“I would appreciate your help,” I told him. “I’ll text you the address.”
He wasn’t smiling anymore, and it had no less of an effect on me when he jerked his chin in assent.
All of my moments alone with Aiden had been accidental. Until now.
Chapter Sixteen
Isabel
Emmett eyed my hands tapping frantically on the steering wheel.
“Not a word, punk.”
He rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”
I turned the wheel and pulled the car into the driveway of the house. “You mean like you weren’t going to say anything about having a poster of Aiden on my wall? I should take my twenty bucks back.”
Emmett sighed. “I have a poster of Noah on my wall, and you don’t see me going around calling people names if they tell him about it.” Then he shrugged. “I don’t understand why you’d be embarrassed about it. I’ll fight him if he makes fun of you.”
I smiled because as much as he drove me crazy, moments like this reminded me why I’d die for him so fast.
“You’re going to fight Aiden Hennessy?”
“Yeah. It’s not like he actually won the heavyweight title.” He puffed up his skinny chest. “Besides, I hear Mom say all the time that one good fit of righteous rage makes you stronger than someone twice your size.”
“Why is she telling you that?”
He thought about that. “One of my friends was getting bullied at school.”
“And she told you to attack them in a fit of righteous rage?” I asked, smiling widely.
Emmett shook his head. “No. But the house rule is you ask them to stop. If they don’t stop, you tell a teacher. If they still don’t stop, you punch ’em, and even if I get in trouble at school, I’ll never, ever get in trouble at home.” His eyes got wide. “She has a violent streak, though, you know?”
“Yes, she does.” I turned in his direction, carefully smoothing his hair back from his face. “Your hair is getting darker. Who said you’re allowed to start looking like a teenager?”
Emmett’s cheeks went pink. “How old do you think I look?”
“At least thirteen.”
He grinned widely, unbuckling his seat belt and tearing out of the car like I’d just handed him a check for a million dollars. “I’m gonna go make sure the treehouse is all cleaned up!” he yelled over his shoulder. I waved, slowly getting out of the car after he sprinted around the side of the house.
It was fine.
This was fine.
The kids would play outside while Aiden helped me fix the fuse. It would take two minutes, they’d be on their way, and I could go about my day relaxing with Emmett. I’d planned absolutely nothing, hence the pajama-chic look I’d thrown on.
I glanced down and groaned.
Without a bra.
If I hurried, I might have time. A glance down the street showed that it was empty, so I jogged into the house and fidgeted with the key in the front door. Just as I heard the turn of the deadbolt, the sound of Aiden’s truck came rumbling into the driveway. I allowed myself one brief fortifying exhale, then I slid the key out and turned, bracing my back against the door with a smile on my face.
Emmett must have heard the truck because he ran back around into the front yard, skidding to a halt when Aiden unfolded his great big body from the great big vehicle.
Would there ever be a time that seeing him wasn’t like a hole being punched through my chest?
He didn’t even have to do anything but get out of his truck, and I wanted to strip naked, stretch over his body like a blanket, and kiss him until I saw stars. It was confusing. And annoying. And I was starting to have just a little sympathy for why my sisters had all been such headcases at one point over the past couple of years.
Aiden was wearing dark aviator frames that hid his eyes. Even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I knew he was staring at me as he waited for Anya to hop out of her booster seat. He opened the rear cab door of his truck and helped her down.
“Hi, Anya,” Emmett yelled like they hadn’t just seen each other.
“Hi!” She stopped in front of the house and stared up at the brick-front exterior. “You have a way bigger house than we do.”
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck, dropped his chin to his chest, and sighed audibly.
At least I wasn’t the only one with a filter-free chatterbox in this scenario.
I smiled at Anya. “Well, there were five of us when my brother bought the house. He had to have enough space for me and my three sisters. That’s a lot of bedrooms.”
Aiden lifted his head, and again, I got the feeling he was studying me.
Anya’s eyes got wide. “You lived with your brother? Cool.”
I nodded.
That was when my chatterbox nephew decided to interject. “Really, he’s her half-brother. They had the same dad. He had a heart attack. But when their mom left, my dad bought a bigger house so they could all live together.”
“Thank you, Emmett.” I sighed. Aiden’s mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile. “Anything else you want to share?” I asked the little person next to me.
“Yes.”
I gave him a look.
“Well, you asked!” He took a deep breath and turned to Aiden. “You shouldn’t feel too special that Iz had your picture on her wall when she was fifteen. She had a lot of people on her wall, and there was probably a whole section of athletes she didn’t like too, you know, just to remind her who they were.”
“Emmett,” I ground out, “stop talking.”
“Fine, geez,” he murmured.
I raked my fingers into my hair and blew out a breath. “Why don’t you show Anya either your video games or the backyard or … something.”
“The treehouse!” Anya yelled, then she looked up at Aiden. “Can I?”
He crouched down to her height, sliding off his sunglasses. “Yes, but you treat their things respectfully, and what’s the other rule?”
She sighed. “No climbing up too high.”
“Go ahead,” he said softly. He held out his fist, and she bumped it before running off with Emmett. They whooped and hollered like little savages, and I smiled as the sound disappeared into the backyard.
Aiden straightened.
And we were alone.
“I’ll grab the fuses I have,” he said. “Hopefully, one will work.”
With a nod, I watched him open a steel-plated toolbox in the bed of his truck. Watched the stretch of his back, the way the muscles in his arms bunched as he moved items that I couldn’t see. And his ass in the jeans he was wearing. I almost whimpered.
So yes, if I was guilty of anything, it was my complete physical objectification of this man. Yes, he was so much more than a beautiful body, but holy hell, his body was so, so nice to look at.
I wanted to do things to that body and let it do even more to me.
I opened the door when he reached the front step and followed him into the entryway. Head tipped, he took in the staircase curving up to the second floor, the wall of framed pictures that covered the wall leading to the kitchen, dining, and family room.
At the end of the display, there was one that made him pause—me, my sisters, and Emmett when Lia and Claire finished their undergrad. The twins in their cap and gown were flanked by Molly and me as Emmett stood front and center, sticking his tongue out at the camera.