Page 172 of Manhattan Bossholes

“I think that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Cora—”

“No, really. After the way you treated me, there’s no way in hell I’m giving you a second chance.”

Levi grimaced. “I can’t accept that answer.”

“I don’t think it matters what you can and can’t accept.”

“We belong together.”

“Go back to California.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m gonna be right here, until you see that we belong together.”

“I think she told you it’s never gonna happen, buddy.”

I glanced up. Aiden had come around the corner, glaring like he was a bull and Levi was the red flag waving in his face. I surged to his side, taking his hand. Levi glanced down at our entwined fingers, and that finally seemed to snap some sense into him.

“Wait,” he said. “Are the two of you together again?”

Sort of? We’re starting to be? It really did feel like we were moving that way, even if everything was still up in the air. But I was totally willing to lie and say we were already married and about to adopt triplets if it would get Levi to back the hell off. Before I could say anything, Aiden spoke up.

“Yes. And I’m not going to let you keep harassing Cora.” He rose up, taller and broader, like a mountain eclipsing a hill.

Levi shrank in his shadow.

“We’re going outside to get some air.” Aiden’s hand tightened around mine reassuringly even as he bore down on Levi. “If you’re still here when we come back in, you better leave us the hell alone. Got it?”

16

AIDEN

“Who does he think he is?” I said, stalking down the path to the football field.

Cora muttered under her breath. “God’s gift to creation.”

I snorted, walking through the gate that led to the stands. I’d made this walk a thousand times before as a teenager, both for games and practice, sometimes even with Cora by my side. But this time was different, and not just because we were older. White hot something coursed through me: some horrible mixture of anger and disbelief and jealousy.

I’d never begrudge Cora the fact that she’d moved on after me. It’s all I could have wanted for her. I would have been glad to know she was happy. But now, seeing this Levi guy treat her like this, like she was supposed to be waiting for him to come crawling home to her once he’d stopped fucking around…It made my blood boil.

We climbed into the stands, and Cora sat down, cradling her forehead in her hand.

I paced, protective heat spiraling through me, fueling my annoyance. “He had no damn right to speak to you like that. If I even see him glance your way when we go back inside⁠—”

“Aiden, it’s okay.”

“It’s actually not. What kind of creep chases you into the hall? ‘I can’t accept that answer.’ What the hell was that?”

“I know.” She caught my hand, forcing me to stop pacing. I looked down at her, those brown eyes bright in the fading twilight. Shiny. Like she was on the verge of tears. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s very sweet, the fact that you’re so upset on my behalf.”

“I didn’t realize someone could say so many wrong things in one conversation.”

Cora tugged gently, and I sat down next to her, pushing my anger aside to focus on her. How I felt—really damn pissed off—mattered way less than how she felt. I resolved to focus on whatever she needed. If that was someone to commiserate and join her in trash talking her ex, then hell yes, sign me up. But if she wanted someone to make her laugh, or to change the subject, or even just to sit with her for a minute and let her be sad about the guy who broke her heart, then that was what I’d be.

“I’m just glad you were here tonight,” Cora admitted. “No way Levi would have backed down otherwise, and the last thing I want to be remembered for at this reunion is getting into some screaming match with him.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help. If you don’t mind my asking…what’s his deal?”