“Hey! I’m not that bad,” I protested, even though I knew it was pointless.
Aiden twisted slightly in my lap and raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk spreading across his mouth. “Really? You, Mr Caretaker, aren’t bad at asking for what you need? You’re not so focused on everyone else you forget about yourself?”
“Fuck off, this isn’t about me.” I poked him gently in the ribs and Aiden chuckled.
“Can it be, please? I don’t know if I want to think about how shit I am at opening myself up to people. It’s too fucking late for that.”
“Do you wanna go to bed?” Hunter asked. “You can stay here with us if you want? We can squash in Bailey’s bed again.”
“Or you can have the sofa? Or Hunter’s bed? We’d just need to make it up,” I said, noticing how Aiden had tensed at the idea of us sharing. I wasn’t sure whether to feel hurt by that or not, but I partially understood it. Hunter was huge and took up a lot of space, with his preferred sleeping arrangement being across my chest, and I wasn’t exactly small either. If he was used to sleeping by himself, then sharing with us would be a big shock.
“Do you mind if I take Hunter’s bed? I’m a light sleeper,” he asked as he looked between us, scrutinising our reactions.
“No, that’s fine,” I said, shooting Hunter a pointed look over the top of Aiden’s head, hoping he’d get the message and wipe the crestfallen look off his face.
“Yeah, of course.” Hunter didn’t look convinced despite his words, but I wasn’t going to bring it up now. In front of Aiden. We could talk about it later.
“Sure?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah, all good. I’ll grab some clean sheets,” Hunter said. “Do you need, like, a toothbrush or something? Anything to sleep in?”
Aiden grinned. “I usually sleep naked. But I’ll take a T-shirt and some pants if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
“I don’t give a shit. You can sleep naked if you want.”
“I will then. But if you’ve got a toothbrush or some mouthwash, that’d be great. I left all my shit at Jonny’s.”
“I’ll find you one,” I said. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got something.”
“Yeah, there’s a spare toothbrush head under the sink,” Hunter said. “You can put it on my brush.”
“Cheers,” Aiden said. He was still leaning against me, eyes closed and almost dead to the world. My chest tightened as I watched him, something hot igniting deep within me. It wasn’t just a spark, igniting and burning out in the blink of an eye.Instead, it felt more like a bonfire crackling into life. I didn’t really know how to explain it.
It wasn’t the same as my feelings for Hunter. Those had emerged slowly, forged through time and shared pain, unnoticed until they weren’t. They sat there now, a warm weight in my heart, and one I still struggled to acknowledge.
The idea of admitting them to anyone was alien. I couldn’t even bring myself to consider it, no matter what changed between us.
And thingshadchanged, there was no denying that.
But I was prepared to live in ignorance for as long as possible, because if I had to start talking about them, who knew where I’d end up. Maybe it would be fine and everything would work itself out. But there was another chance it would crash and burn, and I’d lose all the things that were important to me.
“You’re falling asleep,” I said, casually brushing Aiden’s hair out of his face and gently jostling him, trying to keep him awake.
“Yeah, well, you’re comfortable.” He tried to laugh but instead it came out as a yawn. “You must… Sorry, this isn’t what you signed up for when I said I’d drop round.”
“It kinda is. It’s late and you’ve had a shit day.”
“Still, you didn’t ask to take care of me.”
“Fuck off, I want to.” I kissed the side of his head.
“’S nice. I like it,” he said. Then he added quietly, “Shouldn’t get used to it, though.”
“Who shouldn’t?”
“What?” Aiden asked, lifting his head and shooting me a sleepy glare, like a tired, pissed-off cat. I tried not to laugh.
“Nothing. Ignore me.” I cupped his jaw and gently drew him into a long kiss. He hummed softly, the sound curling itself around my soul.
