all the girls,” I said, which was supposed to be a lighthearted joke to show how well I was taking it.
I was not taking it well inside.
Aiden snorted. “As if,” he said. “Don’t you remember what I told you? They call me Horny because I’m single all the time.”
“That’ll change if you do go pro,” I told him, reaching for my beer again and chugging half the bottle in one go. I needed it, if I was going to get through this conversation without giving myself away.
“Yeah,” Aiden said. He was looking at me, and even though his words seemed to agree with me, his tone and his face seemed sad.
What was that all about?
Was he feeling guilty for the fact that he’d just given me the brush-off?
I finished my chips and reached for another piece of fruit, glad all the bananas were done.
“It’s going to be weird, tomorrow,” I said, thinking. There were fresh bananas out there. A whole world of other food, in fact. Tomorrow, there would be no more restrictions.
“I bet we’ve forgotten how bright the sun is,” Aiden said. He stared into the flames for a minute. “Or what it’s like to have a light reach every corner of a room.”
“Not to be nighttime, all the time,” I added. “And to be warm just walking around. Or sleeping. No need for heavy blankets or an open flame.”
“Or someone to warm you up,” Aiden said distantly. He was still looking into the fireplace.
What was that look on his face?
I took another swig of my beer, surprised to find it empty. Hell. I’d drunk that way too fast, even under normal circumstances. It was the strangeness of the situation, making me guzzle it down as a way to avoid the awkwardness.
“Well, anyway, you’ll have plenty of those,” I said, nervous now. Something was changing in the atmosphere of the room and I didn’t like it. “You know. People to warm you up. Because you’re popular.”
“I’m popular?” Aiden looked at me and something flashed in his eyes when he took in my empty bottle. “Tell me more.”
I snorted now. “You know all about how popular you are,” I said. “You don’t need me to tell you.”
“I want to know how you see me,” Aiden said, leaning forward across the table now. His eyes were gleaming.
“Stop it,” I said. “You just want me to feed your ego, and your ego is big enough already.”
Aiden sat back with a hurt look. “No, it isn’t.”
“Oh, yeah?” I gestured to him. “I don’t know a huge amount of men who are comfortable enough in their bodies to just walk around naked all the time.”
“You’re walking around naked,” Aiden pointed out.
“Only because you are.” I sighed. “This isn’t exactly a normal weekend for me.”
“I don’t usually spend my weekends under an avalanche either,” Aiden said. He flicked his blanket over his shoulders more, covering his body with it. That left me the only one exposed, so I immediately did the same.
Had I pissed him off? I was only telling the truth. And he was the one who had started with this whole brash honesty thing.
I ate the last of my fruit and reached for another bottle of beer, conveniently already on the table. I drank half of it before Aiden spoke again.
“At least there’s one good thing that came out of all this,” he said, reaching for another bottle himself.
“What’s that?” I asked idly.
“You,” he said. He fixed me with an intense look over the table. “I got to meet you.”
“You would have met me either way,” I pointed out. “We were assigned to stay together before the avalanche.”
