He knew he looked good, and that made him twice as sexy as he would have been if he didn’t.
I wassobi.
My heartrate jumped the second he smiled at me, pulse thumping in my ears as I looked at him and all my senses opened up just a little more to take as much of him in as I could.
I really,reallyliked him.
“Good enough?” Aiden asked.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked, still leaning against the back of the couch.
Aiden approached with a shy smile playing around his lips, and I realized hewasn’tkidding.
He knew he lookedgoodlike this, but he didn’t know if he lookedacceptable. Which was stupid, because my entire family should have been scrambling forhisapproval and acceptance.
Aiden was perfect and none of us deserved him. No matter what angle I looked at this whole thing from, that was the conclusion I kept coming to. After everything he’d been through this week, it was a miracle that he was stillspeakingto me, let alone still here. The fact that he was standing in front of me, asking me ifhewas good enough, was outright impossible.
And yet, here we were.
“You’ve always been good enough for me,” I said, and I meant it to be light-hearted, but it came out a whole lot more serious than I intended.
Aiden bit his lip.
“Always,” I repeated, since I’d let too much slip anyway. Not showing him my heart now had to be worse than showing it, right?
We only had so much time left together. I was a stupid coward with a mother who would’ve been at home in hell wielding a hot poker, who hadn’t done anything to deserve even a fraction of the kindness and decency Aiden had shown me, and I should’ve been giving him so much more.
Honesty was the least I could do.
“Even when you were sixteen years old and you took up smoking for two weeks and liked me so much you quit because I said it was gross,” I murmured. “You’ve always been good enough for me. I’m flattered you noticed me at all.”
“Everyone notices you,” Aiden said, still sosureit was true.
I didn’t think so. I didn’t think a whole lot of people saw whatever it was that he saw in me.
“Not the way you do.” I reached out, taking his hand and holding it in both of mine, swiping the pad of my thumb over the star on his knuckle that was really growing on me.
We were cutting it fine in terms of being on time for the wedding, but we didn’t have a whole lot of these moments left. I wanted to enjoy this one. Take a few seconds to breathe.
“They will,” Aiden said, running his other hand through my hair, rearranging it the way he liked it. “Now thatyouknow who the real Carter is, everyone else’ll see him, too. And he’s really hot, for the record. He could have anyone he wanted.”
I want you.
The words were right there, on the tip of my tongue.
I want you, Aiden.I wanna keep waking up next to you and holding your hand and getting comfortable with people seeing us together because it has to be you. It can’t be anyone else.
A car horn outside made me jump just as I was about to say it.
Dad. He’d texted me a few minutes ago to ask if we wanted to follow them to the chapel, which I absolutely did, because the last thing I wanted was to get lost. Hallie had said it was hard to find.
“Time to go.” Aiden darted in, dropping the softest, lightest kiss on my cheek before pulling away, tugging me along with him.
Later.
I’d tell him later.
* * *
