Chapter Fourteen

Aiden

S he was lying, and I knew it. The question of why she lied about a dream lingered in my thoughts. The scared expression she wore, as were the tears, was surely from being alone in the woods for so long.

Odette made a great effort to be nonchalant and keep her emotions hidden. I’d known that since the first dinner we shared with her.

Despite how easily she cried, it was rare that she gave anything real away. Her tears were usually out of frustration, but tonight, they were drawn from fear. The dark scared her, and the thought of her crying as she tried to navigate the woods made my chest ache.

Bringing the cigarette to my lips, I allowed the smoke to fill my lungs as I leaned against the rough bricks, staring at the woods. In an attempt to collect myself before she came back downstairs for dinner, I subjected myself to my worst and most comforting habit.

When she first mentioned that she sleepwalked as a child, my initial reaction was that she was trying to get away from something. Of course, that something being her emotionally abusive, good-for-nothing father. Then, when she sleepwalked out of Dominic’s bed, she was obviously trying to lock Charles out, sheltering her life from him, as he was at the house earlier that same day. It was simple psychology, even Niko could have figured it out.

But hearing her lie after she had been missing for four hours was strange. I saw the exact moment that she decided to lie in her eyes. I knew she wasn’t trying to get away from us , and that was what puzzled me. It was entirely possible that she had a dream where she was walking, making her actually walk outside her dream. If that was the case, her lie was unnecessary. The lie made me believe it was something more than that.

We thought she was messing with us when we came home and found her gone and the back door open. After ten minutes of looking for her and shouting her name, we realized she was genuinely missing. Her phone, purse, car, and even the dinner she made were in the house. We didn’t know if she was kidnapped or if her clumsy ass fell, hit her head, and knocked herself out somewhere in the house.

We searched for an hour before Niko called the authorities. They couldn’t file a report until she’d been missing for 24 hours. Wyatt searched the woods (obviously not well enough) while Dominic and I searched every corner of the house, up the road, and around the yard.

We had gone over everything in the last couple of days, making sure that we hadn’t done anything that made her feel uncomfortable, let alone cause her to run away. She’d been perfectly fine earlier in the day—more than fine, according to Wyatt and me.

It was a gut-wrenching four hours, and I was glad it was over.

“If she finds out you smoke, she’s going to make you quit,” Dominic spoke as he stepped into the frigid outdoors.

Glancing at him, I recalled her face when she saw me the other night. She was drunk and not thinking clearly, but there was a slight look of surprise. He was right. When she rediscovered my bad habit, she’d lecture me on how bad it was —as if I didn’t know. It was a conversation I looked forward to having with her. Odette was undeniably adorable, and her scolding while trying to look intimidating wasn’t an exception.

“She already saw me at Collin’s house; she doesn’t remember,” I responded, not in the mood for a conversation.

“Should we tell her she sleepwalked a few nights ago?” He questioned.

“No,” I said with a sigh. I’d already given this thought. “She’s embarrassed about what happened tonight, couldn’t you tell?” I asked. When Wyatt asked what happened earlier, she paused and looked at us as if we’d judge her before giving us an answer.

He wore a thoughtful expression as he crossed his arms. “She just seemed shaken up.”

“She was,” I agreed while turning to him. “Telling her she tried to lock the door will only make her more embarrassed and probably irritated that we didn’t tell her sooner,” I explained. “Now, if she tried to set the house on fire or shower in her sleep, obviously, we’d tell her. But locking a door before going back to bed isn’t worth her overthinking it—and she will.”

“I thought kids usually sleepwalk; isn’t she a bit old to act this way?” Dominic asked, probably catching onto her obvious lie, too.

Truth be told, sleepwalking and night terrors weren’t something I was a subject expert on. I was more interested in studying more obvious psychological tells. “It depends on the person. You’re right. Typically, people grow out of night terrors. I don’t know if she remembers her dreams, if they’re trauma induced, or if it’s sleep paralysis related. I doubt she wants to talk about it either,” I explained.

