Aiden handed Summer a coffee mug filled with freshly brewed Lipton tea.

“Thank you,” Summer said. She blew across the top of the glass and took her eye around the open room. There was a guitar in the corner perched against the wooden panel.

Summer had also noticed gear in Aiden’s closet that only firefighters would wear. She cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea.

“Do you still play the guitar?”

Aiden’s eyes crossed the room to his instrument.

“Yeah.”

“Hmmm.” She cleared her throat again knowing she could no longer avoid this conversation. “Remember the day I left school early because I wasn’t feeling well. I came down with a fever in class, and Mrs. Robins sent me home because she didn’t want me to spread whatever I had.”

“I walked you home,” he said pulling the memory together.

“Yeah, I was tired and out of breath by the time we got here.”

“You had the flu,” he said.

“And oddly no one in school caught it.”

Aiden nodded.

“Well after I went inside the house I went looking for my grandfather. I knew I should tell him I was home, or he would likely blow my head off thinking I were an intruder.”

Aiden nodded again, remembering the odd look on Benjamin Greystone’s face at the cemetery.

“Well, I found my grandfather, in the kitchen with Regan Downing bent over the sink.”

Aiden’s surprise was slight; he stared at Summer in disbelief.

“Regan’s head was practically in the sink, and both of their pants were down to their ankles. I was frozen for too long. Enough time passed that I have a video in my head, a full thirty seconds of my grandfather pounding at Mr. Downing’s wife. My grandmother was at the farmer’s market. She went the same time every week. When my grandfather spotted me, his first reaction was as if he’d seen a ghost. Then he became angry and shouted at me to “Get out of here!” she said holding a fist up, pretending to shake it like her grandfather did.

I had to live with him for five years while he screwed Regan Downing every week when my grandmother went to the farmer’s market.”

“What?” Aiden said appalled. “So he continued to do this?”

“Yes, he did. My grandfather didn’t care that I had seen them. He probably figured at this point in their lives my grandmother would never leave him anyway. And how could I tell her that her son of a bitch husband was cheating on her every week?” Summer shook her head. “I couldn’t. So I had to put up with it.” She took a sip of her tea. “Leaving was the only thing I thought about for a full year. The last one,” she added. “I couldn’t stay. I needed a fresh start, away from him, away from Chandler County.”

“Away from me,” Aiden added.

“No, it was never like that.”

“Your actions say something else.”

Summer approached him. “Aiden, I was young and feeling out of sorts. Can you forgive me?” Aiden looked away, and Summer touched his face with the warm palm of her hand. His eyes were brought back to her. “Please.”

Aiden didn’t respond. Could he really forgive her that easily?

"At the time I felt it was necessary to leave. Don't punish me because I didn't have the strength to stay. I'm here now, and I need your forgiveness. Please," Summer said again.

Aiden bit down on his jaw then released a long breath.

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“We all have a choice.”

“There’s nothing I can do about what happened in the past,” Aiden said. “I forgive you, but I’ll never forget it. Shouldn’t matter to you now that you’ve got a new life. Like you said you never meant to run into me anyway. In the morning I’ll take you to the airport.”

Aiden moved to walk away, but he paused. “I’m sorry for what you experienced. A part of me holds some of the blame for you leaving.”

Summer frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I was your man, and I had no idea you were hurting.” Aiden grimaced. “I missed the mark on that. I’m sorry.”

“No, Aiden I’m not going to let you blame yourself.”

“It’s okay,” he said, “it’s the truth.”

“We were young. I made mistakes, and you weren’t old enough to pick up on things like that.”

“Nice try,” Aiden said, “but even a child knows when someone they love isn’t in good spirits.” He sighed. “I’m not looking for a pity party here Summer. Just owning my part in our break up.”

Summer sighed. “I’d like to get to know you Aiden. I don’t want us to be strangers. I can’t go back to Atlanta without knowing we’re on good terms now or ever.”

Aiden stared at Summer’s face as a million thoughts rummage through his mind. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Summer asked. “What do we have to lose?”

“That can’t be a serious question can it?”

Summer blew out a breath. “Okay, but things are different now. I’m not a child; I understand the dynamics of being in a relationship. So would never—”

“Whoa,” Aiden said. “Never say never and who’s talking about a relationship?”

Summer swallowed a lump in her throat, and her thoughts shuffled.

“I just want to be friends,” she lied.

The two watched each other closely trying to find fraud in either of their demeanors.

“Friends?”

Summer nodded. “Yes.”

Aiden tried to wrap his head around the possibility. Friends with Summer Greystone. He was unsure but willing, especially since, her arrival had shaken his core. His eyes traveled to the clock on the wall. Time was ticking, but Aiden wasn’t sure how much of himself he should divulge. Or if he should walk the fine line of pretense long enough to see her off.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Friends.” He held out a hand for her to shake. Summer excepted it, and the bright smile that followed her lips into a sassy curve nearly knocked him over.

“You should go take your bath first and put on some clothes.”

“Why, you don’t like seeing me traipse around your kitchen in a cotton towel with nothing underneath.”

Her comment sent a flash of heat straight to his groin, and his dick jumped in his pants.

“Chill out on the specifics,” he warned.

“Or what?”

Summer stepped to him and sat the mug she was holding down on the counter. She brushed her body against his and could feel each ridge of his solidly built body. Aiden had no doubt been in the gym, and his regimen paid off.

For a brief moment Aiden wondered if he could hop in the sack with Summer for a passionate one-night stand, but no. If he wanted to keep his sanity, he couldn’t. Or could he?