Page 64

“Sure.”

“Let me get you something to sleep in first.”

Blaire stood up and watched as Aiden went into his closet. A few video games and sleeping with Riley seemed innocent enough. This steered things back into friendship, and it felt right. This was where their relationship should be. Aiden returned with a folded t-shirt and boxers.

“They’ll at least fit better than anything else I have,” he said with a sheepish grin, rubbing at the back of his neck. He did that a lot. Her conditioning to interpret body language wondered what it was a tell for.

“It’s okay. This will work fine. Thank you.”

Blaire retreated into the bathroom to change into the clothes which still swallowed her up. She came out to find Aiden sitting on the edge of his bed, already changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt.

Blaire had to roll down the waist of the boxers a few times, so they stayed up easier. This, in turn, exposed the large, still fairly dark bruise on her thigh. The other spots were nearly healed, but the large bruise was still an ugly sight. She glanced up and caught Aiden staring at her legs and froze.

She’d forgotten all about the bruises when she agreed to wear the boxers. She’d become relaxed about them since Lukas had already seen them and Riley knew. She knew Aiden knew about Caleb, but he hadn’t seen the evidence. It likely would take a while for the larger bruise to heal. At least the finger marks were fading. Caleb messed her up that night.

Blaire shifted uncomfortably under his hard stare.

“Your brother did this, didn’t he?” Aiden asked before she could say anything.

Blaire sighed.

“Stepbrother, but yeah, it’s his doing.”

He bit the side of his lip before getting up and moving over to Blaire, lowering to his knees in front of her. She tensed. She’d only let Lukas get this close to her bruises. Having Aiden scrutinizing her legs made her want to step away. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but she didn’t enjoy being this exposed to him. She didn’t feel this way with Lukas.

“I’m sorry this happened to you…”

She folded her arms and lifted her chin. “I’m not. It’s proof I fought back.”

Aiden blinked up at her. He wouldn’t understand.

In a twisted way, the bruises were battle scars that symbolized survival. She couldn’t allow herself to fall prey to a helpless victim’s mentality, becoming someone who gave in and accepted something she didn’t want. She accepted she was a victim of cruel circumstances, but she wasn’t going to accept it as the end all be all for her life. That mindset didn’t stop the shame and anguish from creeping in when she least expected it.

“It still shouldn’t have happened…”

Aiden slowly reached out toward her thigh, making contact with the larger bruise before lightly touching over the smaller ones, shifting his attention to the finger marks. His light touch and gaze raked over the offending marks as if he were in awe of the wounds her body carried. His soft touch lulled her into relaxing. The familiarity of being around him when he’d always looked out for her made it easier to let go of the tension she felt.

Aiden brushed his fingertips over the large bruise once more with a little too much pressure, and she gasped, snapping out of the relaxed state she’d been in.

Now she backed away from him. She didn’t want to be seen like this. She spent months keeping this dirty secret, and now it was all out in the open for yet another person to see. The shame washed over her, and she began to cry.

“No…” Aiden whispered as he stood up from the floor.

He took her hand and guided her over to his bed, where he sat down and patted the bed beside him. “Sit with me. Please?”

She hesitated only a moment before sitting next to him. He slid back until his back met the wall and he held an arm out. Blaire moved back until she sat against him, and he put his arm around her shoulder. Aiden reached over and turned the lamp off. She was thankful for the discretion the darkness gave her. Being in the dark calmed her. Her bruises weren’t on display any longer. Her shame was hidden.

They sat in silence in the dark. The only sound in the warm space was Blaire’s soft sobbing as everything building within her lately came pouring out.

After a while, her cries tapered off and she quietened completely, only the sounds of her uneven breathing remained. She tensed when she realized how close to Aiden she sat. His embrace had been innocent, but something didn’t feel right about it. Knowing he liked her made cuddling feel wrong.

Pulling herself from his arms, Blaire sat up and pulled her knees to her chest.

“Listen…” Aiden cleared his throat. “If you and Lukas really don’t want to be together… that’s, well, that’s okay. Like we told you… No one is going to force either of you to complete the pairing.”

Blaire bit her lower lip as she stared across the room at Riley sleeping on the spare bed as a sliver of moonlight passed through the window. She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, and she was too tired to decipher it.

Sighing, he said, “I mean, Lukas is my best friend and all, so I would never dream of interfering if you both wanted to be together, but with him locking you out, and the weird tension… Well, I just can’t seem to feel guilty in saying I have feelings for you.”