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“Hey, be nice to the car. She hasn’t done anything to you,” Aiden says. Then he gestures to the back seat. “Throw a jacket on before I have to take you to the hospital for pneumonia.”
“Stop being ridiculous. I’m sweating my face off,” I tease. Though now that I’m no longer surrounded by three hundred of my closest strangers, I’m freezing.
Slipping my arms into the leather sleeves (when the hell did my brother start wearing leather?), it finally hits me. What I’ve done.
What I need to do.
Why I’m home.
Aiden yawns at the next red light, looking extra rumpled in a battered Foo Fighters tee. His dark blond hair is a complete mess. It’s been five years since I moved from the West Coast to the other side of the country and two since I visited. Even so, he didn’t hesitate when I called.
“Thank you for coming to get me, I know it’s late,” I say, genuinely happy to see him.
Without taking his eyes off the road, he pats my knee. “Any time, you know that. But if you’re talking about the jacket, you’ll have to thank Seb. I wouldn’t be caught dead in that thing.”
Ah. That explains the woodsy sage smell. I burrow a little deeper.
“I didn’t expect to hear from you for a couple of days. Thought for sure you’d be glued to Morgan like you usedto be.” The look he throws me is gone before I can decipher it.
“We’ll catch up tomorrow, depending on how hungover she is,” I say, carefully burying my disappointment. “What about you? It looks like I interrupted your beauty sleep.”
“Like I need it.”
I roll my eyes.
“We were rewatching your favorite show.”
“My Brother Is Annoying? I heard it really went downhill after season eighteen,” I tease, ignoring my sudden nerves. Aiden is taking me home, where Sebastian is. Or might be. And it turns out the crush I buried years ago is still there.Fabulous news.
“Funny. So how was the flight? You feeling all right?”
Honestly, I don’t know what I feel. Chaotic, mainly. Still lost in the perfect blend of panic and adrenaline that comes after making a snap decision.
“I’m fine,” I lie.
“You sure about that?”
“Yep.”
He sighs but doesn’t push.
I wish I could explain it to him, but it’s so big I don’t know where to start. Opening up has never come easy, especially to Aiden.
One thing is certain: I want help. The next step is in front of me. Hell, it’s the whole reason I endured a five-hour flight with little more than a pair of headphones and my crumbling dignity. But in order to take it, I need a little guidance.
“Hey.” I pull the jacket tighter, though I’m not coldanymore. “When you decided to change majors, did you plan it?”
Pivoting from nursing to hospitality was a huge gear shift no one saw coming. But when Aiden sets his mind on something, he’s unstoppable.
What I would give to be that confident.
So, of course, he says, “No, I had a good feeling, and it worked out.”
My brother, ladies and gentlemen. Whatever my parents did in the eight years between having us, it resulted in me missing the X-factor that Aiden has in abundance.
“Must be nice,” I mumble.
“Come on, isn’t that what happened when you moved away? And look at you now.” He taps his fingers on the wheel. “You look pretty serious over there. Are you planning something drastic?”
