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Aiden nodded.
But then he seemed to struggle to find the words, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, the big broody silent man routine is only sexy in certain situations, and this isn’t one of them, Hennessy.”
In response, he tugged me closer with a subdued laugh, and I played with the edge of his lapel. He smelled so good, but gawd, I’d stop sniffing like a crazy person if he came only because of this.
“Didn’t you have time to practice what to say?” I teased.
His eyes held mine, his fingers sweeping into the ends of my hair. “I’m not … I’m not good at speeches like this. I never know the right thing to say, or how to explain what I’m feeling.”
Underneath my hand where it laid on his jacket, his heart was pounding. It was unbelievable how much peace that fed into me, knowing he was just as nervous about this as I used to be around him.
Aiden and I, this entire time, had been sitting on an invisible teeter-totter, and eventually, we’d even out into perfect balance. I had a feeling it would be tonight.
His hand smoothed along my face, and I turned my head to kiss his palm.
“I knew Beth for years,” he started quietly. I willed myself not to react as he spoke, simply kept my hand over his heart and my body pressed close to his. “We were friends. She moved in down the street, and the first day I met her, she brought us a plate of gingersnap cookies to introduce herself.”
I gave him a tiny smile. “Anya’s nickname.”
He nodded. “And my favorite food. It felt … impossible to explain that to you when you were in my bed,” he said, voice rough with emotion.
My eyes closed for a moment. “Yeah, I can imagine.”
“When we were eighteen, she announced to me that she was going to kiss me, and I would be her first boyfriend because she saw how I looked at her, and she was sick of waiting.”
My smile widened. I had a feeling I would’ve liked Beth.
“She was my best friend,” Aiden continued. “And I knew everything about her. Loving her, falling in love with her, was something slow and steady and gradual, until suddenly it was … everything.”
My eyes filled with tears as he spoke. “I’m so sorry you lost her,” I told him.
His own eyes were bright when he leaned down to kiss my forehead. “I am too.” When he pulled back, he studied my face. “She was my first love, and when I came here, I was not looking to replace that, Isabel.”
My fingers fidgeted restlessly, but I refused to look away. “I know.”
“You,” he continued, eyes locked in on my lips, “did not come into my life slow or steady.”
I smiled.
“Because of that,” Aiden whispered, “it became something I felt like I needed to resist. Something too intense for what I was capable of in this second chance of my life.”
Slowly, I nodded. All of that made sense. And my heart, it breathed just a bit easier understanding it.
We were on borrowed time in this conversation, and I didn’t know how much longer I’d have. My fingers trailed the edge of his jaw and followed the line of his lips.
“My sister must’ve given one hell of a pep talk,” I said lightly.
Those lips curled up at the edges, and Aiden kissed the tips of my fingers as he drew my hand away. “She just affirmed what I was a little slow in figuring out for myself.”
“What’s that?”
His eyes held mine, the intensity in them making my stomach weightless. All the butterflies from the first day I met him whooshed back into place. “That if I could see you in my future, I needed to take my chance.”
The way he said it sounded so simple, so sure.
“She’s very smart,” I answered seriously.
Aiden wrapped his arms around me, and I did the same around his waist.
