Page 106 of Instigator

“You’ll tell Aidan first.” She says this matter-of-factly, like there’s nobody else in the world I could possibly talk to.

Then again… even when he was Wish, before he was my partner, I told him everything. I worked with him to parse my thoughts and articulate them to everyone else.

“He’s your person,” Bex says. “He should be the one you talk to first. Especially about a life-altering decision.”

Huh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

“Maybe this is why I got divorced,” I mutter.

She snorts. “Hey, it’s called personal growth. Now that you know about it, you can do better. Communicate more.”

“I’ll sure as hell fucking try.”

“What do you think he’ll say?”

I don’t hesitate.

“He wants me to be happy.”

She squeezes my arm. “Then that’s what you’ll do. Whatever will make you happy.”

I just wish I knew what that was.

forty

. . .

Aidan

A knock raps on the door, and Ceci flinches.

“It’s okay,” I murmur, squeezing her shoulder. “It’s only Ryan and Hailey.”

“I know,” she replies, tension lining her shoulders.

“It’s no big deal.”

She shoots me an annoyed glance. “I know.”

“So chill, okay?” I kiss her cheek, breathing in her perfume and settling my nerves.

Her eyes narrow. “Are you saying this to me or to yourself?”

“Yes.”

That seems to break her stone wall, and she chuckles. “Okay. I can chill out.”

I cross the apartment to the door, letting in my sister and her fiancé. They never used to knock, but since Ceci and I started dating, she’s started respecting my boundaries. Crazy how that happened.

It’s Friday night. Tomorrow is our last home game before the All Stars break. Normally, I’d try to go away somewhere warm for the week, get away from Boston in early February, but Ceci has some meetings with Colt’s company that she can’t miss, plus her work on the helmet sensors. And I wouldn’t want to go without her.

So we’re staying in town. I’m going to sleep in late, eat lots of terrible-for-me food, and play video games. I’m looking forward to it.

Dinner is already on the table, courtesy of Hailey’s favorite Thai place down the street. This is merely a family dinner. Simple, casual. We do this as often as possible during the season.

So why am I sweating?

Ceci shoots me a supportive smile.