Page 65 of Aiden & Lily

Mathew jolted to his feet, his hands curling into fists at his sides. His eyes flashed with annoyance. Or fury. Perhaps a little of both. Aiden expected him to lash out. To throw a punch, something Aiden was fully aware he might deserve after everything he’d kept from him.

He flinched when Mathew took a step forward. But his friend merely brushed past him and left the break room without a word.

Aiden exhaled, the breath whooshing out of his chest.

There. He’d done it. He’d told his best friend.

And now what?

Aiden pulledup to Lily’s home. It was the middle of the day. Anyone could see him and know exactly who he was there for. For once, he didn’t park far away.

He sent Lily a quick text telling her to come outside. He’d stopped at home to shower, but he was all too aware that water couldn’t wash the strain from his features.

That reality hit home even more when Lily burst from the house with a smile on her face, only for it to fade when she got a good look at him. The second she reached him, she placed her palms on either side of his face. “What’s wrong?”

He turned into her right palm and kissed it. “Mathew knows.”

Her eyes widened.

He could see the flicker of excitement in their blue depths, but it died as she connected his expression to the news. The light in her face dimmed, and he hated that he was responsible for it.

“What happened?” Her voice was small and nervous. “Was he mad?”

Aiden swallowed hard, unable to relay the whole conversation.

Her grip on him tightened. “Don’t worry about him. Mathew isn’t so pigheaded that he’d let this ruin your friendship. That’s just not who he is.”

Aiden shook his head. “You don’t know him the way I do. He doesn’t—or didn’t—approve of my dating lifestyle before I met you.”

“But you’ve changed.”

He nodded. He had changed. He’d gone from avoiding commitment and dating around to wanting one woman to choose him back. He’d do almost anything for the girl standing in front of him.

But love wasn’t supposed to mean burning down every friendship in his life and asking Lily to stand in the ashes with him. It was supposed to make him brave enough to tell the truth.

And there was still one more person he had to face.

Reese.

When it was only Reese he had to contend with, he might have been capable of taking care of the issue today. But after the conversation he’d had with Lily about how messy relationships could be, he wasn’t sure she wouldn’t walk away.

She was right.

They all were.

He’d made a mess of everything, and part of him couldn’t stop wondering how different this might have been if he’d come clean in the beginning.

“Hey.”

Lily’s soft, sweet voice pulled him back from the shadows of his fear. “It’s going to be okay. Mathew will come to terms with everything. You’re a good man.” She offered him a small, amused smile. “Maybe a little too worried about what other people think, but still a good man.”

Aiden looked at her. He wanted to tell her. The truth pressed hard against the back of his teeth.

Reese and I used to be best friends.

But after Mathew’s reaction, Aiden’s courage felt scraped raw.

“I don’t deserve you,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms. He buried his face into the crook of her neck and breathed in deeply. He’d have to focus on enjoying what he had for now. Because eventually, Reese would find out. If there was a chance that he could get his friend to see his side of things, then perhaps there would be a chance to salvage his friendships and his relationship with Lily.