Aiden looked between us pointedly. “Whoever’s kicking me, stop it. Or I definitely won’t let you come.”
“Sorry. I was aiming for Bailey,” I said sheepishly.
“What? Why are you kicking me?”
“Because you’re being a dickhead.”
“Now, now, boys, behave. Or neither of you will get to come,” Aiden said teasingly. “I’ll make you watch me get off instead.”
I stared at him in shock, my mouth falling open as I tried to find the words to plead innocence. Across the table, Bailey looked completely outraged. And Aiden was still grinning, confidence radiating out of him. It was heady to watch and made me want to sink to my knees under the table. “Y-You wouldn’t,” Bailey finally managed.
Aiden shrugged and reached for his pint. “Do you want to test that theory, baby?”
“You know, me and Hunter can get off when we get home.”
“I know, but it won’t be as good, will it?” He took a long, slow sip, his forehead creasing as he put the glass down. “That is something we should talk about, though: how this works with us being long distance, how we feel about telling people, exclusivity, that sort of stuff.”
“We’re not seeing anyone else,” I said quickly. I wanted to make that very clear from the start. “We haven’t for a while. And we don’t want to.”
“How long is a while?” Aiden asked casually, curiosity burning in his eyes.
“Er, since the summer. When we were in Ibiza,” Bailey said.
“Any reason? I’m not judging, I’m just curious.”
“Just didn’t feel like it,” I said. “I can’t speak for Bailey, but for me, none of them were as good as hooking up with you. And, er, they all wanted me to top and I was… you’d made me realise… I mean, I don’t mind it, but you…”
Aiden smirked smugly. I was pretty sure it was the same pleased, possessive expression I’d seen on Jonny’s face around Devon. “My dick’s that good, huh?”
“I mean…”
“It’s okay, babygirl, you can admit it. I won’t let it go to my head, I promise.”
“That’s a fucking lie,” Bailey said with a chuckle. “I’ve never seen anyone look as smug as you do right now.”
“I kinda have a right to be. I mean, look how pretty his blush is. I did that,” Aiden said as my face flamed. Luckily, nobody was paying attention to us as some sort of argument seemed to have erupted in the middle of the bar. I hadn’t heard what started it, but from the vague insults I could hear being thrown, it was about someone’s unscrupulous business practices.
“True, and he does look very pretty when he blushes,” Bailey said. He glanced around at the rest of the pub, but Aiden didn’t seem fazed, so I guessed there was nothing to worry about.
“Don’t worry,” Aiden said. “It’s only someone else realising Phil Dennis is a wanker. Happens most weekends. Surprised Phil even bothered to show his face. He’s going to get banned at this rate. Mostly because Bacon doesn’t want to deal with the arguing.”
As he said that, Bacon slammed his hand on the bar and shut the fight down with a barked “oi,” a glare, and a colourful threat to cut people off.
“See? All good,” Aiden said. “This place is a bit of a shithole, but contrary to popular belief, nobody’s actually been stabbed here. Not for, like, fifteen years? Maybe ten? Wait, when did Bacon start working here… Yeah, gotta be just over ten years. But it wasn’t serious. I’ve had worse injuries stepping on Lego.”
He sounded so nonchalant about it and a million questions suddenly floated into my mind. But I didn’t get a chance to ask them before Aiden continued. “Okay, so, we’re exclusive. I like that. I don’t want to share you.”
“I don’t want to share either,” Bailey said, draining the last of his pint. One of us was meant to be driving home, but I didn’t think we’d be doing that at any point soon. Not that I minded. I wanted as much time as possible with the three of us together.
“Me neither,” I added.
“Good. We are going to have to do long distance, though, at least until I figure out what the fuck I’m doing with my kitchen,” Aiden said.
“Wait, are you going to move?” Bailey asked. “I mean, I know you said you’re probably looking for a new kitchen space to rent, but does that mean you’re looking outside of Leicester?”
“Maybe? Probably? I think so, yeah. I don’t know if it’ll be in Lincoln, but I might try and get a bit closer. We’ll see.”
I grinned, joy fizzing up in my chest. I tried to tamp it down. We’d only just convinced Aiden to give this relationship a chance. I didn’t want to scare him off by suggesting he move in with us. That would be awesome, but we needed to walk before we could run. “That would be great. And if you need a hand moving anything, our offer still stands. Just let us know what you need.”