He seemed unsettled as he looked around the un-fenced yard. “What the fuck can we do? Ask her to only sleep when someone’s home with her?” He thought out loud. “Fuck the board and their rules, I’m fixing the locks,” he announced. I watched closely as his worry grew behind his eyes. Dominic used to be hard for me to read. He barely gave anything away and rarely said what was on his mind. Even as my closest friend, it took me half my life to really know him. One thing I was absolutely certain about was that he cared about safety over everything else.

He wasn’t good at showing emotions, but the only way I’d ever been able to tell who mattered to him and who didn’t was safety. He showed his feelings through small gestures, like suggesting getting chains on my tires when it snowed.

Dominic protected those closest to him, even if it might hurt their feelings.

I nodded, entirely in agreement. When it sent a student to live with us, the board lost its privilege to tell us what we could and could not do with the manor. Chester fixed the stove and gave us about thirty more seconds of hot water, anyway. This place needed a lot of work—especially with Odette taking unexpected midnight strolls.

Wyatt stuck his head out the back door, “Come taste this for me,” he gestured for us to follow him inside.

I glared at him, “Never say those words to me again.”

“Odette made a noodle concoction,” he explained with a laugh.

Disposing my cigarette, I followed him and Dominic inside. Wyatt had five plates and the noodle salad she had prepared earlier in a bowl on the counter. “Take a bite,” he offered as he leaned against the cabinets.

Grabbing a fork, I tasted a few of the noodles, watching Dominic as he did the same. His eyebrows slightly furrowed as he swallowed. “That’s not good,” he whispered.

I smirked at the under-seasoned, too-salty, somewhat spicy dish. “Really bad,” I agreed.

“Where’s Niko?” Dominic asked, hoping he could fix whatever she’d done.

Obviously, we were going to have to eat it. The little thing poured her heart out to make it, and none of us had the heart to tell her it was awful. If Niko could fix it without her noticing, that would be best.

Wyatt pointed up, “They should be coming down for dinner any second now. You distract her, and I’ll have him fix it.”

“How the fuck is he going to fix that?” I deadpanned, speaking the words as they came to mind.

Two sets of footsteps stopped our bickering over the distasteful food. Niko and Odette rounded the corner; unfortunately, her gaze landed on the bowl. “Is it good?” she asked, deterring any of us from asking about tonight’s events. Smart girl.

“It’s very good,” Wyatt rushed out with a smile. He’d always been a talented liar. People trusted him easily, and I couldn’t blame them. Wyatt seemed harmless at first glance, with blonde hair, green eyes, and a welcoming smile to tie his face together. While he was inherently kind, his edge was sharper than anyone I’d ever met.

It was always a thrill when Hyde came to play. Wyatt hated the Hyde name he had earned—in fact, he denied having an edge altogether. Everyone who had seen the drastic difference between Wyatt and Hyde knew better.

She grinned. “Good, I’m hungry,” she announced as she walked towards the counter. She was wearing Niko’s sweatpants and a sweater that swallowed her.

Wyatt widened his eyes at me quickly, and I remembered my part in the ‘fix the fucked up dinner’ plan. I cleared my throat. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask you first,” I began.

Her hands were hidden behind the sweater’s sleeves, but I saw them bunch up as she squeezed the fabric. She got nervous so easily—that kind of innocence was such a turn-on. “Okay?” she mumbled.

“Come here,” I fought a smirk as I led her into the living room, leaving Niko to fix dinner. My hand was on the small of her back as I led her to one of the couches. We stopped just in front of it. “What the hell is that, Babydoll?” I questioned.

My cat was dressed in a brightly colored sweater and lounging on the sofa. I knew she’d earned this, but I was dumbfounded when I saw him earlier. She’d been here only a month, and Cat had already lost every ounce of masculinity.

