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Aiden’s blue eyes studied me as his smirk faded. “Bennett, just trust me, okay?”
“No, not okay. What does that even mean?” I was so tired of feeling like I was a kid stuck between two schoolyard bullies.
“The man clearly still has a thing for you. I’m just helping him figure it out.”
I stared at him. “Are you fucking crazy?” I hissed. “First of all, no he doesn’t. He hates me. Secondly, I need your help patching things up with Xander like I need a hole in the head. Stop helping.” I ran my hands through my hair before muttering, “Jesus.”
Aiden laughed. “This actually reminds me of how we got together.”
The remark had something inside of me suddenly releasing and my breath came out in a whoosh of laughter so loud, several of the kids looked over to see what was going on.
“Oh my god. Please don’t remind me,” I said with a grin. It was too late, of course. I was already running the memories of that night through my head.
Aiden snorted. “Joey and… what was that guy’s name? The one you roomed with freshman year.”
“Gus,” I said.
He chuckled. “Right, Gus. Why can’t I ever remember that guy’s name? You roomed with him that whole year. I always want to call him Mouse for some reason.”
“Maybe you’re thinking of the mouse from Cinderella,” I suggested. “Gus Gus.”
“I’m not going to ask how you know that. Anyway, Gus was sobbing on your shoulder and Joey was in tears on mine, and you and I spent two hours trying to broker the peace deal of the century to help our roommates patch things up.”
I laughed again. “It didn’t work.”
“That’s an understatement. But something good came out of it anyway,” he said with a sweet smile.
“Yeah. I guess. Not like you and I lasted any longer than Joey and Gus did, though. You dumped my ass.”
Aiden’s hand came out to tip my chin up. “I’m still here, aren’t I?” he asked quietly.
For some reason, his touch was exactly what I needed, and I stepped into his embrace and put my arms around his waist. Aiden was still there for me, just like he had been for the past ten years. Even though the dating portion of our relationship had been one-sided, we’d still managed to stay friends somehow.
He gave me a tight squeeze before releasing me and pointing to a fallen log for us to sit on.
“Do you know why I really broke things off with you, Bennett?” he asked in a low voice— his serious voice. Serious Aiden was always a sight to behold, but I didn’t necessarily like when it was directed at me. Maybe because I knew he only saved that voice for when he was going to tell me something we both knew I wouldn’t want to hear.
“Because you’re a commitment-phobe who’s terrified of letting anyone get close enough to tear down the steel walls around your wounded heart?” I asked, hoping to keep that lightness between us for another few seconds.
Aiden blinked at me before shaking his head. “Ah, no… but thanks for that.”
“No prob,” I said. “Continue.”
“I always felt like I was a placeholder for you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, trying not to feel a pinch of hurt from his words.
Aiden blew out a breath and stretched his legs before crossing them at the ankles. “Bennett, you’ve been in love with that guy over there since the dawn of time. Your first wet dream was probably Xander walking across the playground with his light-up Sketchers.”
I felt my face heat up. “He couldn’t afford Sketchers,” I mumbled. I didn’t add in the fact that I’d given Xander my new Sketchers for his birthday that year and told my father I’d lost them at school. Luckily, he’d been too preoccupied to notice how my best friend’s new, expensive sneakers had looked so very familiar.
Aiden’s warm hand landed on my shoulder and I turned to look at him. “He’s the reason you do all of this, isn’t he?”
“Do all of what?” I asked.
“Your dad is desperate for you to take the helm of The Crawford Group, but you insist on running the foundation instead.”
I bristled at his words and opened my mouth to respond. Aiden held up a hand before I had a chance.
“I know, I know. You love working with the kids. You’d rather help people in need than help rich assholes get richer. Save it. You’ve told me all that before. I was just wondering why. Is it because of Xander?”
My eyes snuck a glance back toward the campfire where the man in question was busy demonstrating some climbing knots the kids had asked about earlier in the day. I hadn’t even noticed his return or that darkness had started to fall.
“No,” I said softly. “I never saw him like that, you know? I actually envied his life in a lot of ways… what he had with his dad.” My thoughts drifted to all the fun Xander, Mr. Reed and I had always had when I’d gone to their house for dinner or they’d taken me on one of their excursions to the beach or hiking. Yes, I’d had more money, but Xander had seemed rich in so many other ways.
