16. Aiden

Chapter Sixteen

AIDEN

"Hold it! Hold it!" Nate Silva shouted around the three long screws clamped between his teeth.

"Move a little slower, why don't ya?" Aiden grunted sarcastically, hoisting a support beam onto his shoulder and holding it in place while Nate drilled.

The Winterfest pavilion was finally taking shape thanks to the efforts of the sweating volunteers. Aiden had rolled out of his bunk at the crack of dawn and hit the ground running. His muscles burned with fatigue, but he refused to take a break.

Punishing his body was the only thing keeping his mind from spiraling. His thoughts and emotions had been chaotic for weeks, a storm of anger, shame, and regret with no outlet except hard work and distraction.

He hadn't spoken to Seth in weeks. Not since that asshole had rolled up to the Triple M with Aiden trussed up like a prized turkey. The other ranch hands had been in no hurry to cut him loose once they spotted him. They gathered around the open door of Seth's truck, laughing so hard they nearly doubled over, until Cal eventually took pity on him and cut him free with his pocketknife. Seth hadn't said a word as he drove away.

Well, that was just fine with him. He refused to be the man's cross to bear; he was already plenty familiar with how it felt to be an unwanted burden. If Seth wanted to spend his life on that mountain like the world's youngest hermit, so be it. Aiden wasn't going to beg to be allowed in his life. He'd done that once already, and all he'd gotten for it was a broken?—

"You still want Tucker to pull you in the competition tomorrow?" Nate yelled over the shrill whine of the drill.

Aiden jerked back to the present so hard his stomach lurched. "What?"

"You said your rider fell through," Nate reminded him patiently. "So, I asked Tucker. You can't find a better horseman than him."

"What did he say?"

Nate grinned. "He agreed as a favor to me. You know he despises participation."

The happiness and satisfaction in his expression made Aiden want to barf. He forced a jovial note into his voice and said, "Despises fun, you mean. He threatened to drop me naked in a snowbank when I covered his truck in silly string a few weeks ago."

Nate lifted one eyebrow and gave him a warning look behind his safety goggles. "What's my boyfriend doing thinking about you naked?"

"You don't need to worry. My ass is fiiiiine , but it ain't got nothin' on this cake." He delivered a hard slap to Nate's ass to illustrate his point.

"Jaysus!" Nate gave a startled jump and fumbled the power drill. "You gotta grow up someday, man."

Seth's voice echoed in his head: you still haven't grown up. What did that even mean? So, he didn't walk around with a permanent scowl. So, he lived in a home with siding that could function as a wrap for a baked potato. At least he showed up when needed and didn't run out on his friends. That was more than most folks.

But he didn't say any of that. He just threw back his head and laughed maniacally. "Not until they make me, ol' son!"

Nate had been speaking the truth; there was no finer horseman in three counties than Tucker Grace. He was an excellent rider and the only man Aiden trusted to break a horse—but he wasn't Seth. After all this time, Seth was still the man Aiden trusted most. The only one he wanted flinging him up a ski jump at high speed.

But nobody ever got what they wanted in life. He’d learned that lesson early and often.

When he dragged himself out of bed the next morning, his enthusiasm was gone. It felt like he hadn’t slept a wink. He groaned and scrubbed his face with both hands, blinking the fuzziness from his vision. Chilly air hit his legs like a slap as soon as he swung out of bed. He pulled his clothes on quickly before anything shriveled in the predawn cold.

The festival had turned Sweetwater into cowboy mardi gras. Locals loved a good party, and the idea of Winterfest had taken hold of them all. The mayor was touting it as the next multi-state rodeo roundup, an event that would someday draw visitors from all over the region and start necessary tourist money flowing into the area. It was a point of local pride to ensure it wasn't some janky small-town production.

Main Street bustled with activity. Banners were strung between buildings, ribbons festooned every lamp post, and the scent of burgers and donuts filled the air. The field behind the church was barely controlled chaos. Vehicles were spilling out of the parking lot five-deep. Picnic tables filled the new pavilion, and strings of white lights twinkled from the rafters while classic country music blared from an overpowered sound system. Crowds wandered between vendor stalls, bundled in scarves and clutching thermoses. Old ladies watched in horror as an official in a yellow vest bellowed at a group of teenagers who had entered a giant penis in the ice sculpture competition. At the far end of the lot, gruff men with bushy beards were throwing axes at wooden targets. ATVs revved their engines, and riders moved among their horses, checking hooves and adjusting tack while hot breath streamed from the animals' nostrils.