The tension in her back released under my hand as she giggled. With rounded eyes and a massive smile, she grinned at me, her nervousness replaced with joy. The blue in her eyes always hit me like lightning when she laughed. “Isn’t he cute?” she gushed, obviously mocking me.

She picked him up and squished his face beside her cheek. “He looks so dashing in his sweater—don’t you?” She ungraciously flipped him in her arms so he lay on his back, petting his belly.

I crossed my arms, admiring Cat for putting up with her. She was gentle with everything and everyone. However, when Cat was in her arms, she had a tendency to squish, squeeze, and embrace him a little too hard. She couldn’t hurt him if she tried, but even with her roughness, he loved any attention he got. Bastard.

“He looks ridiculous.”

“I got him four different colors!” She beamed as she rocked back on her ankles, all too happy with herself. “Look how cozy he looks,” she teased.

Truthfully, I wasn’t mad. I wasn’t necessarily happy about her choice to dress up my once-feral cat, either. If a few pieces of hideously colored fabric on Cat would make her smile like that, she could add a matching hat and boots.

“You’re cutting off circulation, Doll—put him down.”

Glancing down at Cat, she narrowed her eyes at me. “He’s purring,” she argued.

“He’s a masochist,” I couldn’t help but chuckle as I began walking to the kitchen. That should have bought Niko enough time.

A small gasp left her lips as I felt her glare at my back. “Don’t listen to him; he’s a bad man,” she whispered to Cat. Looking over my shoulder, I saw her place him on the couch before trailing after me. “Aiden,” she said in a serious tone.

Stopping, I looked down at her. The same guilty expression she had worn before looked back up at me. I saw a question lingering in her eyes before it was gone, and her shoulders relaxed. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?” she asked.

That’s not what she was going to ask.

Again, the question of why she lied was prying at me. As much as I wanted to, I didn’t call her out on her transparency. It was hard for me to be in the dark; not knowing things was arguably my biggest vice. For now, she was telling me that she didn’t want to sleep alone, and that was enough for me.

“In what universe would I say no?” I countered. “No, beautiful, horny woman, you may not sleep in my bed,” I teased with a roll of my eyes. Placing my finger under her chin, I lifted her head, pressing my lips gently against her pout.

Memories of my dick pressed against her pussy flooded my brain. Earlier today, I was seconds away from fucking her, and I had to commend myself that I didn’t. She was more eager than any of us, and that was saying a lot. The little minx was doing her best to get us to fuck her—while she put up quite the challenge, it was very cute.

Odette was shy, and the others failed to notice that our teasing was pushing her out of her comfort zone. She wanted to fuck. Desperately. The more desperate she grew, the bolder her actions got. She’d already come a long way from barely being able to talk to us about what she wanted; I hoped she realized that.

I made sure to keep the kiss short, knowing how easily she got worked up. Pulling away, I smiled down at her. “Hungry?”

She blinked up at me, her gaze lingering on my lips as she lazily nodded. “Mhm,” she hummed, probably not processing my question. So easy...

“Then let’s go eat,” I instructed before leading her into the kitchen with my hand against her back.

A strainer in the sink was the first thing that caught my eye, and I knew Niko must have washed all the seasoning off of the salad before reasoning it. Niko had never attended any culinary school, nor did he boast about his talent for creating meals. He simply cooked, and we enjoyed. I’d always assumed his knowledge came from his parents. His father was from Spain, and his mother was from Italy, so the man was surrounded by flavorful, authentic food his whole life.

Regardless of how he acquired the skill, we were all grateful to benefit from it.

I grabbed two plates, scooping a generous amount into each before handing one to her. “Thank you for cooking,” Niko smiled at her, no hint of playfulness in his tone. He must not have tasted the noodles before washing them off... If he did, he was a better liar than me.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. “If it’s disgusting, Wyatt asked for food poisoning, so thank him,” she joked. At least, I hoped it was a joke.

We gathered in the dining room and began eating. As we’d planned, Niko saved dinner, which was delicious.

