6. May

6

MAY

Kinsey walks over to me and puts her arm around my shoulder, and right now, I really need it. I feel like Colt and Aiden are staring at me and are not going to be held off much longer. Kinsey squeezes me and whispers in my ear, “You promised me.”

For just a brief second, I have no idea what she's talking about, and then it hits me. I shake my head. “No, I'll tell him another time.”

I try to pull from her hug, but she doesn't let me go. “No, I told you. I can't keep this from him anymore. It's either you tell him or I tell him.”

I look at Aiden and wonder if he thinks I'm about to let it out and tell our secret. I look at my brother, and he's looking between the two of us and starting to get pissed. He's always been like that. He doesn't like it if I keep things from him. He puts his hands on his hips. “What's going on, May?”

I take a deep breath and nod at Kinsey, letting her know that I’m going to come clean. She lets me go a little bit, but she keeps a tight hold on my hand to let me know that she's by my side. I look at my brother and know that even though he's mad right now, he's probably going to be way worse as soon as I spill it. I take a deep breath. “Well, I have a stalker, but it's not a big deal. I'm handling it,” I rush to tell him.

“You what?” Aiden asks, walking up to me. He puts his hands on my shoulders, and Kinsey releases me and walks to Colt, and I see her put her hand on his chest. Colt is looking at Aiden and me, and I look up at Aiden. He looks upset. “Why haven't you told me about this?”

I shrug my shoulders. “There's a guy at work. He brought me flowers and asked me out I told him no. It’s not—”

But Aiden interrupts me. “How come I'm just now hearing about this? How long has this been going on? What's his name?” The questions keep coming, and he's not giving me time to answer them. He grips my shoulders and leans down to where we are face to face.

Colt comes to stand next to us. “Chill, Aiden. She's my sister.” He looks at me with a jerk of his chin. “Who is this guy?”

“It's no one,” I tell him. I give Kinsey a look, and it's obvious she feels bad for saying something. But I know she felt she had to.

Aiden's voice is almost lethal. “Fuck that, May. Who is it?”

In frustration, Colt turns to Aiden. “Dude, what is your problem? Don't cuss at my sister. She's my responsibility. I'll take care of it.”

Aiden's hand squeezes my shoulder, and he presses close to me. “No, she's mine, Colt. She's my responsibility. There's something that I need to tell you.”

“Aiden,” I say with a warning in my voice. “Right now is not the best time to do this.”

Aiden's hand slides from my shoulders around my back and onto my other shoulder, tucking me under his arm. “No, May, it's time. It's past time.”

When I don't argue with him, he looks at Colt. “I’m in love with your sister.”

I know my mouth drops because I sure as hell wasn’t ready for that, and Colt doesn't take it very well either. “What? You and my sister?” His face turns red. “Have you been fucking my sister?”

In an instant, Aiden releases me and reaches out and grabs Colt by the front of his shirt and pulls him toward him. “Don't say that. Do not talk about your sister that way.”

“You bastard!” Colt says, pushing Aiden away, and when he staggers back a little, Colt rears back and punches Aiden in the face.

Kinsey screams, and I jump between the two of them to pull them apart. Aiden is quite a bit bigger than Colt, and I know that if he punched him, he could probably hurt him pretty badly. Luckily, Aiden just stands there, nose flaring, teeth gritted, and stares at him.

Colt points at the front door. “Get the fuck out of my house and never come back.”

I try to get Colt’s attention. “You don’t understand. Please just listen to what I have to say.”

Colt looks at me fiercely. “You’re a fool, May, if you think he's changed. He takes women home with him all the time. Always someone different. You're just a notch on his fuckin’ bedpost.”

I'm shaking my head, not wanting to believe anything that my brother is telling me. “It's not like that, Colt. We both knew what this was going into it. I knew who he was. I'm old enough to make my own decisions.”

“Fuck, May. What do I have to do to prove to you that you’re the one?” Aiden asks me. My attention has been focused on Colt and keeping him away, and instead I should have been looking at Aiden. He looks so hurt, and I did that to him. I keep doing that to him. I'm speechless, not sure what to say right now, but I don't have to figure that out because Aiden throws his hands up in the air. “Fuck it,” he says and turns on his heel and walks out the front door.

Colt moves to go after him, and I put my hands across his chest to stop him. He's pissed and not thinking right. A part of me can't blame him; I kept this from him. “Colt, listen to me. This was not his fault. I'm old enough to make my own decisions.”

He shakes his head. “You don’t understand. I don’t want you hurt, and Aiden will do that to you.”

I push him harder in the chest. “Well, it's my choice to make.”

Kinsey walks up to Colt. “Let's just take a few minutes, just take a breath.”

“Okay, Kinsey,” he says. She’s able to stop him from going out after Aiden, at least.

I look between the two of them. “Look, I'm going to go and let you cool off. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I tell him.

“Stay, May,” Kinsey says, but I’m already walking toward the door.

Kinsey follows me and hugs me tight. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

I nod and look over her shoulder at my brother. He’s looking at me as if I’ve committed the worst betrayal against him. Heck, to him, maybe I have. He doesn’t acknowledge me or act as if he wants anything to do with me. I walk out of the house and get into my car.

All I can think about is Aiden. Two nights in a row now, I’ve screwed up. I pull out of the driveway and get to the end of the block when I see Aiden’s car parked on the side of the road. I stop on the road behind him. He rolls down his window and waves me on, but instead of going past him, I pull up next to him, and he rolls the window down again. “Are you okay?” I ask him.

He turns to me, but I can’t see his face in the darkened car. However, I can hear his voice clearly. “How the fuck do you think I am? I just told you I love you, and you basically just told your family that we’re friends with benefits.”

I cringe because basically that’s exactly what happened. He doesn’t realize how much I want to believe him, but I don’t know If I can. “Why are you still here?”

He’s holding on to the steering wheel tightly. “I’m going to follow you home to make sure you’re okay. You should have told me that you had someone bothering you.”

Damn, if I didn’t feel guilty before, I do now. He acts as if I’ve broken his heart. “It's okay, Aiden. I can I get home on my own.”

He turns and faces the windshield. “I’m still following you.”

I wait for him to say something else, but he doesn't. “I’m fine, I promise.”

He doesn't say anything. He just rolls up the window and sits there. I take a deep breath and push on the gas. I drive through town, and the whole time I have a heart-to-heart with myself. Could he really love me? Could his days of being a player really be over? I look in the rearview mirror, and he's still following closely behind me. Do I believe him that he hasn't been with anyone else in two years? Can I even imagine my life without him in it? I get to the intersection in downtown Whiskey Run. I can turn left and go to my house. Or I can turn right and go toward Aiden's house. I know what I need to do. Before I can talk myself out of it, I turn right and try not to question if I'm doing the right thing. I'm just going with my gut on this. I just hope that I’m making the right decision. I keep going and turn off the road to his house. I pull up into the driveway, get out, and walk up to his porch to wait for him. He's next to me in mere seconds. As he walks up the steps of his porch, I ask him, “Is it okay if I'm here?”

He unlocks his front door and opens it, gesturing for me to go inside. “You're always welcome here, May.”

I walk through the door, and as soon as he shuts it behind us, I turn, not able to hold it in any longer. “I love you, Aiden. I've loved you for a long time... since the very beginning, but I I’m scared to death that you’re going to change your mind, and I’m telling you right now, it will probably kill me. I need this to be for real, Aiden and if it’s not, you need to tell me now.”

He walks up to me and put his hands on each side of my face, pulling me up to where I have to look into his eyes. “This is as real as it gets, May.”