With the asshole.
He leads me down another stocked aisle in the brightly lit drugstore, so casually. As if what he did was nothing out of the ordinary. Like his hand isn’t smooth and warm and, worse,comforting.
It takes me back to the first movie night at camp. He’d sneaked away from the boys’ side and plopped down next tome. Legs covered with a blanket. Hand shaking as he slid it underneath to find mine.
Except his palm was so sweaty then. Nervous and cautious.
Now, it’s steady, confident, and controlled. He’s figured out exactly who he is—and who I am, too.
Jazzy music plays overhead as we pass the cold meds, when he spots something else he wants. Lifting our joined hands, his finger waves toward the bags of Epsom salt. We could be a regular couple on a wellness retreat.
“Lavender or eucalyptus?” he asks, totally unfazed. We’re shopping for sex supplies on a random Friday afternoon. Pretending I’m not his month-long plaything with a sore ass and a heart that flinches every time he touches it a little too softly.
“I think?—”
“Ashlyn?”
My entire body locks up. I know that voice.
Eyes wide, heart pounding, I try to slip my hand from Aiden’s. But he spies her over my shoulder before I speak, gaze narrowed, andrefusesto let go.
“Hey…Mom.”Shit.She’s got company. “AndAdalyn.” My voice wobbles as I face them. It feels exactly like getting caught sneaking out in high school. Only back then, my family never knew I was seeing the boy standing behind me.
Mom clocks him instantly—the tall, broad-shouldered man, his hand in mine, body too close. Adalyn’s sunscreen bottle trembles in her grip, and her tight lips are already judging him asinappropriate.
My mother, short and voluptuous, steps forward, eyes sweeping him like a predator in pearls. “Hello. You must be…” She lets the sentence dangle, waiting for me to fill in the blanks, while Adalyn gapes like I’ve grown horns and a forked tongue.
“Aiden Cardell, Mrs. Donovan.” He finally releases his grip on my hand to shake my mom’s. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
A lie delivered like it’s gospel. Smile flawless and charismatic. Voice dipped in charm thick enough to hypnotize an entire basket of snakes.
Mom flutters her lashes. Not in flirtation, but instrategy. She’s finishing school cunning, a Venus flytrap in mauve lipstick. And she uses her looks as a seduction trick when she wants a man to confess more than he meant to.
“Oh? I’m afraid I haven’t heard much about you,Aiden Cardell.” Glancing at me, she arches one brunette eyebrow. “Ashlyn must’ve forgotten to mention you.” Then, to him, a smile as sweet as cyanide. “I believe your family’s famous up here in Northview. But not so much inGnarled Pine Hollow…where my little girl is from.”
I panic. I have to break the tension. “You here for honeymoon supplies?” I blurt to Adalyn, throwing her a lifeline and myself a parachute. I wonder what would happen if I sprinted out of here and left the three of them behind.
Adalyn nods stiffly. “Yeah. Had a tasting with the caterer, then swung by here with Mom. And you’re with your…” she trails off, eyes flicking to Aiden. Her voice drops a note lower, like she’s handing the bomb to someone else.
Frozen in place, my stomach churns, threatening to regurgitate my dinner.Please, for the love of the gods, do not say boyfriend…
“Ashlyn’sgoodfriend. I’m Ryan’s brother.”
Mom’s expression relaxes for a moment with growing recognition. “Pippi’sRyan? The man my niece is appointed to?”
“Yep. That’s the one.” His voice is smooth as lacquer over rot. “Ashlyn and I were catching up on old times.” A beat of air shifts as he holds it in his control. Dangerous. Intentional. “From…camp.”
My elbow slams into his ribs. Hard. He doesn’t flinch, but his grin falters slightly.
“Camp,” Mom echoes, her gaze latching onto mine like fishhooks under the skin. It’s the look that used to come right before she’d terrify me into telling her the truth. “Okay…” she drawls, tone frosted with civility. “It’sgoodto meet you, Ryan’s brother.” Like she’s not committing his face to memory in case she needs to hire someone later. A warning edges her words as she addresses me. “See you at Thanksgiving dinner next week. With your boyfriend,Talon. Right, Ash?”
Aiden’s broad body stiffens behind me at the emphasis of the name.
Throat tight, I manage to say, “Yep. See you then!”
With great effort and a shuffled step, my family leaves with one last glance back at the figure waving them a friendly goodbye. As soon as they clear the area, I feel his next question burning at the tip of his tongue. It seeps into my soul like a fiery accusation.
Surging forward a step, I’m snagged back into him as he ensnares my upper arm.