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“Yay,” I said unenthusiastically.
“Well, don’t try to sound excited or anything.”
“I am excited.” Wasn’t I?
Broad shoulders, gray eyes, and a crooked smile filled my mind. No, I was so not excited.
THE NEXT NIGHT with Aiden was going much better than I?
?d thought it would. We had the same humor and had spent practically all of dinner laughing to the point where I’d started crying. But everything about the date and Aiden screamed friendship to me. Those few flashes of attraction the weekend before at the barbecue had been it for me when it came to him.
All I could see was Brody. And I hated it.
I was still barely sleeping, and the few hours I did sleep he starred in every dream. If that wasn’t enough, I spent all my waking hours going over every detail about him while simultaneously trying to get him out of my mind.
When Aiden gave me a smile and I wished for it to be crooked, I realized it obviously wasn’t working. And this wasn’t fair to Aiden.
We were walking to a little coffee shop around the corner from the restaurant when he grabbed my hand in his, and my mind instantly went to Brody.
“Aiden,” I began, pulling my hand back.
“I’m sorry. Too fast?”
I stopped walking and shut my eyes tightly before looking up at him. “No, it’s not . . . it’s just—”
Understanding and disappointment came over his face, and I wished I could give him something more. “I pushed you into this, I know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“I belong to someone else,” I blurted out, and no matter how impossible that seemed, the moment the words were out of my mouth I knew it was true. I belonged to a man who I didn’t know and who would never belong to me. Aiden was the kind of guy I needed—deep down I knew that, but I just wasn’t into it.
“You’re seeing someone? Jace swore you were single.”
“I am single.” His eyebrows drew together, and I shook my head. “I’m not seeing him, but right now, I belong to him. And it wouldn’t be fair to lead you on when he’s all I can think about.”
“Huh. I, uh—well, I guess I have to be thankful for that kind of honesty.” Aiden rocked back on his heels and looked around embarrassed. “Does he know?”
“What?”
“This guy. Does he know that you feel this way?”
“Oh, God, I hope not.”
Surprise and confusion flashed through his eyes before he smiled widely at me. “Then I’ll wait.”
“For wh—Why?”
“Well, you were kinda obvious that you don’t want him knowing about your feelings, and you said you belong to him for now. So I’ll wait my turn.”
“Aiden,” I whispered and scratched at my forehead. “That’s not . . . I don’t want you to do that. I don’t want to lead you on.”
“And you’re not.” His smile somehow seemed to get wider as he draped an arm over my shoulders and began walking toward the little coffee shop again. “You told me how you feel, and I’ll respect that. To be honest, I don’t have a lot of time for dating, as I’m sure you can see with Jace’s schedule. Last weekend and tonight with you were some of the best times I’ve had in the last year. So we’ll stay friends, if nothing else. Just know that if you ever change your mind, I’ll be waiting.”
I sighed, but was hopeful that he was serious about staying friends. I had as much fun with Aiden as I did with Kinlee and Jace. “If you say—” I cut off on a gasp. Oh, mother of all that is holy.
My body went rigid, and if it hadn’t been for Aiden’s arm guiding me, I’m sure I would have stopped walking. Barely ten feet from us, frozen with a coffee cup halfway to his lips and his wide eyes on us, was the man haunting every second of my life.
“Hey, Brody! Where’d you go last week?”
My pulse jumped when Aiden said his name, and though I tried to keep my eyes anywhere else—the street, the cars, the shops, my feet—they kept pulling back to Brody. My eyes quickly traveled over the tight-fitting Henley shirt and perfectly worn jeans on his body, and I wished he’d been on patrol so he would’ve been in his uniform instead. A flash of Brody in his uniform went through my mind and I realized that actually would have made it harder to tear my gaze from him. Someone needed to put the man in a cardboard box. No, he just needed to leave and I needed to never see him again.
