“Funny. Four years, Lydia. It’s not like you were my babysitter or anything. Although that could have been hot.”
“You’re digressing,” she said, and he heard the kitchen faucet run as she washed her hands.
“Anyway, this girl Nicole had a cat and I remember they were always complaining because it would try to trip them on the stairs. Who keeps pets that want you dead?”
Before she could answer, his phone chimed and he stretched his arm out to pick it up off the coffee table. Oscar refused to move and just continued to stare intently at him and vibrate.
How’s it going?
It was Scotty, and Aidan sat up, using his hand to gently nudge Oscar down so he didn’t try to hold on by way of sheer cat will and very sharp claws.
Ok.What’s up?
Bored.Need a hand?
He sighed and thought back to the lie he’d told the guys to get this time off with Lydia. He was helping his mom replace and fix a few things around the house because the other Hunt men weren’t as handy as they were cheap.
Probably not.It’s one-guy stuff and I think she just wants to visit with me while Dad’s on biz trip.
It was one more believable lie, made possible by the fact Scotty knew how screwed up the Hunt family dynamics were.
Don’t you have family dinner tomorrow night?
Oops. There was that small detail.
He’ll be back for that.
That’s too bad.Probably more fun without him.I’ll see you Monday morning,then.
Aidan set the phone back on the table with a sigh. He was getting better at lying, which was a skill he’d never wanted to improve on.
“I’m guessing that was my brother,” Lydia said, and he looked up to see her leaning against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed.
“How did you know?”
“Because you look like you’re beating yourself up about something and it seems to me the most likely reason is that you had to lie to Scott.”
Hereallydidn’t want to put a damper on this weekend. “Yeah, it was him. He’s bored and wanted to know if I needed a hand at my mom’s house.”
“I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t just show up there.”
Aidan shook his head. “He’s only met my parents a few times, at ceremonies and stuff, and they’ve never been particularly warm to him. We always hung out at Tommy’s and never at my parents’.”
But it did go to show there were so many ways they could get tripped up when it came to lying and hiding their relationship from the people who knew them better than anybody else.
“I’d rather talk about Nicole-from-high-school more than my brother right now,” she said.
He stood up, brushing cat hair off the front of his shirt. The stuff was everywhere and the more he tried to brush it off, the more it seemed to multiply. “I’d rather take you out for a nice dinner somewhere than talk about either of them.”
When Lydia grinned and shoved away from the counter, Aidan felt his spirits rally. “Yeah, you’re the one who told me to stop overthinking things and just enjoy this day.”
“Yes, I did. So let’s go enjoy the hell out of it.”
They decided they didn’t want to go anywheretoonice, because they were both comfortable in their jeans, though they traded the T-shirts for nicer shirts with buttons. While she brushed her hair and put on a little makeup, he sat on the edge of the bed and used his phone to pull up possibilities.
“Pasta,” he said. “I could go for pasta.”
“Carbs. Yay.” He laughed and looked at her. Since she was facing away from him, he had a perfect view of her ass and legs, which he thought were perfect the way they were. And, since she was looking in a mirror, she saw him looking and rolled her eyes. “I could do pasta, but you have to help me work it off later.”