Aiden stood amid the group of amateur competitors and scanned the crowd. His eyes skimmed over familiar faces, but he avoided looking too closely, afraid of who he might not see.

He hadn't expected Seth to show up after their argument. He'd never disguised how stupid he found the competition. The only reason he'd agreed to help Aiden with his crazy scheme was obviously some mix of nostalgia and his overdeveloped protective instincts. But Aiden had never needed a babysitter; he just wanted his friend back.

He distracted himself by crouching beside his borrowed skis and running a glove along the surface, checking for imperfections before tightening the bindings with a precise twist of his wrist. Focusing on the small details kept his nerves at bay.

"You ready?" Tucker Grace asked, strolling over with a gorgeous Mustang docilely trailing behind him.

"Born ready, ol' son," Aiden replied, curling his lips in his trademark cocky smirk.

Tucker gave him an unsmiling nod and adjusted the bit in the Mustang's mouth with the surety of a seasoned rider. The stallion shifted and stomped his front hoof, sensing the excitement. Tucker murmured a few soothing words in a voice as steady as his hands.

"Thanks for helping," Aiden volunteered. Not many people were close to a man like Tucker Grace, but Aiden had always liked the guy well enough.

"It's good socialization for Traveler," Tucker replied, stroking a hand over the Mustang's thick winter coat. "What happened to the guy who agreed to pull you?"

Buck Carson stood nearby, eavesdropping while he adjusted the cinch on his own gelding, and he interrupted before Aiden could open his mouth. "Dropped the dead weight before he pulled you under, eh, Doyle?"

Aiden was still crouched in the snow, but he looked up and gave Buck the loud, fake laugh he was always looking for. Then he bared his teeth and launched himself in a diving tackle that caught Buck behind the knees.

"What the—" Buck tried to shout, but Aiden cut him off by shoving his head face-first into the snow and holding it there.

"How about you learn to mind your own goddamn business, Buck? How 'bout that!" Aiden yelled, pinning the man with a knee in the small of his back.

"You crazy sonofabitch—get off him!" His racing partner, Mitch, swung a kick toward the side of Aiden's head with his ski boot.

Aiden almost ducked in time, but the heel of Mitch's boot clocked him across the jaw. The pain was sharp and hot, like needles spreading through his teeth and up his cheekbone, but his only reaction was to shove Buck's face even harder into the snow. Mitch lined up another kick, but before he could connect, Tucker grabbed him by the leg and twisted, yanking him off balance. Mitch toppled sideways into a snowdrift, cursing, but he hesitated scrambling back to his feet once he caught a good look at Tucker Grace looming above him.

"I don't think so," Tucker said in a tone full of deadly warning. He wasn't angry— yet —but every man in Sweetwater knew not to tangle with his temper.

A powerful arm wrapped around Aiden's chest from behind, hauling him bodily off his victim before he could finish stuffing Buck’s mouth full of snow. Aiden struggled instinctively, kicking out as he was dragged clear of the fray.

"Knock it off," a deep voice growled.

"Seth?" Aiden twisted in his arms, craning his neck to glare. Rage and frustration pounded through him like a heartbeat as Seth pulled him further from the chaos.

"Calm down," Seth said, low and steady, right beside his ringing ear. His tone brooked no argument. Aiden reluctantly stopped thrashing, and Seth set him on his feet, but he clamped his hands firmly on Aiden's shoulders so he couldn't escape. He searched Aiden's eyes, demanding, "What the hell were you thinking?"

Aiden's chest heaved with exertion and leftover dregs of fury. He shouted over his shoulder, directing toward the asshole pawing snow out of his nose. "I was thinking Buck needs to shut his damn mouth!"

"Fuck you, Doyle!" The other man's response was muffled.

Aiden's whole body jerked toward Buck, like a puppet with someone tugging on his strings, but Seth held him back.

"Let go of me!" Aiden snapped, yanking his shoulder free. "I can handle myself."

"Clearly," Seth retorted, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Look around, Aiden. You're about to get yourself tossed out of the contest."

Through the red haze of his anger, Aiden finally noticed the gathering swarm of people. Scandalized mothers were tugging their gleeful children away from the spectacle while men and women murmured to each other behind their hands. Tessa stood at the crowd's edge, looking worried until Riley Jensen wrapped his arms around her from behind, and Aiden suddenly understood why Seth was there. Not for Aiden—for his sister. She must have talked him into driving her to town.

