I’d never had sex in the shower before. Another first for me.
I turned off the water, slid over the shower door, and stepped out onto the mat. Aiden had a towel wrapped around his waist, and he smiled as he took another towel and stepped up to me.
Without words, Aiden took the towel and started drying me off as I just stood there and watched him. He started with my shoulders, ran the cloth down my arms and then back up again. He dried my skin slowly over my breasts and stomach, then reached around and pressed himself against me as he dried my back. He then knelt in front of me to run the towel around my legs before finishing with my feet.
“There you go,” he said softly as he tossed the towel over the shower door. His eyes sparkled as he quickly reached down and wrapped one arm around my waist and the other behind my knees, lifting me into the air. He turned quickly and carried me back to the bedroom like a child, making me squeal. He smacked my ass and told me to hush.
“Ow!” I playfully bit at his neck.
“Oh, we’re on to biting, are we? You’ll regret that.”
“You started it!” I reminded him. “You can’t smack my ass without expecting retaliation.”
“It was a romantic slap on the ass.”
He tossed me in the middle of the unmade bed, and I grabbed at the sheets to keep from bouncing. Aiden crawled in beside me and pulled me up against his chest. He kissed me lightly on the lips and pushed wet hair from my forehead.
“My hair is going to be a disaster,” I commented.
“I like it,” he said. “It’s all over the place. Makes you look freshly fucked.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I am freshly fucked.” I giggled. I wasn’t much of a curser, but Aiden’s dirty mouth was contagious.
“Yeah,” he agreed, “I like that, too.”
I found myself tracing the edges of some of the tattoos on his chest. Well, at least where I could find an edge—they all blended together. My fingers ran over one of the more predominant ones over his right pec, where he had DAD inscribed in elaborate, scripted letters with birth and death dates below.
“Tell me more about you,” I said.
“Like what?”
“Maybe your family? You don’t talk about them much.”
Aiden looked away and shrugged.
“There isn’t a lot to say. I haven’t talked to my Mom in years, and she’s all there is.”
“Does she ever try to contact you?”
“Yeah,” he replied softly. “She calls on my birthday and Christmas like clockwork.”
“You don’t answer?”
“No.”
I had the feeling I was treading on thin ice, but I pushed forward anyway.
“Why not?”
Aiden sighed and rolled to his back, placing his hand behind his head.
“She dwells,” he finally said.
“Dwells on what?”
“Dad, having me too young, everything about her life she didn’t think was fair—all that shit. The last time I saw her or talked to her, she was sitting in the middle of the living room with all these pictures of my dad from when he played lacrosse. She had another picture of him on the table, and she was talking to it like he was there.”
“I talk to my Dad’s picture,” I admitted quietly.
Aiden narrowed his eyes at me.
“Why?”
I shrugged.
“It’s not like I think he’s there or that he’ll answer me or anything,” I clarified. “We were close, and sometimes I just want to talk to him.”
“Don’t you end up just thinking about him all the time then?” Aiden asked.
“Sometimes. It’s taken me a while to get there, but I’m not sad when I think about him anymore. I still miss him, but the good memories outweigh the bad.”
Aiden pondered as he stared up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, and I watched his chest rise and fall.
“Why did you get this tattoo?” I asked as I traced the letters on his chest.
“It was the first one I got,” he said. “I wanted…I thought I needed to…”
His voice trailed off as he let out a big sigh.
“He didn’t get a grave. We only had enough money to have him cremated, but not buried. Mom still has his ashes. I just thought he needed a marker somewhere, so that’s where I put it.”
I lay my head down on his shoulder.
“That’s actually kind of beautiful,” I said.
He shrugged and looked at my face.
“I never talk about this shit,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked.
“I don’t want to think about him,” he said. “I live in the now. I don’t want the reminder of what isn’t there anymore.”
“You can’t avoid it forever,” I said.
