Page 66

EMORY

I slump onto the couch, the fight draining out of me. I didn’t want to tell Aiden this story. I thought I was lucky—I found the one man in his social circle who hadn’t seen the videos, who wasn’t already on Harrison’s side, who hadn’t joked about dodging a bullet or made a crack about gold diggers.

The couch dips as he sits next to me.

“You wanted to know my secrets,” I say, fiddling with my bracelet. “This is the most shameful one of all.”

“Only if you want to tell me.” His finger on my jaw tilts my head to look at him. “I don’t care, Em. It won’t change how I feel.”

“It will, though. My reputation—”

“Doesn’t matter to me.” He smiles at me.

“And my job—”

“Is incredibly impressive. You are impressive.” He presses a kiss to where his finger was, and my eyes heat.

“It’s not, though,” I whisper. “Everyone knows it. They talked about it behind my back.” I shut my eyes against the warmth of his gaze.

“I could make a list of the things they talked about.” I let out a little noise that might be a laugh and might be a sob.

When I look back at Aiden, his eyes are soft with concern.

His quiet support makes me take a shuddering inhale.

“Harrison was looking for a wife while we were together. Not me. I was too much and not enough. Too opinionated, too poor, too tall, too curvy. My outfits were never quite right, and I always made the wrong comment at dinner, and I used to let my real personality show instead of the fake personality everyone else adopted. We had no shared history, and all of them had nothing but. The same schools, the same friends, the same interests. But worst of all was that every single one of them knew what he was doing and no one told me. He was out looking for someone better, and he told all of his friends.”

Aiden’s sharp inhale makes my mouth twist.

“They were so fucking smug about it. They enjoyed it. I confronted him, and their enjoyment is what sent me over the edge. He was furious. He told me that guys like him don’t end up with girls like me. That it was obvious I just wanted him for his money.”

I squeeze my eyes shut, pain pulsing through me at the memory.

“I have a correction to that story,” Aiden says. He punctuates his words with a brush of his lips on my eyelids, then on my cheekbones, picking up the moisture there. “You said he was looking for someone better.” His lips skate over my jaw. “There is no one better.”

I let out another sob and dig my fingers into my palm.

“I should have known,” I say miserably.

His mouth goes to my temple.

“I should have seen the signs that he just wanted me for fun, not forever.”

“He’s an idiot. His loss is my gain.” The words are spoken against my hair. “There’s no way you could have known, sweetheart. He’s a bad person, and you aren’t.”

“I should have known,” I repeat. “And I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.

It was impulsive, and we lost a huge investment.

And it was exactly what Harrison wanted.

” I swallow. Aiden’s lips are still against my hair.

“My reaction was proof I didn’t belong. In their eyes, it was an indictment of my character and confirmation that I was exactly who they thought I was.

I overreacted . I was the trashy girl who caused a scene and nearly burned down a house. ”

“Brave girl,” he whispers.

“Not brave,” I say. “Stupid. Because at the end of the day, they walked away feeling that they were right—Harrison had made a mistake dating an outsider, because look at what I did. They closed ranks and none of them will ever let me forget.”

“I hate him,” he says, his voice raw. “I would do anything to bear this for you, Emory. I would do anything to go back in time and be the man to carry you out of there.” His lips are under my ear now, his breath warm and damp. “He used you, and you deserve so much more.”

“I liked him,” I whisper back. “But he hurt me, and now I’m scared I’ll never be whole again. I’ll never be able to let anyone in because the last time I did, I wasn’t enough.” My voice breaks on the last words. “Does that make me weak?”

“No.” Aiden’s voice is a rough whisper. “It makes you human.”

I let out a shaky sob, and Aiden’s mouth on my cheekbone stops the tears before they can track down my face.

“Stop being nice to me,” I say weakly.

“I will never stop being nice to you.”

I should hate it, but right now, I want to wrap myself up in Aiden and never let go. “I like that about you.” I lean my head against his shoulder. His arm snakes around my waist. “Can we have tonight, Aiden?”

“What do you mean?” He pulls back to look down at me.

“I mean, I want to pretend tonight that we don’t have history. That none of this stands between us. That there aren’t divorce papers sitting on the desk and people waiting for this to be over.”

