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Maybe he’s right but pointing fingers changes nothing and only one of us played a game that ended her life. “The Hunter closet is packed full of skeletons.”
“Yep.” He pops the top off of two beers and hands me one. “Here’s to sealing that door shut and moving the fuck on.”
Right when I’m about to take a drink, the reason I want to move on runs into the room.
“Daddy.”
“So?”
I may not have known Tori long, but it’s easy to recognize how giddy she is to hear details about my night with Aidan. We’ve shared a lot with each other. I even told her about my first time, but last night . . . what happened, and what it meant feels too private to share with anyone. Especially a woman who’s been with Aidan, and although I know they’re long over, I can’t provide the intimate details. It feels wrong and somehow takes away from how special last night made me feel.
“Obviously you know he came for me.”
“And.” She presses by gesturing wildly with her hands.
“And I’m still here.”
The smile slides off of her face. “You’re not going to tell me anything else, are you?”
I sigh and sit down next to her at the table on the back deck. “It was . . . everything I could have asked for.”
It’s all I can give her for now. I wish I could have said it was everything I’ve ever wanted. But I don’t have all of Aidan yet, and the parts I do have are mine and I don’t want to share them with anyone else. I want to hold every intimate moment close to my heart and savor that they belong to only me.
“Good. So you’re happy?” I nod. “How are those new tires?”
We burst into wild laughter. I love how good it feels to laugh with her. “Oh, shit,” I say, laughing harder as I remember there is one thing from last night I can tell a friend.
“What?”
I can barely get the words out as if the absurdity of the memory is finally hitting me. “I crashed into his Porsche.” Her laughter comes to an immediate halt as if I’ve just delivered some life-altering bomb of information. If possible, I’d push her eyeballs back into her head and take it back just so I didn’t have to look at the shock on her face. “What? It’s just a car.”
“And he wasn’t pissed?” The way she asks, you’d think I stole the car.
“Well it isn’t totaled.”
“Oh, my God.” Her mouth falls open as she takes a minute to stare at me. What the fuck did I say that was so shocking? It doesn’t take long for me to find out. “He’s totally in love with you.”
Her assessment of the situation has me laughing again, but as I make eye contact with her it’s clear she’s not joking. “Tori, come on. It’s just a car.”
“Not to Tug. You don’t understand. That car was a fuck you to his mom. Sheila promised to buy him one if he graduated Valedictorian, which he did. Then she reneged, saying he could have done better. He bought it after he went to work at Gibson. It’s his baby. No . . . this is huge.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Seriously, we already discussed our feelings and he’s been pretty honest that he’s not in love with me.
“Did he say that?”
Did he? I can’t actually remember what he said. Maybe that he wasn’t ready, or that he needed more time. Why I’m even pondering it is comical. It’s a damn car. “Not in so many words, but . . .”
“But nothing . . . I know Tug better than anyone and . . . he’s completely in love with you.”
It becomes blatantly obvious I’m not going to convince her otherwise, so I just nod in agreement and try not to laugh.
A couple of hours after returning to the loft, I look into the eyes of a little boy who I swear is about the sweetest kid I’ve ever met. With everything he’s been through, he would be justified in being angry at the world but it’s just not his nature.
The man next to me on the other hand takes being jaded to a whole new level, except when he looks at his son. The mask lowers and all of his features soften the instant Javier enters a room. It must be hard to live as though you’re two people. I know why he does it, but still I worry that one day it will all be too much and he’ll cave under the pressure to be perfect for his son. Even my ordinary, boring parents aren’t perfect and I hope one day to help Aidan see that he can be human. That it’s okay to make a mistake.
I may get the opportunity today as Aidan prepares to tell Javier about us dating and that I’ll be staying in the loft for a few days.
He sighs deeply and Javier giggles. “Are you all right, Daddy?”
