Page 20

Joe

“ L adies and gentlemen, we’re about an hour from landing in Seattle. Please make sure you have all your belongings gathered. Our staff will be making one more trip through the cabin to pick up any remaining trash...”

The announcement droned on and on. Aiden lay passed out next to me, his head resting on my shoulder. He was so fucking peaceful and it killed me that we wouldn’t have any more little moments like this. We’d gotten so damn close over the last week and Aiden had opened up about a ton with me. He’d told me about his insecurities with his sexuality and how he didn’t feel like he belonged a lot of the time. About how I’d made him feel safe. It was a level of trust I hadn’t felt like I’d really earned, but I was willing to do everything in my power to keep it.

When we began our final descent into SeaTac and the flight attendant came around to instruct everyone to return their seats to an upright position, Aiden’s eyes popped open and he gave me a small, sleepy, and unsure smile.

“Are we really home?”

I kissed his temple, squeezing his hand that was clasped tightly in my own.

“Yeah, sweetheart. Are you ready?”

He snorted. “No. We can ask them to turn around, right? Take us back?”

It made me smile.

“It’ll all be okay. We’ll still spend time together. It’s not like we didn’t hang out before all of this.”

He hummed in acknowledgment, his hand tightening around mine even more. I’d never been the person for intimate displays of affection like this, but this was different. Special. Everything I’d been missing from every other relationship in my life.

Once the cabin lights clicked on and everyone disembarked from the plane, there was no rush. We stayed in our seats, letting everyone else get off the plane. Aiden’s phone buzzed a few times in his pocket after I neglected to turn mine back on.

Real life waited for us beyond this airport, and neither of us was ready.

Once we finally stood from our seats, I pulled a hoodie from my backpack and handed it over to Aiden. He brought it to his face and took a deep breath of it before pulling it over his head. Seeing him wrapped in my sweater made something right settle in my chest. Like he was willingly proclaiming that I’d claimed him in some sort of way. Even if it had to remain a secret for now .

Our hands remained linked for as long as possible. Neither of us wanted to let go, but the closer we got to leaving customs, it was a necessary evil we knew was coming. The second his fingers released mine, an emptiness washed over me. There was a profound sense of loss I’d never experienced before. What the hell was that? Something tight coiled in my chest and all I wanted to do was reach back for him and keep Aiden at my side. To not let him out of my sight. Would Teresa flip her shit if I brought him home with me? Moved him into the basement and refused to let him leave?

I was acting like a crazy person.

“Delinquent!”

I bristled at the nickname. No one needed to be calling Aiden anything special other than me. It was dumb to insist that he couldn’t have other friends, and Shawn was more than a little obsessed with Daniel. Their level of attachment was beyond freaky. They’d gone from absolutely hating each other to being inseparable. It’d all happened so damn fast this last winter, but so had things with me and Aiden this last week.

Maybe it just worked that way when you found the right person.

Was Aiden my person?

My heart thudded in my chest as Aiden kept walking toward our friends and I remained glued to my spot. What a fucking time to have an epiphany about something like that.

“Sir?”

I shook my head as the TSO called out to me. I was standing right next to the line where it would be too late to turn back. Other passengers watched me as I continued to stand there. It all looked suspicious as fuck. Why couldn’t I bring my legs to move? It wasn’t like it mattered at this point. Aiden was already standing with Shawn and Daniel, and I looked like a fool who didn’t want things to end.

For whatever reason, I kept waiting for things to feel different the second I stepped across that red tape, but nothing changed. I was the same old Joe. The same person who’d boarded that plane a week ago. Except that wasn’t completely true. For the first time in my life, I wanted a commitment. I was okay with the idea of being tied to someone and that someone stood off to the side, shuffling his luggage, waiting for me to get my act together.

“Shit, look at you two. I take it the weather was nice? I’d kill for a tan that looked that nice at this time of year. Hell, at any time of year. It’s a miracle if we get enough sun for that around here.”

I tuned Shawn out as my suitcase rumbled behind me, the wheels clicking and popping against the tiled floor. Fuck, he was talking about the weather and all I could think about was how damn good Aiden’s skin had felt against mine.

Bad Joe. Stop it.

The ride all the way back to Teresa’s was pure torture. I crammed myself into the back of Shawn’s car with Aiden, and all I wanted to do was touch him. Would it be obvious? We’d been affectionate before. Fuck, it was weird now. Why the hell had we made it weird?

“Joe?”

I almost missed Aiden’s whisper.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

Hell, I probably looked like a twitchy idiot. I’d been so worried about if Aiden could handle this and it hadn’t crossed my mind that I would be the one who was fucked up about everything.

Once the car pulled up outside of my sister’s house, it hadn’t occurred to me I hadn’t answered him yet. My door was open, and I was halfway onto the sidewalk before his hand grasped my arm. Uncertainty sat heavily behind his eyes, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl back into the car, press my lips to his, and let him know that this was fine. Everything was fine. But nothing was, in fact, fine.

“Joe?”

I gave him the best smile I could, even though I wasn’t feeling it. The trunk popped open, and I pulled my luggage out, heading to the front door of the house where my niece came running out onto the porch to greet me.

“Uncle Joe! You’re home. Don’t ever leave me again. Did you bring me a present? You promised me something.”

I chuckled at McKenzie’s enthusiasm, but something gross unfurled in my stomach at the sound of Shawn driving away. It had been shitty that I hadn’t even said goodbye to Aiden. Hopefully, he’d understand that my head wasn’t on completely straight. I’d call him later and try to explain.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, McBug. I got something really nice for you. First, I need to get my stuff inside so that I can unpack it for you, okay?”

She squealed in excitement, peeling around the front door and into the house. Teresa stood there, a small smile on her face. “How was it? Everything go okay?”

It was as if my sister knew that not everything was right, but not the depth of what all was going on. Without questioning it, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh, baby brother. I hope you know what you’re doing.”