Page 63 of Aiden & Lily

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AIDEN

Aiden was in trouble.

He’d been in deep before, but now things were starting to collide. It felt like he was on a runaway stagecoach with no way to stop the dang thing. The horses were out of control, and every option ahead looked painful.

The throbbing in his head from a sleepless night made the ache in his chest ten times worse. He rubbed at his temples as he sat hunched over on the break room couch.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he’d avoided Lily yesterday on the one day off he’d had this week. He’d made excuses about Parker needing him, but his brother had been busy with the church.

Aiden had spent the day hiding from the one person who deserved the truth most.

Now he knew.

Lily wouldn’t easily forgive him for keeping his friendship with Reese a secret. She’d said it was messy. Too messy because what if he couldn’t help comparing what Lily offered him to whatshe’d offered her ex? Too messy because what if Reese decided one day he wanted to fight for Lily?

They had a past, after all. They had something that had survived their breakup. It wasn’t too far-fetched that Lily might choose him.

Reese had never lied to her.

That thought had kept Aiden awake more than anything else. He leaned forward and pressed his palms against his eyes.

Other than occasionally saying grace before dinner, he hadn’t prayed in months. But sitting there with Lily’s trust slipping through his hands, he wished he remembered how to ask God for courage without sounding like a man begging to escape consequences he’d created himself.

The cushion at his side dipped.

A tray of food was placed on the coffee table in front of him and another beside it. Aiden didn’t have to look up to know Mathew was there.

His friend.

The one he’d always been able to count on—except, apparently, in matters of the heart.

Mathew was a good man. He was committed. He’d never been tempted to date around simply so he wouldn’t have to worry about the consequences of getting too close to a woman only for everything to crumble in front of him.

Maybe he’d been right to make the stupid rule in the first place.

“You look like you’ve been hit by a bus,” Mathew grunted as he reached for his water and cracked it open. He took a sip, glancing at Aiden out of the corner of his eye. “Have you taken any breaks today? Besides this one, I mean?”

He hadn’t. And his shift was just about over. He didn’t eat yet today because he was too worried about the hole he’d dug for himself.

Aiden stared at the offering and inwardly grimaced. Would Mathew be this kind to him if he knew what Aiden had been keeping from him?

Probably not.

Mathew bowed his head briefly before taking another drink, a quiet habit Aiden had seen often enough to recognize as him saying grace. Aiden looked down at his own untouched tray. For some reason, that small act made the guilt press harder.

“So, you want to talk about it, or…” Mathew drawled after swallowing another gulp of water.

Aiden scowled at the tray of food as if it had personally offended him. Then he cracked his neck, ticking it from side to side. “Remember when I told you about a friend who was dating a friend’s ex?”

Mathew grunted. “Turns out you weren’t talking about you and Victoria.”

Aiden snorted a laugh. “No. Not Victoria.”

“What about it?”

Too much energy flowed through Aiden’s body. He couldn’t keep sitting still.