Chapter Twenty-Nine

Bec

T he moan coming out of my mouth is unholy. “Oh fuck, this is better than sex. Oh my god, I think I have a new lover.”

I open my eyes to find Aiden watching me as I lick my spoon. He quickly looks down at his dessert, coughs into his fist, and adjusts in his seat.

“You’re fucking killing me, Miller,” he says with a groan.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I sigh and take another bite of my brownie sundae and lick the spoon with a little extra enthusiasm. Dee would be proud.

His eyes lock on my mouth.

“I think you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ve never been jealous of a dessert before, but here we fucking are. I’m begging for mercy.”

“Can you blame me? You brought me to a build-your-own hot chocolate and brownie sundae bar… in a bookstore . This is my new religion. How’d you find this place? I’ve never even heard of it. The girls are going to be obsessed.”

“Evie, my sister, is a bit of a foodie. She’s always scoping out local spots. When I mentioned you liked to read, she suggested I bring you here. Well, she demanded it is probably a more accurate statement.”

“Ah, so she’s the true brains behind the operation.”

He laughs then takes a sip from his hot chocolate, licking his lips after. Damn, that shouldn’t be so hot, but the guy has great lips. Memories of kissing Aiden while backed against the wall next to a hotel ice machine come rushing back to me, and I feel desire swirl low in my stomach.

“I wanted to get this right.” His confession catches me off guard. A flash of vulnerability quickly swept away by a shy smile on his face as he avoids eye contact. “Plus, Evie wasn’t willing to risk me ruining our date with subpar dessert. I believe she said I deserve to be single forever if I can’t realize how important hot chocolate and brownies are.”

“Harsh, but honest. Smart boy for listening. Are you two close?” I ask.

“Yeah, we’ve always been pretty close. I mean, we had plenty of the typical sibling arguments, especially right after Mom left my dad and we were sharing a small room. Her shit was always everywhere. I wanted to throw away all those tiny shoes she had for her Barbie dolls. She started hiding them in my shit on purpose. She even wrote a threatening note and claimed it was written by one of the dolls after I threw some out. She was a menace.” He chuckles, eyes far away in his memories.

“Seems like the punishment fit the crime. You ever throw away my shoes, Price, and you’ll get more than a threatening note,” I say, waving my spoon at him in warning.

“Trust me, Bec. If I’m lucky enough to find myself in a situation where you’re leaving your things around my place, the last thing I’ll ever do is throw them out. I’d spend my time convincing you to leave them there indefinitely.”

I bite my lip, trying to hold back my grin at his confession. I love how easily he shows affection and is direct about what where he wants things to go between us.

“I’m sure Evie would have appreciated that sentiment when you had no choice but to share a room.”

“Evie has her own place now that she can mess up all she wants.” Aiden laughs before his smile fades. “I think I felt like it was my job to make sure things were as they should be. I got it in my head that I needed to grow up and take care of Evie and my mom. Of course, Evie wasn’t interested in her older brother trying to micromanage anything. I still can get overwhelmed and irritated when things feel out of control, but I’m sure you already figured that out after I word-vomited all my issues on you last month.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you felt like you could talk to me.”

He reaches over and grips my thigh just above the hem of my dress, giving my leg a gentle squeeze before resting it there, his other arm wrapped around the back of my chair.

“What about you? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you steering the conversation away from yourself by asking me questions.” Shit, do I do that? “It’s my turn. What’s your family like?”

I can’t help but smile thinking of my family. “Loud, chaotic, protective, loving. I’m the youngest of four. Two brothers and a sister. Toby’s the oldest, takes himself too seriously, always working. Ash is the class clown, lighthearted and fun. Danny is smart and fiery. And then there’s me. The perfect baby angel.”

“Ah, yes. The youngest sister angel complex. I’m familiar,” he says with a groan.

“Rude.” I smile and flick his hand on my thigh, which just makes him squeeze again and I can feel my blush hitting my cheeks. “It’s not my fault the youngest children are always the best. It’s just science or something. ”

“Or something for sure,” he says, grinning back at me. “And your parents?”

“They live about thirty minutes from my apartment in the home I grew up in. They’re almost complete opposites in every way except for how they feel about each other and the way they care about us.”

A flash of grief passes over Aiden’s face so quickly, I question if I even saw it. “They sound awesome, Bec. I’m really glad you have them.”

The gravity of all that I’m grateful for weighs on my heart, and I think back to Christmas and how I pictured Aiden fitting in seamlessly with my family. I wonder to myself if he’d love them the same way I do. If he’d feel the same comfort in a home that doesn’t make him feel like he has to carry any responsibility or grief. I’m sure that’s exhausting.

“I told them about our date,” I blurt out before I can think twice that I should be embarrassed about that.

His eyebrows shoot up in surprise before his face lights up with interest. “So you were excited about our date. I’ll tell you a secret…” He leans in close to me before whispering, “I was too.”

“I mean, I mentioned it was casual. And told them about Hopper.”

“Did they have more questions about him or me?” he asks.

“Oh, you, without a doubt. They already love Hop. They’ve seen the photos from his visit. You on the other hand…ehhhh.” I rock my flattened hand back and forth in the air.

Can’t have him getting cocky.