“It’s working so far.” His voice was flat and a little stern, as if he were trying to put an end to the conversation.
“Is it?” I questioned.
I reached up and placed my hand against his rough cheek, turning him to face me.
“There’s room for both, Aiden,” I said. “Our past brought us to where we are now. If we ignore part of it, we are ignoring part of ourselves.”
He blinked his eyes slowly as he looked at me but refused to comment.
And with that, I knew we both had something to learn.
TWELVE
Unlike the first couple of days full of adventurous, outdoor activities, Aiden and I spent the next two creating indoor adventures of our own as the rain continued to pour down. There wasn’t a piece of furniture in the house we hadn’t utilized. We’d even had sex on the kitchen counter, some of the sturdier boxes lying around, and the weight bench in Aiden’s workout room. He wasn’t lying about covering me in cum, either. Eventually, I insisted we run out to the store for a box of wet-wipes.
For better or worse, there wasn’t a lot of time left over to talk.
Friday night, the rain finally stopped, and Aiden grilled shark steaks out on the patio. He topped off dinner with sweet potatoes and seasoned green beans that were to die for. He even made sweet iced tea to wash it all down.
We sat outside, watched beachcombers, and listened to the waves as we ate. When we were done, Aiden insisted I relax as he did the dishes. I sat back in the patio chair with a smile on my face and closed my eyes until he joined me back outside.
“Okay,” Aiden said as he sat back down. “Now that I’ve buttered you up with food, I have a question for you, a request, rather.”
“What’s that?”
“How would you feel about going to a party tonight?”
“A party?”
“Yeah,” Aiden confirmed with a nod. “It’s at Redeye’s place. Just a group of friends, mostly guys, but some of their girlfriends and such will be there. You already know Lo and Mo, so you wouldn’t feel totally lost.”
I considered it. Though spending time alone with Aiden was also tempting, hanging out with his friends might be an even better way of getting to know him.
“Sure,” I said. “That sounds like fun.”
“Awesome!” Aiden beamed. “It’s not far—just a twenty-minute drive. They’re a fun bunch—I know you’ll have a blast. Just be prepared for some serious drinking.”
Redeye lived in Hollywood, just a few miles inland. It was a nice middle-class neighborhood with a row of houses obviously all designed by the same architect. His house was in the middle of the street, and there were already a lot of cars parked outside. Aiden stopped the jeep a few houses down and we walked up to the front door. It opened before he could knock, and a tall man with a moustache peered out at us.
“Well, look what the fucking cat drug in!” he called out.
“Hunter!” several voices cried at once. I recognized Lo and Mo immediately as they crowded the door.
“Lo said you had a lady with you,” the man who had opened the door said. “Quite frankly, I didn’t believe him.”
Aiden put his arm around my shoulders.
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“Chloe, this is Redeye. Redeye, this is Chloe.”
“Well, I won’t let her taste in men sway my opinion of her.” Redeye laughed. He made a big sweeping motion with his arm. “Come on in! Let me get you a shot.”
“I did warn you about this guy, right?” Aiden said as we walked in. “If you aren’t careful, he’ll be shoving shots at you about every five minutes.”
“I’ll watch myself,” I said with a smile.
“It won’t help,” Aiden warned. He reached up and pushed his cap firmly against his head. “He’s pretty insistent.”
“Hey there, darling!” Mo said as he pulled me into a hug.
“Don’t be hoggin’ all that to yourself!” Lo cried.
The next thing I knew, I was trapped in a bear hug between both of them.
“For Christ’s sake,” Aiden mumbled, “let the girl breathe!”
Their booming laughs echoed through the room as they released me.
We walked through the house and out a sliding glass door to a screened-in sunroom and pool beyond. There were about ten people total, only two of whom were women. Two of the guys came up to us immediately. One had a cute, boyish face and short, spikey hair, and the other wore glasses and had nearly as many tattoos as Aiden.
“What’s up, Hunter?” the first one said as he gave Aiden a hug. “Long time, no see.”
