“You acted so disgusted with me I knew immediately you weren’t a fan. Plus, the whole being a cop thing. And being friends with Devon and Xena. I had a feeling I’d be okay. And if you happened to murder me in my sleep?” I shrug. “At least I got to spend my last night alive in the company of a beautiful, smart, hilarious, and caring woman.”
“That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me,” Rhea says, her eyes shining. “I mean, besides the whole murdering you in your sleep part.”
I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, probably could have left that part out. I’m not exactly practiced in the art of wooing women.”
“Is that what you’re doing? You’re wooing me?” She chuckles. “I can’t say that anyone has ever mentioned murder during that act of wooing me before. So points for originality?”
We both lean back against the couch, side by side, shoulders touching. And it’s the most comfortable I’ve felt in this house since… well, probably ever.
“I never thought I’d be wooing a woman at all, let alone wooing one wearing head to toe tie dye.” I glance over at her swirls of pink, blue, and yellow. “Also, I think I’ve said ‘wooing’ more times in the last few minutes than I have ever even heard it in my entire life. It doesn’t even make sense anymore. Wooing, wooing, wooing. It’s just nonsense.”
She laughs. “This outfit is your fault, I’ll have you know.” She turns to look at me, one leg coming up onto the couch cushions, knee bent and pushing into my thigh. “I was so mad at you when I left the restaurant that I forgot I drove. I stormed home in just my dress and heels. I didn’t even realize what I’d done until I was unlocking the door to my apartment.”
I burst into laughter. “Oh fuck, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be laughing. You must have been freezing.” I slide a little further away from her on the couch and pull her feet into my lap. “And your poor feet. Those heels were something else, but I can’t imagine they were the most comfortable to walk in. At least not that distance.” She looked fucking sexy in that dress and those heels, but I don’t like thinking of her walking all the way home in them. Particularly since it’s only because I’m such a fucking idiot that she felt she had to do it at all.
I grab one foot and start rubbing, pressing into her arch, sliding my thumbs front to back, side to side, and rotating my hands around, making sure to get everything nice and loose. Rhea closes her eyes and leans back, resting her head on the arm of the couch.
“That’s why I changed before I went back to get my car. I almost left it overnight, but I didn’t want to risk it getting towed. It was a much warmer, and much more comfortable walk back.” She snuggles further down into the couch, eyes still closed. “This is some quality wooing right here. Tell me why you never thought you’d be wooing anyone. And you’re right. The word ‘wooing’ now makes no sense.”
Something about Rhea makes me want to tell her everything about me. Even though I know she’s going to be scared of me when I’m done telling her, I can’t help but hope that she’ll want to stick around anyway.
I let out a heavy sigh, preparing myself to tell another person about my father, and why I’ve never tried to be in a relationship before, for the first time in my life.
Here goes nothing.
Chapter 37
Rhea - Cautionary Tales of the Occult
“Ihad a bit of a rough start in life.” Aiden starts.
He’s still massaging my foot, which feels absolutely amazing. Maybe I should walk all over town in heels more often if this is what will happen at the end of the day.
“My dad hated me from day one. I have no idea why, or what I did to deserve it, but for as long as I can remember he would take his frustrations out on me.”
I open my eyes and look at him. He’s looking down, watching his hands where he’s rubbing my foot, and I’m not sure he even notices what they are doing anymore. I think he’s just using it as a way to distract himself from what he’s saying.
“It started out with insults and gradually got worse, until I was going to school with bruises, and taking regular trips to the hospital.” He releases a shuddering breath, still holding my foot, but no longer rubbing. “Somehow, I was never removed from my parents. Social workers questioned me, school guidance counselors, teachers even, but nothing ever came of it. My dad was never held accountable, and I didn’t get away until I moved out at eighteen years old. I tried leaving when I was younger but he always found me and had me brought home.”
“I don’t even know what to say, Aiden. I’m so sorry.” I sit up and pull him into a hug, burying my face in his neck. “But you’re going to have to tell me where he’s buried, because I have this burning need to dig him up and kill him again for what he did to you.”
Aiden snickers a little in my grip, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in tight.
“Me too, baby. Me too,” he says into my hair. He loosens his grip a little, but doesn’t let me go entirely. We’re sitting together on the couch, arms wrapped around each other, when he continues. “When my family died, I inherited this house and some money from a life insurance policy that my mom had. I moved back in, bought my first set of drums, and used the rest of the money to pay tuition at an online university, where I got my degree in Social Work.”
He goes quiet and I rest my head against his chest, my arms wrapped around him, and listen to his breathing. I suspected something like this when he told me he had a shitty childhood, but I didn’t think it had lasted until he was an adult. For some reason, I thought maybe he’d been in foster care like I had. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for him growing up.
“I need to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone before,” Aiden says after a long silence. “It’s the main reason I behaved the way I did after we… well, you know, after we had sex. I’m not making an excuse, though. No matter the reason I did it, you deserved better.”
I unwind my arms from around him and sit up. Aiden lets out a heavy sigh and takes my hands in his.
“I’m sure you know some of this, but when I was eighteen, my entire family died in a car accident. It was a single vehicle accident with no witnesses.” He takes another deep breath and looks into my eyes. “I’ve always thought that my father did it on purpose.”
It takes me a minute to digest what he’s saying. He thinks his father is responsible for the accident that killed his family? And he’s been living with this, alone, for the last twenty-something years?
“Oh my god, Aiden. That’s horrible. I’m so sorry that you lost your mom and your sister. Did you tell the police about your suspicions when the accident happened? Did they investigate?”
“Yes, but there was no evidence to make them think it was a possibility. He didn’t leave a note or anything. It’s just a feeling I’ve always had.” He sighs and looks down at his lap. “I know it doesn’t make any sense. It happened so soon after I could finally move out. I guess I’ve just always thought that without me around to vent his anger on, he just lost it and took it out on my mom and my little sister. It’s my fault that they died.” He chokes out a sob. “So I’ve stayed away from relationships, and have avoided sex almost entirely, because I don’t want to pass on whatever fucked up genes caused my father to be such a monster. And the idea of me having a child and then turning into a monster like he was scares me to death. That’s why I lost it when I realized we forgot to use a condom. It wasn’t anything to do with you; you were perfect. I’m just messed up.”
