Page 22 of Seasons of Love
I walked over to him, leaving only a couple of inches of separation between us.
"You know," I said, lowering my voice and whispering in his ear. "Before you rile up a biker, you should know we either ride hard or stay home."
"And…um, which one are you?"
"Take a guess…"
When I moved my head back, I saw the bob in his Adam's apple, and I'd be damned if I didn't want to take a bite.
Aiden's eyes were a dark pool, drawing me in and willing me to drown in them.
"Hello? Cover up your tools, boys."
Tom's voice coming from the door made me jump away from Aiden so fast it was as if I'd been electrocuted.
Aiden snorted, but I was already walking toward Tom, hoping the bulge in my pants would go down extra quick.
"Hey, Tom. How can I help? Car trouble?"
Tom narrowed his eyes, surveying the area as if he were trying to find something suspicious. He would have, if he hadn't announced his arrival, because I'd been half a second away from testing Aiden's lips to see if they tasted as good as they looked.
"Nope, no car trouble. I was just…um…checking in on your work."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh really? I didn't know you had an interest in bikes."
He had the decency to blush a little. Tom was a firecracker at the best of times, but I hadn't met anyone more genuine and generous while also being a little, insane ball of energy in a tiny, neat package.
His outfit for the day consisted of grey slacks and a bright-yellow button-down shirt which he had paired with a burgundy fedora. Tom was a one-man runway show, making the streets of Chester Falls brighter every time he walked past. Wren was a lucky guy.
"Me? Bikes? Nah. Not interested. I just wanted to make sure Aiden wasn't wearing anything unsuitable for this kind of messy work. I couldn't live with myself if I witnessed his Tom Ford shirt get ruined and didn't do anything to stop that crime from happening."
Aiden laughed and did a full turn for Tom's benefit. "Happy?"
Tom did a big sigh and ran his hand over his forehead.
"I'm going to pretend you're not wearing university-branded cotton."
I laughed, but it soon died in my throat when Tom approached slowly, circling around me.
"Blink once if you're scared and twice if I should run for my life," Aiden said.
Tom waved a hand, coming even closer. "Pah, you already have enough style, but Slade…he's like a rough diamond. A pearl straight out of the shell. Maybe I could—"
"The only thing Slade needs is a bike between his legs."
My eyes moved to Aiden, who'd covered his mouth with both hands, as shocked with his statement as I was.
Tom grinned. If it were possible for real life sparkles to shine out of someone's eyes, Tom's gaze was the proof.
He tipped his hat before he turned around and walked away muttering, "I hope for Wren's sake there's cupcakes at home."
I was frozen in place for a moment after Tom left, but when I finally turned to Aiden, he had his back to me and was sorting through the multiple boxes where we kept all the different small parts.
The bike engine needed to be removed today because I had someone collecting all the parts that needed painting, including the frame.
We worked in silence for a moment. Me removing as much of the small parts from the engine as I could before taking it all out, and Aiden applying WD40 to all the small pieces he bagged and labeled.
Tom's visit had caused an awkwardness to grow between us, and I didn't like that.