“Not much, bro,” Aiden said. He turned to me. “Chloe, this is Clutch and Dutch.”
“Clutch and Dutch?” I repeated. “Doesn’t anyone you know have a normal name?”
They all laughed.
“Good to meet you,” Dutch said. He tipped his cap and bowed, drawing my attention to his legs, which were covered in green and orange striped socks.
“Good to meet you, too,” I replied. “Love the socks.”
“Why, thank you, ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat again.
“Tell me this guy is paying you to be here with him,” Clutch said as he took my hand and held it. “Tell me there is no way this asshole ended up with a hot chick like you.”
“Um…no, I don’t think so.” I giggled.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” Aiden said as he pushed Clutch away. There wasn’t any anger in his voice though, and they all laughed afterward as another guy came up to Aiden’s side. He was young and wore a hat that looked like it belonged on Crocodile Dundee.
“Hunter,” he said as he tipped his hat and shook Aiden’s hand. “Good to see you.”
“You, too, Lance,” Aiden said. “This is Chloe.”
“Welcome to the mayhem!” Lance said with a friendly smile. Lance, Dutch, and Clutch then wandered off toward the bar set up by the pool.
Aiden took me around and introduced me to the others, but the introductions went by so fast, I couldn’t quite keep up with the names. The next thing I knew, Redeye was standing next to us and shoving a shot glass and a lemon into my hands.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Don’t ask questions,” Redeye said as he handed a glass and a lemon to Aiden. “Just do the shot, and immediately bite the lemon.”
“It tastes like chocolate cake,” Aiden informed me. “The lemon is coated in sugar. It’s good—really.”
Redeye passed out more shots and then held up his own glass.
“Good friends and lots of booze!” he toasted.
I watched Aiden do the shot and then quickly followed his lead. As soon as I bit into the lemon, I was surprised to find out it really did taste like chocolate cake.
I followed Aiden up to the bar, and he made me a vodka and cranberry. I sipped as he poured himself a glass of vodka and Red Bull.
“I guess you don’t plan on ever falling asleep again,” I commented.
“It’s good stuff,” he said. “And I’m hoping this will be a long night.”
He winked at me.
Music played, and everyone sat around a fire pit chatting about nothing in particular. Aiden was definitely right about Redeye—he brought shots around at least every half an hour, demanding everyone participate. It wasn’t long before I was feeling a little tipsy.
When Aiden excused himself to go find the bathroom inside, one of the girls came and sat beside me.
“How do you know Hunter?” the girl asked. I tried to remember her name, but all I could recall was that she was here with Lance.
“We met in Ohio,” I explained, leaving out the details. “He invited me down for the week.”
“Oh! Are you staying at his beach house?”
“Yes.”
“That place is beautiful!” she exclaimed. “I was only there once, but that view—wow!”
“It really is wonderful,” I agreed.
“You are so lucky,” she said. “Hunter is a sweetheart. I’m glad to see him with someone.”
“He doesn’t usually bring a date?” I asked, taking the opportunity to get some information.
“Never,” the girl said with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t around when he was with that crazy bitch, so I never met her.”
“Oh,” I said. I thought quickly. “You mean Megan?”
“Yeah,” the girl confirmed. “I mean, I know I’m not supposed to talk ill of the dead and all, but from what I hear, she really went off the deep end.”
Dead? Aiden’s ex-girlfriend was dead?
“I can’t believe all the shit that went down with that, can you?” The girl shook her head slowly.
“Um…no,” I said, my mind still spinning, “I can’t.”
My heart was racing. Of all the ideas I had in my head, I hadn’t given much thought to what had happened with Aiden’s ex. It never would have occurred to me that she had died.
“Well, when he gets his hands on them,” the girl continued, “they don’t stand a chance. I have never seen him mad personally, but I hear it’s not pretty.”