“Of course.” A small smile curls his mouth. His gaze goes over my head, that smile taking on a secret edge before he drops a kiss on my hair. “Let’s start right now.”

Starting right now turns out to mean sleeping on the boat. When we arrive, the caterers have already set up a late dinner under lights that are strung between the masts. Aiden drops the bag he packed in the cabin and pulls me into his arms once we’re on the bay.

“Let’s leave and not come back,” he says, his cheek resting on my head.

“People might come looking for us.”

“Fuck ’em.”

I laugh, even though half my heart is already a hundred miles away, with Aiden on this boat. I want it. I curl my fingers into his jacket.

“What would it be like?” I ask, my cheek to his chest.

“We could sail as far as we want,” he says in that velvet-texture voice. “We could live for months on the boat. I can sail this one alone, so we wouldn’t need staff. I’d grow a beard. You’d never wear clothes.”

I grin. “Sounds like a fantasy.”

His hand winds into my hair, his thumb grazing my neck. “I agree,” he says gently.

The longing in his voice matches my own. What if we left? The thought burrows into me. What if I could have Aiden? I trust him when he says he doesn’t care what people think. What if I could trust myself?

He asks me to practice the dance we’ll do together on Saturday, and then he tells me he has to give a speech and he’s nervous about it.

I tell him to keep his eyes on me as he gives it.

“You’ve always made me better,” he says, his eyes dark and serious. “Competing with you has always been my touchstone.”

“So you’re saying I should give the speech,” I tease.

“Oh, yes please.” He grins. “I would greatly prefer that.”

I laugh and reach up to kiss him at the same time he dips to kiss me. Heat spirals between us, the intensity of it stealing my breath and making my hands shake as I push off his shirt. His hands are steady as he sets me on the dining table, as he carefully unzips my dress, as he traces my skin.

When he pushes into me, it feels like coming home, so I tell him.

“For me too,” he murmurs, his mouth on my temple. “Me too.”

I throw my head back, and his mouth goes to my neck, his hand on my hip. His rolling thrusts are punctuated by words I only half hear.

Wanted this

So fucking long

Never let

You

A groan into my mouth, then you in that rough-soft voice.

I would have expected melancholy, but instead, he feels more alive than ever, more present. As I follow him into the cabin, clad only in my underwear and hoping he packed pajamas, I let a little bit of pride leak through me.

I did that.

I helped him. For all he’s done for me, he deserves that. One person who cares about him more than they care about themselves.

I love him.

It does feel like the most natural thing in the world, just like he said. My heart is in my throat as I watch him rummage through his overnight bag.

I love him. I try the words on for size. I love you. I imagine saying it to him, and it makes me smile. It makes my whole body shiver.

When he looks up at me, he gives me a questioning smile, then passes me a red piece of clothing. I unfold it to see that it’s a sweatshirt with “Prince” written in college-style block letters and his crest.

“You make gear now?”

He shoves a hand through his hair, looking embarrassed.

“I made it for you.”

“You thought I’d want to wear your name?”

I do. I very much do.

Color blooms on his cheekbones. “I remembered what you said. You love sweatshirts over a bathing suit.” He swallows. “I didn’t own any sweatshirts.”

I hold it to my face to cover my stupid grin. Aiden’s scent fills my nose. Salt, soap, and summer. “It smells like you.”

“I wore it first,” he says. “Thought you might like it better that way.”

“I do.” I let him see my smile. My heart feels like it’s grown three sizes tonight.

He helps me tug it over my head and then he plants a kiss on my lips. “I like you in my name, evil queen.”

“I’m going to burn it when I get home, golden boy. I’m still a Hunter.”

His laugh is a puff of air against my mouth. “Got more where that came from. Don’t be surprised if I drop them off on your doorstep.”

“Future wife won’t like that,” I say lightly. As soon as the words are out, I wish I could take them back.

He merely smiles that secret smile and rubs his thumb over my jaw. “For the last time, there is no future wife.” His mouth is on mine again, his words spoken into the crease of my lips. “For as long as I live, I’ll wish it was you.”