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“Anyway, what do you do now?”
Aaron’s voice changed as he spoke, pure joy injected into his explanation. “I’m a chef. Not a head chef or anything. I’m a sous chef at a hotel restaurant and it’s exactly the kind of work I love. I got a job waiting tables when I moved home from college, and, with the encouragement of the head chef who saw my potential, I signed up for culinary school. What started as generic brand cereal with cut-up fruit during college has turned into five-course meals and something I really love.”
“That’s fantastic, Aaron. And your mom is right. If college wasn’t for you, and you found something that you enjoy more than that, I think it all worked out for the best.”
He groaned on the other side of the wall, and I could just picture him rolling his eyes.
“Oh no. Now there are two of you!”
I laughed, picturing his eye roll and face of exasperation on the other side of our divider.
“I’m serious, though! It’s rare to find something you love doing and get paid for it. I’ve watched my parents work jobs that they’ve hated their whole lives because they pay the bills and are secure. But if you can make money doing something you actually love, it changes from a job into something incredible.”
“That’s fair,” he said. “And while I’m still pissed about wasting that money on a school I didn’t finish, I know I wouldn’t be working in the kitchen.”
Diego’s laugh behind me stole my attention away for just a second.
Aaron stole it right back. “So, what do you think, Sophie girl? Are you ready to answer some questions of your own now?”
I gripped the notecards harder as nerves swarmed in my belly. “Fire away.”
“Why did your last relationship end?”
I chuckled. “Oh, you mean meeting him for yourself isn’t answer enough?”
“That gem? All smiles, I’d bet,” he teased right back.
I sobered. It would be easy to blame Ryan for everything in front of the cameras. But that’s not what this was about. This was about me and facing my own faults and issues. There had been two of us in that relationship, and maybe it was time I took responsibility for my actions.
“It ended because I finally realized I was dating someone who wasn’t right for me,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, we didn’t have much in common aside from a few favorite TV shows and movies. Looking back on it now, it’s clear to me I was unwilling to give all of myself—not that I ever have before, but this one felt vastly different. I didn’t share as much as I probably should have, and I let things skate by because I prefer peace over conflict.”
I sighed, thinking about all the times I just went to bed with an “I’m fine” instead of talking about what was bothering me.
“Granted, there’s plenty to blame Ryan for, the details of which I won’t get into, but it all boiled down to me not being true to myself from the start, which resulted in letting him get away with whatever he wanted because I knew I wasn’t in it for the long haul.”
There was a moment I distinctly recall thinking the relationship could work, but we’d already created such a shitty foundation. The compromises were too big and there was irreparable damage, so it all would have collapsed, regardless.
“That’s rough,” Aaron said, sympathy lacing his voice. But, thankfully, no pity.
“Yeah, but it was for the best. I thought Ryan was joking when he brought up the motorcycle club and the things that went with being a member’s partner. Not all members are ‘by the book’ like that, but Ryan was old school, and instead of shutting it down early, I let it go on longer than it should have. It was convenient, and Ryan made time for me in a way no one else had, so I got swept up in it, and it was too late to go back and reset.”
“So, what did you learn from that?” Aaron asked, going off script and disregarding the notecards the way I had earlier.
“To be honest, from the start. To know what things I will and will not tolerate. Be vocal about things that make me uncomfortable or feel insecure in a relationship.” Which I hadn’t really done with Oliver and Diego. Essentially, all I’d said was that I needed space, but not the whys of it all. Fuck.
“That’s good. Healthy, even,” Aaron said, his voice soft and understanding. It didn’t need mentioning that this was something we had discussed back at the house earlier that day. He knew as well as I did that I was falling into old habits and needed to figure my shit out.
“Okay, next?” I begged as a cameraman filmed us.
“Hit me.”
I read the card aloud. “What’s your biggest shortcoming? Hot damn, you got the hard questions, huh?”
Aaron just laughed that deep, throaty chuckle. “Definitely my quads. But Zander’s kicking my ass in the gym, so they should start looking like his any day now.”
