Page 28 of Seasons of Love
The waitress came to take our order, so I waited until she was gone.
"I was fourteen. The guy living next door to my foster parents had a bike and was always working on it. He’d leave his garage door open. There wasn't much to do outside of school, and my parents couldn't afford to send us to after-school classes or do sports, so I started hanging out with him. When I turned fifteen, I got my learner’s permit and he taught me everything he knew."
"I can imagine you as a little kid, hovering over the biker dude, asking a million questions, and dying to ride a bike."
I laughed. "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How do you know…me?"
I wasn't sure I wanted him to answer the question, but it was the second time he'd assessed me correctly, as if he'd been there all my life.
He shrugged. "It's all written in your eyes. You just need to learn how to decode it."
Our food came—putting an effective stop to our conversation—piping hot and looking as delicious as every other meal I'd had on the few occasions I'd stopped there.
"Oh my god, this is amazing. Jesus, between this place and Benny's, I'm seriously considering moving to Chester Falls."
I examined his expression to see if there was any real truth or intention in his statement, but Aiden was focused on dipping chunks of the homemade sourdough into his soup.
Would he really consider moving to Chester Falls? As an author, I guessed he could work anywhere, but since he'd already moved from New York to the west coast, maybe he didn't want to move back east again.
And why was I thinking about it as if it could happen?
The waitress came over to refill our coffee.
"Can I interest you in a slice of pie?" she asked. "Today's special is my great-grandma's cherry pie."
Aiden's face lit up. "Is it really?"
"Nah, I got the recipe off the internet, but I can tell you it's better than my great-grandma's pie. Legend goes that she was a terrible cook."
"Two slices please," I said. "And can you put two more in a box to go?"
"Sure thing, Daddy."
Aiden was struggling to keep a straight face after the waitress left.
"Um…anything you want to share…Daddy?"
There was a glint in his eyes. I liked that. I liked that a lot.
"Look around. The girl can't be older than twenty. Half the men here are old enough to be her dad."
"Uh huh, if you say so…Daddy." The way he said the word as he held my gaze under his spell was enough to get my dick hard again.
I wasn't into Daddy kink, or that kind of role play, but I had a feeling I'd be into anything with Aiden if he ever asked for it.
He chuckled. "You are a lot more transparent than you think, Slade Warren."
"While you are still a mystery to me, Aiden Lawton."
"I'm anything but a mystery. In fact, a few google searches will tell you anything you need to know."
Despite his smile, and how casual he tried to sound, I still detected a hint of unease.
"I can guarantee that what I want to know about you can't be found on an internet search," I said, reaching out for his hand over the table.
