Page 4

Joe

T hat was a major slip-up.

I’d been doing this for months and outside of the time that Brandon and Andrew had seen me coming out of the camera store, no one had any idea what I’d been up to. I’d planned to keep it that way. Aiden had been teaching me a few things about camera angles and whatnot under the guise that I wanted to take pictures of my niece myself so I didn’t have to bother him all the time. The kid was fucking cool to hang out with, anyway.

I rushed to grab Aiden before we fell down the stairs. My arms around his waist caused a squeak to escape his throat and his eyes widened at how close we suddenly were. His heart beat rapidly against my chest and I could smell whatever he used for deodorant before he quickly shoved me away and continued down the stairs. What the hell had that been all about?

“Fuck, I don’t know dude. Maybe I could turn this into like a little photo studio or some shit?” I said to cover up my fumbling .

Aiden turned to face me after seeing the new ring light standing next to my bed. It wasn’t suitable for professional photos, but maybe he would buy it, anyway?

“I don’t think so. Most photo studios would have a single bulb, maybe one of those umbrellas to help spread the light. This is more for videos and such.”

I nodded at his explanation as he continued to look it over. Was my neck fucking sweating? Shit. I needed to learn how to keep my cool better.

I forced a laugh, which did nothing to hide my discomfort. “Fuck? Really? I guess I shouldn’t buy things without asking first, then?” I scratched my neck as I stood next to Aiden. He looked at the light again and then over at my bed. His face pinkened before he moved across the room to sit in the chair in front of my desk.

“I mean, it doesn’t mean it won’t work. It’s just not traditional. The industry is changing all the time.”

Aiden wouldn’t meet my eyes. Something was up and it was bothering the shit out of me. He had never been uncomfortable around me before. Something had to have happened. Hopefully, Nathan hadn’t finally gotten in the way or in his head too much.

I’d been doing my best to keep things as neutral and normal as possible since that New Year’s kiss, but moments like this made it damn near impossible.

“Would you lighten up, dude?” I laughed, causing Aiden to look up at me. That blush spread further across his face and damn, he was so fucking cute. It’d be a huge fucking lie if I said I hadn’t ever thought of my friend’s little brother in a more-than-platonic way. Aiden was hot. His light brown hair was longer in front and flopped into his eyes. Eyes that were the same chocolate brown as the rest of his family.

Yeah, Aiden Grant had an innocent charm about him that I wanted to corrupt. But he was also a good friend. You don’t fuck around with your friends. There were just some lines that you don’t cross, and that was one of them.

“Sorry,” he laughed, shaking out his arms. “I’m not trying to be awkward. Things have just been... Is it okay to talk about it?”

I studied him for a moment. If we were ever going to get back to the way we were, maybe talking about it would be for the best. “It might help. I’m not even sure why you did it.” I sat on the edge of my bed, giving Aiden as much space as possible.

His fingers pushed his hair back from his face as he took a deep breath. “I—I don’t know. Everyone around us was together. We were so out of place. Looking back, it was really stupid, and I feel bad that Nathan punched you for it.”

I nodded, remembering the bruise that’d been on my face for a week after that fated kiss. Nathan had told me several times to stay the hell away from his brother because of my reputation for sleeping around, but he hadn’t needed to actually hit me. Especially when he didn’t have the entire story about what had been going on that night. Between the weird dynamic change between Shawn and Daniel, to him and Chase, as well as Brandon and Andrew being all lovey-dovey... something was bound to snap at some point.

Aiden had been so pissed about the way everything had gone down. He’d begged me to drive him home the next morning before everyone else had woken up. We’d been there to celebrate his birthday at Shawn’s parents’ cabin, but everything had gone sideways and none of it had ended up being about him. It was all a little fucked in the end, and I ended up taking him for a nice breakfast before dropping him off at home.

“Don’t feel bad about that.” I really didn’t want him to feel responsible.

Nathan had made it clear to stay the fuck away from Aiden. I’d been good about keeping our relationship friendly and I shouldn’t have reciprocated that damn kiss, but we’d been getting so close, and I hadn’t been with anyone, which was fucking weird.

I loved sex.

Sex felt good. There was nothing wrong with something that made you feel that way. It gave me power, and I loved pleasing my partners as well. There was something rewarding about making someone else reach ecstasy. But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that.

“You sure? He wouldn’t have done it had I not tried to start anything. I don’t—I don’t... ”

I held up my hand, stopping Aiden before he could say something he would regret. We were friends. That was what we needed to remain.

“Please stop stressing over it. The kiss was good. Nice. We definitely shouldn’t repeat it.”

Aiden blushed. “No, you’re probably right.”

And just like that, some of the tension that had been building around us for the last couple of months melted away. Aiden looked around my room again, biting his bottom lip as he took it all in. He wasn’t down here very often, like most of my friends weren’t. I didn’t like inviting people in because it was getting harder and harder to disguise what I was doing in my room.

He stood from the chair and inspected the ring light again before looking at my bed. He looked between the two a few times before his gaze landed on me. There wasn’t any judgment there, but it was as if he was asking me something, begging me to tell him what it was really for. I knew Aiden wouldn’t judge. Out of everyone, he was super chill. It didn’t change the fact that the camming stuff still felt a little taboo. Like people wouldn’t understand why I’d throw away so much to expose myself on camera.

Instead of dwelling on things, I stood and steered Aiden back upstairs.

“So, what else is going on?”

He shrugged as we made it to the top step. I looked down the hallway, and the house was quiet. Teresa and McKenzie had probably gone out somewhere, so I led Aiden to the kitchen, pulling some cookies from the cupboard.

“Not a lot. School is sort of boring. I’m struggling a little in some of my prerequisite classes. I don’t understand why I need to take some of them. If I planned to do photography, why the hell do I need to take English?”

I snorted as I set the package of cookies on the table and fetched two glasses from the cupboard and the milk from the fridge.

“Question of the fucking century, isn’t it? I swear that some of it is that they just want more money out of you. Keep that damn paycheck rolling.”

He laughed as he helped himself to the snack I’d pulled out. “I think you’re on to something there. When Nathan graduated and kept trying to talk me out of going, I thought he was full of it. Now it’s all starting to make sense. I’m just glad that spring break is coming up.”

“Spring break?”

“Yeah. Not that I plan to do anything good. Probably just hanging with Mom and Dad.”

I shook my head as a plan started to formulate. Sure, this kid was all sweet and innocent, but fuck if he was going to miss out on a real college experience.

“There’s no way you’re just sitting around home. ”

When Aiden shook his head, a small smile spread across his lips. Those brown eyes twinkled because he knew I was up to mischief when I said shit like that.

“So, what do you propose I do?”

I tapped my chin as I looked at the ceiling and thought about it. Aiden deserved the party. The real spring break experience. The only problem was figuring out where to take him, where he could really enjoy it without his age being too much of a factor.

Would I get asked how the hell I was going to treat him to this trip? Most fucking definitely. I was living in my sister’s basement, for fuck’s sake. I’d think of a story. Aiden would buy it, but it was getting Mr. and Mrs. Grant on board and having Nathan not try to kill me in the process.