Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 647(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“Cut the shit, Pip, you aren’t Mrs. Saber.”
The fact that he knows the social worker I talk to takes me off guard, but I guess it shouldn’t. He’s been around multiple times when she’s stopped by.
I take a deep breath, knowing he doesn’t mean to snap at me. That’s not Aiden. Aiden would never hurt me. “I’m just trying to help you.” My words come out slightly above a whisper.
“I don’t need your help.”
“What do you need?”
“Just sit with me.” At his words, I plop down beside him, leaning my back against the bark of the trunk. “Your being with me is enough.”
The door opening of the suite has my memories drifting away and thrusting me back into the present.
I watch as Aiden walks in. His presence alone sucks up all the oxygen from the room.
He pushes his sleeves up and addresses me on the couch.
“I’ll sleep on the couch.” He grunts, barely giving me the time of day.
Aiden is stuck in his head. He needs time to calm down. I want to object to the notion that I’d ever let him sleep on the couch, and I will, but right now, he needs a minute, and that’s exactly what I’m going to give him.
Standing, I turn to him and nod. Keeping silent, I cross the space toward the bedroom. Once there, I sit on the bed and try to keep busy.
I can’t imagine how hard this is for him right now.
Me being in his space when he tries to silence the war going on inside himself.
From where I’m located, I can hear the slight mumbling as he talks to himself.
Most likely berating himself.
It crushes my soul.
After a few minutes, the mumbled words die down, and I hear a door open and close. The bathroom. The faucet turns on, and then a few moments later, there’s more noise, rummaging, a curse.
The words he said all those years ago play on a loop in my brain.
“Your being with me is enough.”
I kick off the bed and stand.
Enough time has passed. I’m going to him.
Crossing the space, I head out to where he’s sitting on the couch, but this time, there’s a pillow and blanket beside him.
I sit beside him. Giving him a second to adjust to my presence.
From the corner of my eye, I can see his shoulders drop, and then he moves to recline back into the sofa.
The breath I didn’t realize I was holding trickles out of my mouth as I lean back too and get comfortable.
The silence envelops us until he finally breaks it. “What are you doing out here, Cass? You should go to bed.”
I turn to face him. “Not without you.”
Aiden doesn’t respond at first, and the only reason I know he’s alive and not stone is the rise and fall of his chest. “I’m not sleeping in a bed with you.”
“You already did.”
His jaw locks, and I can see the tension radiating throughout his body. “That was before. And there wasn’t any sleeping,” he grits out through clenched teeth.
“We’re both adults. We can sleep in a bed together without touching each other.” I arch a brow in challenge. “Seriously, though. You had a long game; you need your rest.”
He lets out a long-drawn-out sigh. “Fine. But I doubt I’ll sleep.”
Knowing I won this battle, I don’t stay around to gloat. If I do, I run the risk he will change his mind, and Aiden needs his rest. Instead, I head off to the bedroom and get on my side of the bed.
It’s not a few seconds later that the room lights go off, and then the sheets are pulled back.
The bed dips as Aiden slips beneath the covers.
Despite it being a king-sized bed, it feels small. Every move he makes, I feel in my bones. Every dip and turn makes me hyper-aware that if I reach my arm out, I can touch him.
My heart rattles in my chest, and my body tingles with his proximity.
I try to calm the butterflies in my stomach.
But it’s no use; their wings flap.
How am I ever going to fall asleep?
The room is relatively quiet with the exception of our breaths. If I strain my ears, I can hear the cars on the street, but it’s only a faint hum in the distance.
I listen to see if he’s awake like me.
The only sound I hear is that of Aiden’s soft inhaling and exhaling.
Guess he was wrong.
He did fall asleep.
21
AIDEN
I haven’t slept this well in years, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know why.
It’s her.
The moment I laid down beside her, I passed out.
It’s almost as if she’s drugged me.
Obviously, she didn’t, but fuck, she’s like no one I’ve ever met before.
My lids crack open, and I blink a few times until my vision clears.
There she is, fast asleep. She’s placed a small pillow between us, and I can’t help but laugh.