In an ideal world, I would’ve crawled into bed, jerked off, and then passed out right now. The only tension in my entire body was between my legs, a deep throb of arousal that I figured was a natural side-effect of not being in excruciating neck pain anymore.
Nothing to worry about. I definitely wasn’t turned on because it wasAiden, just because there was no other possible response to this much physical stimulation.
That made perfect sense.
“Hadn’t realized how much pain I was in until I wasn’t,” I said, squirming as the massage turned into Aiden scratching the back of my neck lightly, a shiver running down my spine.
“You do this for all your clients?” I asked, focusing on not giving away that I was getting harder by the minute under the table.
“Nope,” Aiden said. “Do it for all my boyfriends.”
I swallowed. Right.
This was Aiden being good to me despite the fact that no one else could see us all over again, wasn’t it? Why did he keepdoingthat?
Except for the part where he apparently thought I was hot, I didn’tgetit. Where was the benefit to him?
“Even temporary honorary ones,” he added.
“Honorary?” I asked.
That didn’t sound likefake.
“Honorary,” Aiden confirmed. “Like an honorary doctorate. You’re not really my boyfriend, but you still deserve your own place in the lineup.”
Why? What had I done for him?
And why did I like the sound of it so much?
“Because…?” I asked.
“Because you’ve taken me away to a family destination wedding,” Aiden said. “Introduced me to your folks. Want me to watch your sister get married. I’ve never had anyonethatserious about me before. Kind of exciting.”
But it’s not real.
Even as I thought it, it seemed petty to argue. Aiden sounded happy, and heknewwhy I’d brought him here, what my motivation was.
This wasn’t Aiden fooling himself. It was Aidenenjoyinghimself. Making the best of current circumstances.
I envied him more and more the longer I spent with him.
“I can live with honorary boyfriend,” I said, sighing as he finally took his hands away from my neck.
“Good,” Aiden said. “You’re very rewarding to take care of.”
That was a new one. I wasn’t even sure what itmeant.
“Thank you. I think.” I forced myself to sit up, although I wasn’t about to stand while Aiden was still looking. “And umm. Thank you for fixing my neck. I owe you.”
“You don’t,” Aiden said. “It’s nice to do nice things for people.”
I wondered if he knew he was one of a kind.
14
Aiden
More guests started arrivingWednesday morning, a trickle at first, mostly on Hallie’s side, and then a whole flood of Damien’s family at once around noon.
