Page 43 of Stranded
“You let me know if anyone gives you a tough time. You hear me, sweet boy?”
He nodded. “Okay. Does this mean you’re not upset at me?”
“Why would I be? If anything, I’m upset that I contributed to you feeling the way you do tonight. Those things I’ve said to and about you in the past were awful. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”
He chuckled. “I was pretty awful to you too, so I think we’ll have to spend the rest of our time making it up to each other. Let’s go home.”
“Not until I get a kiss.”
He sniffled and planted his lips on mine in a soft, gentle kiss that ended with a sigh. I kissed his forehead. He scrambled back over to his seat.
On the way back home, I kept his hand in mine. I couldn’t bear the thought of him being an inch apart from me. When I pulled up in the driveway, a heavy feeling sank into my chest.
Now back to pretending.
“I know you hate this as much as I do,” he said softly. “It’s okay. I’ll be patient.”
“I’ll come to you later tonight when she’s sleeping.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. We’ll be spending more time together, Aiden. Get used to it, baby.”
He smiled. “You have so many nicknames for me.”
“Yeah, get used to that too. There’s one for every occasion, when you’re my sissy boy, my little boy, or my sweet little baby.”
17
AIDEN
Ihated that we had to go our separate ways. The car door shut with a sense of finality, and we walked toward the door leading to the house from the garage. We shouldn’t have come home. Should have just kept driving until we reached someplace where we could be us.
Jackson opened the door. As I walked past him, he kissed the top of my head. The little gesture made me feel a lot better. We would get through this. I wasn’t the only one suffering, and he’d promised me if his plan didn’t work, then we could elope into the sunset and live happily ever after.
The house was quiet. It was close to eleven in the night, though, so more than likely Mom was already asleep.
“Aren’t you going to bed?” Jackson asked when I hesitated in the hall.
I shook my head. “You go ahead. I need a stiff drink.”
He frowned as if he was about to reprimand me, but I walked away. He couldn’t refuse me the drink I needed to get through another night of imagining him in bed with her. Did he spoon her like he did me? Or did he let her sleep on his chest with one of her legs between his?
In the kitchen, I got out a bottle of Scotch and a glass. Ice cubes tinkled against the glass. I filled it up and took a long drink. The liquid traveled down my throat into my belly, warming my insides. I took another gulp. I would keep going until I was too numb to care.
Was she now trying to get him to sleep with her again? How foolish of her. How could she have had such a man in her bed and shunned him because of his scar tissue? The man fucked like he’d invented the Kama Sutra.
I chuckled, closing my eyes. Images popped into my head. Of the way he’d fucked me against the wall earlier. The way he’d manhandled me and threatened me if I ever slept with anyone again.
“Aiden!”
My eyes flew open. Jackson rushed into the kitchen with a piece of paper in his hand. I couldn’t read his expression.
“What is it?”
“She left.”
“What?”
