Chapter Seventeen
Liam
“Wow, it smells amazing in here,” I hollered as I walked through Aiden’s front door.
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee mixed with bacon as I entered the kitchen.
“It’s the least I could do for your help,” Aiden grinned.
I leaned against the doorframe into the kitchen, watching Aiden, too tall for the small stove, flipping the pieces of bacon in the frying pan.
“You look like a good wife,” I laughed.
It was hard to tell through his dark skin if he was blushing, but he shrugged, shook his head, and let out an anxious chuckle.
“Sit down,” he instructed, still shaking his head in my direction.
I obliged, taking a seat at the table. He pushed a coffee cup in front of me and then reached for the pot.
“Sugar or cream?” he asked.
“Both,” I smiled.
Aiden grinned. It was somewhat of an inside joke between us. The color of my coffee matched Alyssa’s skin tone perfectly. He knew I loved Alyssa since as far back as either of us could remember. My pale white skin was the brunt of his jokes, teasing that I liked Alyssa for her dark features and skin. He used to tease me, saying we’d make beautifully tan babies with blonde hair, and he wasn’t wrong. Holly was a beautiful girl. Her skin was lighter than her mother’s, or Aiden’s, but embraced the features of her culture, as well as the blonde hair and blue eyes she inherited from me.
“I talked to Isaac the other day,” Aiden blurted.
That was a name I hadn’t heard in a while.
“How are he and Maddie doing?” I questioned, sipping my coffee while watching my friend make our plates.
“Really good. He loves being a dad,” Aiden informed.
He slid a plate in front of me. Two perfectly flipped eggs, four slices of thick bacon, and a pile of freshly cut fruit. Impressive.
“I’m happy for him. I need to get in touch with him,” I admitted, feeling bad that I hadn’t taken the time to reconnect with my old SEAL brother.
“I heard you were hanging with Xander,” Aiden mentioned.
He sat down beside me, his plate just as perfect as mine. I shoved a piece of cantaloupe into my mouth and nodded.
“You haven’t spoken to him?” I questioned once my fruit was chewed and swallowed.
“Not in years,” Aiden admitted.
It made me feel a little better, knowing he hadn’t had contact with my old friend. Xander and I were close, and it would’ve bothered me if he knew about Holly. I couldn’t imagine Aiden telling him, but then again, I couldn’t imagine him not telling me, but he didn’t.
“He’s finally out of the woods. He and Bailey are doing great. She was really the best thing that ever happened to him,” I gushed.
“Like Alyssa was for you?” Aiden asked.
I laughed.
“I don’t know if that’s true so much anymore,” I admitted.
“What’s that mean? You just got here; give it time,” Aiden advised.
I pushed my plate of food towards the center of the table, suddenly not as hungry as I’d been when I arrived.
“What’s going on?” Aiden pushed.
“I don’t know what’s going on; that’s the problem,” I sighed.
“Have you two talked?” he questioned.
I chuckled.
“Not really. She’s come over to yell at me twice,” I admitted, my cheeks starting to blush.
Aiden’s interest was piqued. His eyes narrowed on mine, and he leaned towards me in anticipation.
“Yell at you?” he asked.
I shrugged. Did I really want to get into this?
Aiden was my only friend here in town, the only one that knew everything. Hell, he apparently knew more than I did, so maybe he could shed some light on the situation.
“Yeah. She came over to tell me to quit flirting with her, that I was the reason Bruce was acting so jealous, and the reason why they broke up,” I explained.
“Were you the reason?” Aiden chuckled.
My cheeks burnt with heat as I tried to hide my guilt. Aiden’s eyes flared, his eyebrows lifted, and it was obvious he was onto me. He knew I was hiding something.
I told him the entire story, how Holly and I planned to just pull a few pranks to split them up. Things had gone well, too well maybe, but in the end, they were indeed broken up.
“So, did she find out? Was that what she was yelling at you about?” he questioned.
“She never found out,” I smirked.
“So, why yell at you? Bruce is a tool, and it sounds like he showed his ass at the ice cream parlor that night,” Aiden scoffed.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged.
“You said she came over to yell at you a couple times; what was the other time for?” he inquired.
“About the first night,” I smiled widely.
Aiden was beginning to pick up on something that had gone down between Alyssa and me, and I was growing weak on keeping the secret.
“What happened the first night?” he chuckled.