My eyes widened and my head spun. What was he going to do when he gets his hands on whom? What had happened to his ex?
I wanted to ask more, but Lance walked up with Mo and Lo, effectively ending the conversation, and the girl stood to loop her arm around Lance’s elbow. I looked at Lo, wondering if I could pull him away from the group long enough to ask him some questions, but he was in some deep debate with Mo over the last Star Trek movie.
“Here ya go, Chloe.” Redeye appeared on my right with another shot.
“Oh, um…thank you.” I watched as he handed out a few others. Mo took his glass before turning to Lance.
“You’re watching The Walking Dead, right?” he said. “Holy fuck, that last episode!”
“I had to DVR it!” Lance yelled. “No spoilers!”
“Spoilers are the devil’s orgasms,” Lo announced with a huge laugh. “Don’t let the devil come!”
We all drank to the sentiment, but my mind was still on my all-too-brief conversation with Lance’s girlfriend. Aiden came back outside, and Redeye penalized him for missing the last shot by making him do two more. He took the first with no problem but cringed after drinking the second.
“What the fuck is that shit?” he yelled.
“That’s Bakon!” Redeye announced with a big grin.
Lo and Mo began to cackle.
“I told you!” Lo screamed. “I fucking told you!”
“Holy shit, that’s nasty!” Aiden shook his head and took a big gulp of his vodka and Red Bull to get rid of the taste. “Damn, it stays with ya, too!”
“Just a little somethin’ to remember me by,” Redeye commented as he went out in search of a new victim.
Aiden sat back down beside me, and I couldn’t stop myself from staring at his profile as he talked to his friends. What had happened to Megan? He hadn’t said anything about her, aside from her teaching him to cook. He hadn’t even told me her name—that had been Lo. If she had just succumbed to some disease, wouldn’t he have said so?
What happened to her? Did Aiden have something to do with it?
No, I didn’t believe that. I couldn’t.
&nbs
p; I continued to watch Aiden, barely hearing the conversation as the alcohol in my system began to take hold. I wasn’t as bad off as I had been the night Aiden and I met, but I also knew I needed to avoid any more shots.
It occurred to me that I could try Googling the name Megan in the Miami area to see if I could find out anything. If she was tied to some crime, maybe I could pull up a police record of some sort. I reached down and took my phone out of my purse.
Apparently, I hadn’t turned it back off after texting Mare. It was totally dead. I remembered that I was supposed to have called Mare back days ago but hadn’t done it. If she had tried to call me, she wouldn’t have been able to get through.
Crap.
“Hey, can you hold these for me for just a second?” Redeye stood at my side, holding two shot glasses in his hand.
“Sure.” I said. I was just glad he wasn’t telling me to drink another one.
I watched as he poured more shots and then passed a set of two glasses to Aiden, Lo, Mo, and Lance.
“Picklebacks!” he called out as he raised the glasses.
“Um, what about these?” I asked as I held up my hands.
“Those are yours, babe,” Redeye said with a wink.
“I thought I was holding them for someone else!” I cried.
“Nope, all yours.”
“I think I’ve had enough,” I insisted. I started to look around for someone else to hand the drinks to, but everyone without a drink had gone inside.
“No such thing, sweetheart.”
“Really, I’m good.”
“Now look here,” Redeye said as he leaned down and peered into my face. “This is the best damn shot you are ever gonna taste in your life, and that’s a solid fact. I’d be reminiscent in my duties as a host if you didn’t take that shot right now.”
“Reminiscent?” Mo questioned.
“Translation from Redeye-speak to English,” Lance informed us, “he would be remiss in his duties.”
“He’s remiss in his sanity,” Aiden said as he grinned at me. “I warned ya. It really is easier to give in.”
I cringed and stared down at the glasses. One had brown liquid in it, and I thought it smelled like whiskey. I had no idea what the other glass contained. There wasn’t enough light outside to determine its color, but the smell was familiar. I just couldn’t quite place it.