“Everything sure is a lot,” Aiden responded.
“You’re telling me.”
Where did I even begin?
“He kissed me,” I said before I’d decided to admit it. “Not sure if he wants you to know that, don’t tell him I told you.”
“Secret’s safe,” Aiden said.
“He really does have pierced nipples,” I added, a flash of body-warmed metal under my fingers, smooth and surprising.
“I know,” Aiden agreed. “Itoldyou.”
“I thought maybe you were screwing with me,” I said, sipping my water.
Small sips. Focus on the way the water feels in your mouth. Focus on your breathing. You’re not dying.
“Fair,” Aiden said easily. “Did he also show you—“
“The huge chrysanthemum on his ass?” I asked. “Yeah.”
“It’s not really on his ass,” Aiden said. “More his hip.”
“That’s what I said, he insists it’s an ass tattoo.”
Aiden snorted. “He would. He doesn’t have enough ass for something that size, though.”
“No.” I licked my lips. “He’s got the perfect amount of ass.”
“Dude, come on, that’s my brother you’re talking about. I don’t wanna think about his ass.”
“Youtattooedit,” I objected.
“Okay, lemme rephrase: I don’t wanna hear you thinking about his ass in, like, a sexy way. Drawing a line. Do not tell me how cute my brother’s ass is.”
“I didn’t say cute,” I pointed out. My breathing was almost under control now. This was good. Talking to Aiden was good.
Not thinking about… everything… was good.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Aiden asked.
Great. Just when I was finally getting my panic under control.
“We fought,” I said. “It’s been raining for two days straight, one of the competitors in the women’s competition nearly fuckingdrownedyesterday, Devin’s already taken a dunk in the river once and I might’ve called this whole thing stupid and lost him forever.”
“Wow,” Aiden said. “Thatisa lot.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Yeah, it’s a fuckinglot.”
“So, forgive me for being dense,” Aiden began. “But I’m not sure how any of that’s connected to anything else. Except I think you probably shouldn’t have called the competition stupid.”
“No.” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “No, I shouldn’t. Devin said… no, it doesn’t matter what Devin said. This is on me.”
“Probably not entirely on you,” Aiden soothed. I heard the sound of a coffee machine rumbling into life, and then the happy grunt Aiden made when Carter kissed him on the cheek.
“Morgan needs me,” Aiden said, muffled. He was obviously covering the speaker, but not quite blocking himself out. “Go back to bed.”
At leastAidenhad a warm, sleepy Carter to go to.