A festival official in a yellow vest was parting the audience like the Red Sea. His face was purple with agitation, but Aiden didn't care. He was just a tool from the mayor's office. They were always throwing a fit over something.

"The sheriff is already on his way!" he yelled. "You've got two seconds to explain yourselves, or you're out of the competition— Tucker Grace. I should've known. You ever going to learn to settle differences without fists?"

Tucker ignored him and offered a hand to Mitch, but the other man knocked his help away and began angrily dusting off his snow pants. Buck was climbing to his feet more slowly.

"Tuck didn't do a damn thing," Aiden protested. "I'm the one who started it."

"And I'm ready to finish it," Buck snarled with a murderous glare.

The lackey from the mayor's office looked like he was about to have a stroke. He threw his hands in the air and huffed, "This is just what we needed! I'm trying to draw sponsors here, and you yokels can't stop squabbling like children."

Mitch seemed to take offense to that. "Takes one to know one, Gary!"

"Disqualified!" The official jabbed a finger at Mitch first, then swept them all in the gesture. "You're all disqualified from whatever the fuck you're registered for. I don't give a damn! Get these horses out of here!"

"Now, just wait a minute—" Buck and Mitch protested, trailing the official as he stomped off, kicking snow in his wake.

Tucker observed it all with distant amusement. He cut a glance toward Aiden, gave him a quick wink, and then took his Mustang by the reins and led him away. Probably off to find his boyfriend and glad to be let off the hook.

"Satisfied?" Seth asked quietly as the onlookers began to disperse.

Aiden couldn't ignore the disgust in his tone. "You didn't hear what that asshole?—"

"I heard," Seth interrupted icily. "I just don't give a damn, and you shouldn't either."

"Yeah, well, I guess I'm not as enlightened as you," Aiden shot back, giving Seth's chest a shove to get some space between them. "Or maybe I just don't have a giant mountain to hide on for the rest of my life."

Seth's face hardened. "Is that what you think I'm doing?"

Aiden purposely clenched out a blinding smile, the one that cratered the dimple in his cheek. Seth looked even more annoyed, and that only made Aiden grin harder. If he was going to get weird and act like a jerk over a couple innocent kisses…well, fuck him. He'd rejected Aiden's overtures of new friendship, so Aiden was under no obligation to pull his punches anymore. "I don't know what you're doing. You're practically a stranger these days. That was your choice. I shouldn't have tried to force you to face things you weren't ready for."

There was a dangerous darkness in Seth's eyes. He dropped his chin and lowered his tone, and a sense of prickling dread spread across Aiden's neck.

"Face what, Aiden?" Seth asked. "What do you think you know about me? Say it."

Aiden's obnoxious grin faltered, but he'd never been the kind of man who backed down from a challenge. He stepped directly into Seth's space, so close their chests bumped. "I don't know, Seth. I thought I understood you once, but I was wrong. I don't know why you turned your back on me—on everyone. You're scared, I guess, or maybe you're embarrassed. Maybe you're pissed because people don't worship the ground you walk on anymore."

"Seth…" Tessa called. "Come on. Don't listen to this garbage."

She sounded distressed, and Aiden cut his eyes toward her. The look she gave him was full of loathing, and she lifted a middle finger. Aiden grimaced. She wasn't a little girl anymore, but he regretted having it out in front of her. She worried for Seth almost as much as he worried about her.

Seth ignored his sister. His gaze was locked on Aiden with the single-minded focus of a predator. A muscle ticked in the side of his jaw. "Step back," he warned softly.

Aiden lifted his chin. "Make me."

He almost did. Aiden could see the temptation in him, the desire to reach out and force him through violence, and he welcomed it. Maybe that was the only way they could clear the air. Anger had been simmering underneath Seth's skin ever since that argument in the truck. It didn't make sense. Aiden had done crazier things than jump out of a moving vehicle. That didn't even grace the top ten list. Had Seth forgotten who he was dealing with? Did he expect Aiden to become a different person in the years he'd been gone?

"You think you've got everything figured out, huh?" Seth's eyes glittered with restrained violence.

"Naw," Aiden said, elongating his words into an obnoxious drawl that he knew had always put Seth's teeth on edge. "I'm done trying to understand you."

He couldn't punch the man who'd once been his best friend, the only man to ever kiss him like it was something…important. But he made sure to shoulder-check him as he walked away.