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TWENTY-FIVE

AIDEN

“Why is Mario wearing a raccoon costume?” I shout over my shoulder.

There’s an oversized Super Mario Figurine in the refrigerator. The guy even has raccoon eyes. Cool.

“The better question is why is there a Mario in your fridge, Beckett?” Gavin appears in the kitchen doorway, laden with food containers.

The girls are in the living room with a bottle of wine, giggling over the bridesmaid dresses they’re perusing on Liv’s laptop, so we offered to clean up dinner.

With one hand on the fridge door, I spin to face Gavin. “That’s obvious. To protect the orange soda.”

Brooks chuckles. “Only you would understand the inner workings of a six-year-old.”

“I’m seven, Uncle Brooks,” Finn declares.

Crouching to his level, I hold out a fist. “What’s with the costume, little dude?”

Finn bumps his knuckles against mine. “It’s our week with Junior and the babies.”

Beckett’s got both hands splayed on the island, his face drawn. It’s got to be exhausting taking care of two infants, an eleven-year-old, a five-year-old, and Finn. The boy on his own is a full-time job. “We share custody of the racoons with Delia and Enzo.”

I nod. When Beckett married Liv, she and her three best friends were living in a brownstone down the street, along with a whole horde of kids, so Beckett moved in. They discovered a raccoon living in the house, and Finn declared it his pet. Since my brother is a softie when it comes to the kid—his whole family, really—he created an entire space for the raccoon. Shortly after, they found out the racoon was pregnant, so now they have four racoons. And apparently, they’re staying here this week.

Beckett may be crazier than all of us. Though he’s currently in the running for my favorite person. The way he forced Lennox and me into living together was nothing short of perfection. Sure, Gavin pushed for it—but it was Beckett’s exasperation with his new first baseman that encouraged Lennox to say yes. It’s clear my brother has a lot going on—five kids, a baseball team, four raccoons, and his self-declared matchmaking title—who could say no to the guy?

I can’t get ahead of myself. Until my Luigi figurine is protecting my coffee milk in Lennox’s fridge—listen, it’s a great idea; don’t judge—she could easily change her mind.

But once I’ve placed my last pair of socks in a drawer in her bedroom, she’ll never get rid of me. I’ll koala myself to her and hold on tight until she can do nothing but agree to keep me. I’m cute like a koala, so it should work.

“They’re here?” I ask Beckett. I haven’t seen them in weeks.

He sighs heavily. “Take him to the backyard, Finn.”

With a smile, I take the little guy’s hand and let him lead me outside. No washing dishes for me tonight. Suckers.

Finn and I spend forty-five minutes with the raccoons. These aren’t ordinary outdoor raccoons. They do tricks. They dance. They’re ducking awesome.

Finn’s words, not mine.

Immediately after that comment, he pleaded with me not to tell Bossman.

When we finally come inside, the girls are wrapping up.

Lennox hauls herself off the couch, carefully keeping her gaze averted. As always, she’s a flash of pink, brightening the dark wood and dark couch behind her. She’s wearing a white and pink wrap dress that cinches her waist and accentuates the ass Sara was going on about at dinner. She’s right. My girl’s curves are delectable.

I stalk toward her, my movements slow, my intention clear.

“Can you give me a ride home?” Lennox asks Sara.

Sara eyes her best friend and then glances at me. “I figured you’d ride back with Aiden. You know, your boyfriend ?”

With her lip caught between her teeth, Lennox nods. “Right, of course.”

When I reach her, I don’t even attempt to hide my knowing smirk. She’s nervous about being alone with me.

The question is why.

“You ready to go, Lex?” I tug her close and bury my face in her neck. “Nervous about being alone with your fake boyfriend?” I murmur.

She pulls back and rolls her eyes. “Of course not. I just forgot.”

I give her a mock disapproving look. She’s so full of it. “You forgot you’re mine?”

“You’re annoying,” she mumbles.

“Mommy says Bossman is annoying in that same tone.”Finn stands with his hands on his waist, assessing us. “Then she tells him if he doesn’t stop, he’ll be sleeping in the doghouse.”

“We both know how much I love Deogi,” I say, crouching to meet Finn’s eye.

My brother’s ninety-pound mastiff. When he was a puppy, Beckett thought he was a mut. Now that he’s full grown, the dog is the size of a horse, and he slobbers like it’s no one’s business, so tonight he’s outside with the raccoons.

“You want to sleep over here, Uncle Aiden? Mommy always says she’ll be over it by the morning.”

Behind me, the girls laugh.

It takes a lot of restraint to keep from joining in. From where I’m squatted beside Finn, I look up at Lennox. “You gonna make me sleep with the dog tonight?”

She rolls her lips together, fighting a smile, but it’s no use. Her beautiful face lights up and splits into the biggest grin. “No. I suppose you can come home.”

Finn bumps his shoulder with mine and cups a hand over his mouth. “If she changes her mind, you know where I live.”

I maintain my best serious face and nod. “Thanks, Huck. See you soon.”

“So that was something,” I say as I pull out onto the road, desperate to fill the silence on the drive home and incredibly anxious now that we’re alone.

“We can’t really move in together.”

My head whips in her direction.

“Aiden, watch the road.”