I sighed, leaning back in my chair, and tried to control the smile growing on my face. It was no use. It was there, wide and proud. All I could think about was Alyssa, her body, her lips, her scent.
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me right now?” Aiden gushed.
I shook my head.
“Man, it was hot, so fuckin’ hot,” I admitted.
I didn’t give him details, feeling that was disrespectful to Alyssa. But, I did tell him that the second night, it happened again.
“Holy shit!” Aiden roared, his laughter echoing through the small kitchen.
“She won’t look me in the eye now,” I added.
“That’ll change. She obviously still has feelings for you; she just needs to work them out on her own,” he offered.
I planned to. I was done pushing, playing pranks, or trying to force my way into her life.
“I plan on just spending as much time as possible with Holly. She’ll see I’m not going anywhere,” I smiled at my friend.
“Good plan,” Aiden slapped me on the back as he stood and took our plates to the sink.
“Let’s get to work,” he ordered.
I groaned, and then laughed to let him know I was only joking. I didn’t mind helping. I was growing bored at the house, already finished with the garden, the carnival boards and decorations, and Holly’s room.
I was certain I’d find a new project to do soon, but right now, all I’d focused on was Alyssa. It was time to get my head outta my ass.
I helped Aiden unload the boards, dragging them over towards the back of the house. He’d already framed in the deck and just needed help laying the floor. It wasn’t a hard job, but maybe it was enough to steer my thoughts away from Alyssa.
“So, you don’t think Bruce and Alyssa will get back together, do you?” I asked, hating that my mind couldn’t stay off the topic.
“Bruce already has another girlfriend, some chick with a trust fund the next town over,” Aiden said, pushing a board towards me to line up.
“So, it’s true; he’s a gold digger,” I laughed.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Aiden shrugged.
I knew Alyssa didn’t have a lot of money. She worked two jobs, even though she probably didn’t need to. I wondered what she was working for: savings, a new place, maybe college money for Holly.
As my thoughts drifted to what I could do to help, a sharp pain surged through my hand.
“Fuck!” I called out, gripping my left hand with my right.
I’d dropped the hammer onto the ground with a thud. My hand throbbed. I didn’t want to look down.
Aiden rushed to my side, gripping my hand in his.
“Shit, it’s pretty bad,” he sighed.
I took a deep breath, looked down at my injured hand, and tried to see the injury through all the blood.
“What is it?” I asked, trying to shake the blood from my hand to see where I’d been injured, and how.
“A nail. Shit, that’s an old rusty one too,” Aiden pointed out, gripping the nail now stuck in the palm of my hand, poking out the top, just between the bones.
“Fuck,” I cried out, determined not to pass out from the sight.
“We’re gonna have to get you to the hospital,” Aiden informed.
I didn’t argue. I knew I wasn’t pulling this son of a bitch out, and I certainly wasn’t trusting Aiden to do it. We weren’t out in the field or on the ship. There were drugs available, numbing agents, cleaning supplies, and I wanted them all.
The drive to the hospital was quick, but once we walked into the lobby, it was obvious the stay wouldn’t be.
“I better call Holly,” I said, pulling my phone from my pocket with my good hand.
Aiden had my left hand wrapped, but the cloth was soaked in fresh blood. The triage nurse took one look at me and quickly ushered me back to a room.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I must’ve slipped onto the nail as I was lining up a board,” I explained, still unsure exactly how the nail ended up in my hand.
“Hello?” Holly’s voice was instantly calming to my otherwise chaotic situation.
“Hey, kiddo. I’m sorry, but I’m gonna miss our after-school date this afternoon,” I said sweetly.
“Hold still,” the nurse ordered.
I let out a yelp as she opened the cloth, letting part of it snag on to the nail and shift in my flesh.
“What’s wrong?” Holly asked frantically.
“It’s nothing. I just got a nail in my hand. I’m at the hospital, and they are pretty busy, so it may be a while,” I explained.
“I can skip school. I’ll have mom bring me to the hospital,” she insisted.
“No. You go to school. Aiden is here with me, I’ll be fine,” I calmed her down.
I couldn’t tell if she was crying or not, but her voice was muffled, shaky even.
“I’ll come see you when I get home,” I promised.
“Okay. I love you,” she said sweetly.
It was the first time I’d heard those words from her. I knew she was excited that I was there, happy that she had a dad in her life finally, but she hadn’t mentioned love.
“I love you too, pipsqueak,” I choked back tears and hung up the phone.