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“It was in Finn’s Halloween candy reject bucket. Not sour enough for him, I guess.”

He crawled into bed beside her. She shrieked when he pressed his cold feet against hers.

“Hush, woman.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her next to him. “Mmm. This is nice.”

“You can’t stay.”

Alek kissed the top of her head but didn’t say anything. She rolled over onto his chest to look at him.

“Finn is already confused about enough things,” she told him. “I don’t want him to get the wrong idea about us.”

He studied her for a long minute. “About us?”

“Yes.” She waved her hand over his chest. “About this. Whatever this is.”

She felt the muscles in his arms tense. “Whatever this is?”

Sheridan pulled free of him and flopped on her back. “ We don’t even know what this is.”

She knew what she wanted it to be. Except she wasn’t that naive teenager anymore.

A relationship with Alek would be complicated.

She couldn’t live with herself if they were involved while she held on to the secrets that haunted her.

Telling him would almost guarantee he’d want no part of her, however.

“I don’t want Finn to get the wrong idea.”

Or get his hopes up like I most certainly will .

“He for sure got the wrong idea about me and his teacher.” Alek chuckled. “He thought we were getting married.”

“What?!” She sat up in the bed.

“Yeah, so keeping this on the down low works for me.” He tugged on her arm, positioning her so she was sprawled out over his chest again.

“Besides, I like the idea of having you all to myself,” he murmured as he combed his fingers through her hair.

“But ‘whatever this is,’ it’s important to me, Sheridan.

You and Finn are important to me. I don’t want to mess it up. ”

Alek captured her lips in a kiss that turned feverish after only a few seconds.

She straddled his hips, biting back a moan as she slid against his erection.

He fumbled with the condom before she took over the task.

She dug her teeth into his shoulder at the same time as she sank down onto him.

And then they were moving almost as one, their rhythm already familiar and guaranteed to bring them both pleasure.

Moments later, both sated once again, Alek resumed brushing his fingers through her hair with one hand while he tucked the other hand behind his head. She reveled in the feel of his heart beating beneath her palm.

“Finn wants his phone back,” he said. “He promises he won’t take it to school with him. He only wants it because it belonged to Jamie.”

She was surprised Finn hadn’t started hounding her the minute he’d gotten home. It wasn’t like him to show the kind of restraint he had this evening. Now she knew why.

“He enlisted you to be the mediator, did he?”

“What can I say? I possess an appeal that he can’t offer.”

She snorted.

“Hey, if that wasn’t enough to convince you, give me a few minutes, and I’ll do better on round three.”

Sheridan pressed her lips to his pecs. “If you do any better, I won’t be able to go to Pilates tomorrow.”

His chuckle sounded very self-assured.

“Today was the first time Finn mentioned Madison to me,” he murmured right when she was about to doze off.

The topic had her instantly alert. She spread her fingers out over the warm skin on his chest, hoping the tactile contact would calm her now racing heart.

Alek smoothed his hand over her hair. “He told me they fought about you.”

Her hand stilled. She felt him suck in a breath.

“Finn said Madison used to get upset every time you left after a visit.”

Only because she was the one staying.

“She must have been lonely,” he continued.

“You forget that Madison grew up in the next town over. She had plenty of friends.”

Some a lot friendlier than others.

“I guess,” he rambled on. “But I always got the sense she was fondest of you.”

Time for a new topic. There were too many landmines buried in any conversation involving Madison. It stung to hear Alek speaking about his ex with such concern. To know he was still fond of her despite everything she’d done.

Except he didn’t know everything Madison had done .

“What did Finn say about the upper school boys?” she asked.

Alek hesitated a moment, as if he knew she’d changed the subject on purpose. He didn’t question it, though.

“He promised to tell us if they bully him again. The teachers will be on the lookout, too.”

She sighed against his chest. “Why do people have to be so cruel?”

“Mm,” was all he said.

His breathing became more rhythmic, a sure sign he was drifting off to sleep. She nudged his shoulder.

“Hey. You need to go to your own room.”

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled.

That was the last thing she remembered until Finn called her name the following morning.

“Aunt Sheri!”

She jumped from the bed, frantically searching for her flannel sleep pants and T-shirt. Finn jiggled the handle on the bathroom door.

“The door is locked,” Finn cried. “How come the door is locked?”

“I’m coming.” She shoved her arms into her T-shirt before glancing back at the bed.

Alek was struggling with his sweats. A bruise was forming on his shoulder, likely from where she’d bitten him. His hair stood up on its ends and there was a line of pink scratch marks down the center of his back.

“Aunt Sheridan!” Finn tried the door again.

Unable to keep her nephew waiting any longer, she took advantage of Alek’s grogginess and shoved him off the other side of the mattress before rushing to the bathroom.

“What’s wrong, little man?” She unlocked the door, sliding through before closing it again behind her. “Did you have a scary dream?”

Finn wrapped his arms around her waist. “I didn’t flood.” His blue eyes were shining with pride when he tilted his face up.

Relief coursed through her. She brushed the hair out of his eyes before bending down to kiss him on the forehead. “That’s great news. I told you it wouldn’t be forever. This calls for a special breakfast. How about some cinnamon toast?”

He shook his head as he pulled away. “It’s game day. I want eggs. Just like the ones Alek eats for breakfast on game day.”

“You don’t like eggs.”

“I do now.” He raced into his room. “Come on, Hattie. Let’s go check your Instagram on the computer.”

The dog gave her a dopey smile before Finn popped his head back in.

“If I promise not to take it to school, can I have Dad’s phone back?”

Not wanting to dim his joy, she nodded her head.

“Yes!”

He was pounding down the stairs when she remembered the strange phone calls he’d been getting. She raced into the hall.

“Hey, Finn?”

Two strong arms grabbed her around the waist and tugged her back in the direction of her room.

“You’re going to pay for that little shove at naptime today,” Alek growled against her ear. “I have lots of ideas of how to punish you, too.”

Her body reacted with an delighted tremor. “Should I be scared?” she whispered.

“Very.”

“Oh, Hattie what did you do?” Finn yelled from the vicinity of the kitchen. “Aunt Sheri!! Hattie ate another pair of Alek’s underwear!”