He huffs out a laugh. “Really, huh, tough crowd?”

“Eh, about half and half. My mom is a hopeless romantic and wants grandbabies. My brothers love baseball. They’d all be easy to win over. My sister and dad would probably take some convincing, though.” I realize the follow up questions are inevitable, but with his hand on my thigh I’m not thinking clearly and I can’t seem to think of a response that keeps him from digging any further.

“You did warn me they were protective. Any tips to help win them over?”

“What makes you so confident you’ll get to meet them?” I ask with a smirk.

“Call me hopeful. Our date isn’t over, and I’m already craving another one.” Sincerity and a hint of nervousness bleeds into his tone. Something about him being honest with me makes me want to do the same.

“Dad and Danny, my sister, are more like me. More realistic, less romantic. They wouldn’t want me rushing into anything.”

“I wouldn’t want that either. If you need time, Bec, I can give you that,” he says, his tone serious.

I instantly pull back, the feeling of rejection seeping in, which he seems to notice immediately.

“No, wait. Shit. I don’t always say things the right way, and I can see you getting lost in your thoughts there. Let me try again,” he says as he adjusts his body so he’s looking at me with an intensity in his eyes. He moves his hand from my thigh to hold my hand in his. His warm, solid touch drawing my complete focus to him. “I don’t say that because I don’t want this. I don’t say that because I’m walking away from you. Like I’ve said before, I’m all in. I only said that because if you need to go slow, we’ll walk. If you need space, it’s yours. I’ll give you whatever you need. But make no mistake, when you’re ready, I’ll be here waiting for you. I want to do what it takes to get it right this time. If I’m coming on strong, it’s because the pull I feel toward you is impossible to resist. It feels as natural as breathing. I can’t help but lean into it.

“I don’t know everything that happened with you and your ex, but I already know he’s an idiot. He has to walk around every day knowing he fucked up the best thing that ever happened to him. I know how much that sucks, because I’ve been doing the same thing since we met and I missed my chance with you. I had to think about how you tasted, how you felt in my arms, how you made me laugh, how you kept me guessing, and know that I couldn’t have you because I blew my shot. Those walls you built so high around yourself, Bec, I’m going to tear those down bit by bit until you know that you can trust me.”

My heart races, heat pools low in my stomach at his admission. In the entirety of my relationship with Josh, not once had I felt desired like Aiden makes me feel with just his words and his gaze raking over me. And while I’m nervous to let Aiden in, I know he’s not like anyone I’ve ever dated.

“Josh, my ex, we dated for about a year. When we broke up, it was for the best. We didn’t make each other happy. By the end, we were constantly arguing. It felt like everything that made me who I am annoyed him. But ever since then, he’s had a hard time knowing that he made the right choice. He…uh…” How do I explain this? It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud. I can feel the embarrassment and shame overtaking me as I fumble through an explanation. Aiden waits patiently, his attention solely on me and his hand holding onto mine like a lifeline. “He calls sometimes, and wants to talk about us and whether or not he made a mistake breaking up with me.”

“He still calls you,” Aiden says, sitting up straighter in his seat with a look of hesitation and confusion on his face.

“We’re not together, and I stopped answering his calls, but yes. They weren’t really two-sided conversations anyway, so there’s no point in answering anyway,” I admit. “I actually blocked his number this morning. It was overdue.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Bec.”

“He calls late, usually while he’s drunk, and rambles on about all the reasons we should get back together, or he rehashes all the reasons he broke up with me.” All the reasons I wasn’t good enough. “It depends on his mood, I guess. Sorry…this is really embarrassing. I have zero interest in getting back together with him, but the whole thing has kind of done a number on my confidence.”

“Holy fuck, what a tool. Seriously. That’s a dick move, and you don’t deserve that. He’s the one that should be embarrassed.”

“You sound like the girls,” I say before taking another sip of my hot chocolate. Not that I need the heat. My face is on fire from the humiliation of having to explain this all to Aiden.

“Hey,” he uses two fingers and his thumb on my chin to gently turn my face toward him and for a moment, he just holds my jaw there, a look of concentration on his face. “I can’t possibly imagine what kind of shitty, idiotic things that guy made up in his mind as reasons to not be with you, but I don’t want you to believe any of them. I’m sure none of that was easy to hear, and clearly the guy never learned how to break up with someone without being a total dick. I’m not going to lie and say I wish he was a better man and that it worked out for you with him, because I selfishly want this chance with you, but not at the expense of your self-esteem.”

“Not to sound like the bitter ex-girlfriend, but I’m glad it didn’t work out with him either. Even without all the mess after our breakup, we weren’t a good fit. Besides, if we never broke up, I never would have gone on this date and found out about this place.” I give him a side eye.

“And the company, right?”

“Hm…no complaints yet. But you’ll have to do a lot to one-up this brownie.”

He laughs, carefree, and he leans back to take a bite of his own dessert. “Brutal, Bec.”

“It’s a damn good brownie.”

“Admit it. It’s a damn good date too.”

“It’s a damn good date, Aiden. ”

“I like to exceed expectations. You ready for our last stop?”

“This isn’t the last stop?”

“Saved the best for last. Let’s go, beautiful.”