“Wait.”
Aiden looked at him with his head tilted to the side in question.
“You’ve dodged the question twice tonight.”
“What question?” he asked as if he didn’t know perfectly well what Zielinski meant.
“Are we partners or not?”
Aiden turned his body, leaning into Zielinski until the rough material of the former soldier’s vest rasped against his bare chest. Head lowered, Aiden looked up at him from beneath his lashes. “You sound desperate to tie yourself to me, Beefcake,” he said in a soft whisper.
Zielinski dropped his arm as if Aiden had the power to burn him with his flesh. He stepped back, away from Aiden, before he spoke again.
“No. I just want clarification. To know where I—wherewestand.”
But Aiden wasn’t going to give up his game that easily. He took a single step forward, pursuing the big man into the space he’d tried to put between them. His thigh bumped Zielinski’s as he came an inch shy of sliding his leg between the other man’s. “You need me to set the rules for you?” He paused to bite his bottom lip, then slowly released it. “Interesting,” he whispered, drawing the word out so that each syllable was distinctly pronounced.
A flush crawled up the strong column of Zielinski’s throat, matching the pink that had returned to his ears. But he didn’t back down either.
“That’s not what I meant. I want to know if you and I are going to work together on this situation in the Playground.”
Aiden didn’t get why Zielinski, a newcomer to St. Louis with zero ties to the Playground, was so determined to get involved with the muggings, but if the man was willing, he might as well accept his help. And hehadhelped—Aiden couldn’t deny that. Saving him from getting hit by that stun gun their first time out, strategizing so that they eliminated the mugger’s accomplice, and giving aid to a mugging victim. “Fine. We’re partners. On this missiononly,” he emphasized.
“Good,” Mike said with a stiff nod.
The matter settled, Aiden backed out of Zielinski’s personal bubble. He watched him for a long moment before he spun around to leave. Blaze, Caleb, and Sonica weren’t paying them any attention, but Frost was staring at him with a quizzical expression on their face. “What are you looking at?” he asked as he walked up to his friend.
“I was wondering that myself.”
Aiden decided to ignore that. “C’mon.”
They went out to the parking lot, both climbing onto Aiden’s bike. Frost held on to him with the lightest grip required to stay steady and kept as much space as safely possible between their bodies on the small bike seat. Even so, Aiden could still feel the cold against his back. He was used to it by now, so he didn’t shiver as he used to. He started the bike, roaring out of the parking lot a second later. They flew through the streets, heading for his house. When they arrived, Frost hopped off first. The night was clear with no sign of rain so Aiden left the bike out instead of pulling it into the multi-car garage.
Inside his home, Aiden shrugged out of his jacket and sat down to remove his boots before pulling on a soft, worn hoodie over his bare chest. Frost took off their white combat boots, leaving them dressed in gray skinny jeans and an oversized white sweatshirt that swamped them and covered their hands nearly to their fingertips. Barefoot, the two of them made a beeline to the kitchen to heat up a late evening snack.
“I’m starving after all that running and fighting I did tonight,” Aiden said as he pulled open the freezer. He took out two boxes of two-pack Hot Pockets, one for him and one for Frost. Then, he took out another box, opening it to slide out one more Hot Pocket for himself. “Don’t judge,” he said to his friend.
Frost shook their head. “No judgement from me.”
It took several minutes for the snacks to all be heated. Aiden leaned against the counter, checking his social media accounts on his phone while Frost readied napkins and drinks. The microwave beeped for the final time and they each grabbed a plate and glass of water to take out to the living room.
“I love junk food,” Aiden said as he plopped down next to Frost on the big, squishy couch. “Can’t believe I went years without being able to enjoy the greasy goodness of microwaved ham and cheese.”
Steam rose from the Hot Pockets. Frost blew a small breath over theirs, cooling the snack before they bit into it. “Back to earlier. Seriously, what was that?” they asked after taking and swallowing their second bite.
“What was what?”
Frost cast him a look that clearly readdon’t play dumb. But they clarified anyway.
“You. With the new guy.”
“What do you mean? I was only teasing him. You know I flirt with everybody.”
“I’ve seen you flirt. That wasn’t what that was.”
Aiden was genuinely curious what Frost thought he’d done differently than he usually did when he flirted. He cocked his head to the side in question. “How so?”
“I can’t explain it. Except...you looked like you were about to eat him up.”