Odette seemed uncomfortable. Not in her expression or our conversation. Her body language was twisted, and she kept putting her knees to her chest, then back down again. None of us cared how she sat, but I knew she usually thought similar positions were unladylike. She’d sat the same way for a month: with a straight back, feet flat on the ground, elbows off the table.

My friends didn’t seem to notice her fidgeting; they rarely noticed the details that I found obvious, and it was frustrating at times. Did she hurt herself in the woods? Was the salad not sitting right?

“Why engineering?” Wyatt asked her, continuing their conversation.

She was prepared for this question, I could see the speech prepared in her eyes. “I don’t like working with other people. I know I’m not cut out for anything where I’d be customer-facing. That, and I think I’m pretty good with numbers.”

“You are.” Niko complimented.

“Why teaching?” she retorted, directing the question to all of us. She didn’t like talking about herself and was an expert at deterring conversations from her.

“Fun fact, I’ve got a photographic memory,” Niko bragged. I’d always been jealous that his mind came with its very own cheat code. “So anything with equations has always been simple for me.”

“I broke my leg in high school,” Dominic started. “My fibula stuck out from my skin, and instead of panicking, I was fascinated with how the orthopedic surgeons put me back together.”

Odette cringed, obviously not keen on talking about Dominic’s bone sticking through his skin.

I quickly changed the subject. “I’ve always been good at reading people, so psychology was an obvious decision.”

“And I’m just a bookworm,” Wyatt concluded.

She thought about our answers as her gaze lingered on Dominic.

Don’t ask, I thought. If I were Dominic, I would have lied; I wouldn’t have told her about the broken leg, knowing how it broke.

Unless. I eyed Dominic, looking for any sign that he wanted to share any part of his childhood with her. The man didn’t talk about himself, especially about things that were long in the past. If he’d wanted to tell her, it made perfect sense that he set her up for the following question.

My gaze shifted back to Odette just before she questioned him. “How’d you break your leg?” She took the bait. She’d asked the question so casually, as someone as unsuspecting would.

Shooting a glance to Niko, he returned the same calculating one. The three of us were the only ones he’d ever told, and even then, he told us what really happened that day five years later when he was blackout drunk.

She shifted in her chair again, stretching her torso before wrapping her arm around her middle. She looked dreadfully uncomfortable, and it was bothering the hell out of me.

Alarms went off in my mind as I realized what was happening. Odette had lived with us for a month, and I was ashamed I didn’t see this coming sooner. Not only was she on her period, she’d just been missing for four hours, and now Dominic wanted to share the tales of his fucked childhood? No... tonight was not the night.

I cleared my throat before saying the first thing that came to mind—my second biggest vice. “Would you like some Midol?”

...

Everyone was in silent shock over my outburst. My friends gave me perplexed looks that had ‘ what the fuck is wrong with you’ written on their expressions. Odette seemed offended (rightfully so) with her lips parted, looking at me like I’d grown two heads.

No one thought I was a jackass more than I did. My intentions were good, but the execution was a flaming train wreck. Think before you fucking speak! It was a lesson I should have learned long ago, but unfortunately, my mouth was the one thing that was faster than my mind.

“Dude?” Niko whispered with obvious disdain in his tone.

“I know,” I shot back through my teeth. I didn’t need to be told how strange, intrusive, rude, and slightly misogynistic that was—I was fully aware.

If I was as lucky as Wyatt, she’d just hit me a few times with a designer purse.

With an apology prepared, I opened my mouth to speak, but she’d beaten me to the punch.

“Do you have Midol, Aiden?” She cocked an eyebrow at me. Fuck, I struck a nerve. She had every right to be upset with me. Dominic owed me big time, whether he knew it or not, I’d thrown myself in front of the bus for him.

I cringed. “No.” That really didn’t help my case; it just made me look like more of an asshole.