“Then don’t say ridiculous things.”

“Ridiculous?” she asks in an almost teasing tone. God, I’d like to turn and look at her. See if she’s actually smiling. I keep my eyes on the road, though, because if she is smiling, I won’t be able to look away. “What’s ridiculous is moving in together when we’re fake dating. We barely know one another anymore.”

“You want to get to know me better?” I can work with that.

“ Aiden .”

There she goes with that scolding tone again. It makes my dick twitch. I love riling her up.

“Yes, princess? You want to get to know me? How about we play a few rounds of Never Have I Ever? We can clear out the cobwebs real quick.”

“Be serious.” Even as she says it, I hear the smile in her voice.

“Oh, I’m incredibly serious. I don’t joke about Never Have I Ever. It’s sacred.”

We pull up to a light, and I finally get my fill of her. She’s got her head tipped back against the headrest and turned in my direction. Tendrils of pink glow around her face from the outside lights, and she’s smiling. Fucking glowing. I love her like this.

I’d love her even if she was yelling at me, but this? This is so good.

“Never Have I Ever is sacred,” she agrees, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “Okay, fine. Never have I ever played hockey.”

I chuckle as the light changes and return my focus to the road. “You trying to turn this into a game of strip poker, Lex?” I eye her quickly. “Because I can be down for that.”

Her lips pop open, her eyes going comically wide. “No! I was just playing the game. Telling you something about myself that feels pretty damn relevant for a boyfriend who plays hockey for a living.”

I shrug. “Just saying, seems like you’re trying to get me naked.”

She laughs. “Fine. There’s another one. Never have I ever played strip poker.”

“Me neither. Look at that, the game is working. We’re getting to know one another again.”

Once again, I sneak a glance at her.

She’s giving me a coy smile. “Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll go. Never have I ever seen a ghost.”

“Oh, I totally did!” she squeals.

“Seriously? Fuck, I’m so jealous. When?”

“Sara and I went up to Salem in college. She was so excited to do the whole Hocus Pocus thing since she’s a movie freak.”

“Right,” I agree. If there’s one thing to know about Sara, it’s that she loves pop culture and lazy days on her couch, introducing friends to movies or TV shows they’ve never seen.

“So I found this gorgeous old house. She was so excited that we could afford such a cool Airbnb. I didn’t tell her until we turned the lights off to go to bed that it was because the owner was murdered in the house and he liked to play with the guests at night.”

I practically choke on air. “What? You ‘played’ with a ghost?”

Irrational as it is, the idea of her playing with anyone makes me angry. Jealousy over Ryder was bad enough. Now I’m fucking ready to fight a ghost.

“ Aiden .”

“I’m not sure why you’re Aiden-ing me. You’re the kinky one.” I huff out a breath as I shake my head. “Playing with ghosts.”

She giggles, and the sound does something to me. Makes me lightheaded. Who the hell needs to drink when he’s got the girl of his dreams by his side laughing? Greatest thing in the world.

“I’ve got to be a better roommate than a ghost,” I tease her.

She snorts. “You’re absurd.”

“My game is pretty good, though, right? Now we know that you’re a girl who can’t play hockey, you like playing cruel jokes on your friends, and you’re kinky as fuck. We’re a match made in heaven.”

Her laughter gets louder. “Yeah, I like this game.”

My shoulders grow even more loose as I settle into our easy banter. “I like it too.”

And I really like you. That’s what I want to say. God, Lex, I really fucking like you.

“How’s planning for Josie’s party going?”I ask, desperate to keep myself from admitting my true feelings. It’s too soon. She’ll run for the hills and marry fucking Ryder instead.

“Pretty good. Just waiting on Millie to make a call.”

“To Lake?”

Every little girl in America is obsessed with Lake Paige, who just so happens to be married to Millie’s dad. My guess is the girls want Lake to sign merch for Josie. Even I’m a superfan of the pop icon, so I can imagine an eight-year-old would be obsessed with anything she’d send over.

“Actually, Melina Rodriguez. Lake swears Mel would be happy to come and maybe even sing with Josie.”

I shoot Lennox a quick grin before focusing on the road again. “That’s amazing, Lex.”

Mel is Lake’s best friend, as well as a pop star. She’s just as incredible as Lake, even if she doesn’t have quite the same following. But who does? Lake’s fame is on a level I’m pretty sure our generation has never seen. She’s as big as the Beatles. I have no doubt girls all over the world cried when she announced that she was taking a break from performing to have a baby, and she wasn’t sure when she’d be coming back.

“Yeah, it would be a great surprise. Outside of that, we’ve got everything set for a pink party in the park.”

With a chuckle, I side-eye her. “You are certainly the perfect person to be in charge of that kind of party.”

Her gorgeous lips pop open in faux shock. “Are you talking crap about my favorite color?”

I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I love the way you look in pink. Especially when it’s a flush on your skin caused by an orgasm I give you.”

Squeezing her thighs together, she lets out a soft sigh. “ Aiden .”

“Hmm?” As the light ahead turns red and I stop, I give her my full attention.

“You can’t talk like that.”

“That’s a pity, because I don’t plan to stop.”

The light turns green, and I rev the engine. As the car jolts forward, Lennox laughs so freely, my heart does a little tap dance.