“You said it was disgusting.” Aiden shrugged. “Wanted you to like me, so. I quit. That day. You never even noticed, which isrude,” he joked.
“I thought you’d just stopped smoking around me,” I admitted. Ihadnoticed, but I hadn’t dreamed he might actually stop because of me.
Aiden kissed the tip of my nose again, which I was starting to think he was a little obsessed with.
“Thank you,” he said. “For, uh. For standing up for me earlier. Can’t’ve been easy.”
That was the thing. In the moment, ithadbeen easy.
My hand landed on his knee, stroking up and down idly while the thought of what I’d done swirled around in my head. We were both still dressed, coats included, but I wasn’t inclined to move anytime soon.
“She was wrong,” I said after a moment, telling myself more than Aiden. He knew that, he was the one who’d been in tears over it.
Some part of me had known, quietly, that my mom was wrong about a lot of things, but it’d always seemed easier to justagree. To go along with it, not rock the boat, because it didn’t really matter who was right or wrong, it mattered…
It mattered whether or not I was loved. Wanted. Whether my familylikedme or not.
“Deep thoughts,” Aiden said, kissing between my brows this time. Right where there must have been a crease from frowning. “Iama troublemaker,” he continued. “She was right about that.”
“I’ve never been in trouble before now in my entire life,” I said. Now that I said it, it sounded… pathetic. Cowardly.
If you never got in trouble, you were standing idly by while things that shouldn’t have been happening went on around you. Today was just the first time I’d stopped standing by.
I didn’t have to. I could’ve apologized to my mom, sent Aiden home, and been instantly forgiven because I was doing what she wanted me to do.
But I wanted to stand up for Aiden, because he’d been nothing but kind to me and he didn’t deserve anything but kindness in return.
Aiden grinned at me. “First time for everything,” he said. “We can sit and write lines if you want.”
“Tempting,” I said, meeting his eyes again, sliding my hand further up his thigh.
My other hand was still a sticky mess.
I’d just come my brains out with another man—because ofanother man—and then jerked him off, too.
And Ilikedit. This was the most comfortable I’d felt after sex in my life.
BecauseI’dpicked Aiden. Based on what I wanted, not what I thought would make my mom happy. I knew she was mad at me for this.
Aiden produced the handkerchief I’d given him earlier from his coat pocket, wiping us both down with a clean corner and then hesitating before he set it on the floorboards beside the chair.
“I’m keeping it,” he said. “I just definitely need to wash it first now.”
I laughed, and the urge to kiss him again welled up under my lungs.
Aiden moved easily, giving in as soon as I touched him, kissing soft and slow and sweet as heat pooled in my stomach again.
He hummed happily into my mouth, the sound vibrating in my chest. This was soeasy.
It shouldn’t have been, it had no right to be, but here we were.
“Go to dinner with your dad tonight,” Aiden said, pulling back to look me in the eyes. “Take a shower, take a nap, and then go talk to him. You both need that.”
He was right. Even more so now that I’d gotten into my first ever fight with my mom. Firstrealfight, first time she’d told me off for something and I’d kept doing it anyway.
“You don’t think he’ll be disappointed to see me instead of you?” I teased as Aiden ran the pad of his thumb behind my ear, tucking my hair back into place.
“He’s so proud of you,” Aiden murmured, looking me over like maybehewas proud of me, too. “Trust me. He won’t be disappointed.”