She smirked, leaning back and crossing her arms as she eyed me. She was trying to look intimidating, but I couldn’t help but think she looked adorable. “Thanks for offering to pick some up. Get some ice cream while you’re out, too.”

Relief washed over me at her terms. I knew I wasn’t quite forgiven, but she was letting me off easy. Truth be told, I’d do anything she asked me to in return for that stupid ass comment I made. I smiled, “Dairy-free? Any flavor requests?” I stood up and immediately started walking to the front door. “You look beautiful today. Is that a new sweatshirt?” I added for good humor, placing a kiss on the top of her head as I passed.

My ass kissing worked as she cracked a small smile. “Neapolitan!” She called after me.

I grabbed my coat and put it on. “Anything for you, Doll!” I joked before leaving the house.

I was lucky she wasn’t harsher. She could have made it a three-day argument. Instead, I was sent to the store for Midol and ice cream.

With a bag of pills, two quarts of ice cream, an orchid I was sure she wouldn’t be able to neglect and kill, and a heating pad, I walked back into the house. Truthfully, I was going to get her a heating pad weeks ago—the girl was constantly cold. I couldn’t blame her in this igloo of a house.

Upon entering, I found her soundly asleep on the couch, her head resting on Niko’s thighs. He was gently toying with her long hair, his eyes filled with a deep look of contentment and adoration. He was so lost in her that he hadn’t noticed me enter.

I had to stop to take in the sight. A sudden realization of how perfect my life was washed over me. For years, I’d craved and wished for everything I had in this moment: a fulfilling, purposeful career, a home full of good memories, friends who would be at my side no matter how badly I messed up, and a gorgeous woman who challenged me.

Of course, there were minor issues, but right now, my life was as perfect as it had ever been. I spent so much time in everyone else’s head that I rarely spent time in mine. Moments like these are the ones that I cherished, and I didn’t want to take them for granted.

The only thing that broke me from the sight was the slowly melting ice cream that needed to be refrigerated. Trying to be as quiet as possible, I put the ice cream in the freezer and the orchids on the counter for her to find tomorrow.

“Thank you.” I turned to the dining room at the sound of Dominic’s voice, seeing him still sitting at the table with a fresh cup of coffee. There was noticeable relief in his voice, and I knew I’d made the right decision to interrupt. I knew it wasn’t my place to make that decision for him, but I knew him. I knew it was too soon for him to share that piece of himself.

“You’re welcome.” I leaned my lower back against the counter’s edge while crossing my arms. “What happened?” I asked, probably prying more than I should.

“When she ran out of the woods, she had the same horrified expression she had the other night when her dad was here,” he recalled. “You were all in the kitchen—you didn’t see how scared she looked either time.” There was a far-off look in his eyes, “It reminded me of when I was a kid; I used to look at my dad the same way.”

My eyes softened, my shoulders fell, and my chest ached for the man. He was trying to empathize with her. I’d only met Dominic’s father a handful of times when I was a teenager. Every interaction I’d had with him was present, but even in my youth, I’d taken note of how uncomfortable Dominic always was around him. That was why Wyatt and I never went to Dominic’s house—he never wanted to be home.

There were several kinds of abuse one could endure. Odette had grown up with severe mental abuse from her father. Reesia got stuck with physical abuse from both of her parents. Dominic suffered in silence for years as his father sexually abused him.

“I wasn’t thinking,” he broke out of his trance, meeting my eyes. He sighed, “Whatever the dream was, it was about her dad,” he said confidently as if he’d known it was eating at me.

I nodded but hoped he was wrong. I smirked down at the cup of coffee, “When do you sleep, man?” I changed the subject.

He returned the smirk, “When everything’s graded.”

With a chuckle, I kicked off the counter, ready to go to bed. “You’ll sleep when you’re retired, then?” I joked. There were always assignments to grade; I had a never-ending pile. “I have to go in early—I’ll bring her into your room in the morning,” I smiled at him.

Taking my leave, I prepared myself for the challenge of getting her out of Niko’s arms without waking her.