Page 88 of Just a Footnote

Liam shifts onto his knees, blanket slipping away to leavehim nude, hand reaching out for Aiden. He backs away out of reach. A small puff of breath escapes Liam. He’s agitated but attempting to hide it. For what reason, Aiden doesn’t know.

“I won’teverhurt you unless you want me to,” Liam promises. But how can he do that? Liam doesn’t know. He can’t know…this power he has over Aiden. He can’t know that. “Before anything else, you are my friend. If the intimacy of this moment is too much for you then I’ll take the couch. But…I’d really like to hold you even though you’ll slip away to sleep on the couch once I’m asleep.”

Sometimes it feels like Liam knows him better than he knows himself. Despite the warning bells in his head, and the ache in his chest, he climbs back into the bed. Liam tugs him lightly so that his back nestles into Liam’s chest. A soft kiss is pressed to his neck, then Liam whispers, “Go to sleep.”

Aiden does not go to sleep. Not in the bed. Instead, he patiently waits for Liam to fall asleep. The sound is familiar now. The soft puff of breath on the exhale, small whine on the inhale. Careful to not wake him, Aiden rolls over and watches Liam sleep in the dark. He watches for too long. Longer than he has the right. With his eyes open, he presses a soft kiss to Liam’s slightly parted lips. A small smile curves Liam’s lips up, even in his sleep he is infuriatingly cute.

Aiden knows he won’t fall asleep even as he moves to the couch. Not because the couch isn’t comfortable. The couch is lovely. But because Liam is in the next room over and it would be so easy to go back. To lay beside him. To sleep with his ear pressed to Liam’s chest, his heartbeat a lullaby. That can’t happen. So he stays frozen on the couch, stuck between sleep and wakefulness, feeling the pain of those old breaks less than he ever has. But the whisper of his mothers words are louder than ever, reverberating in his mind like echoes.Worthless.Unlovable.Weak.

He wishes he could allow Liam to love him. Even if he did, he’d probably not survive it. Because one day Liam would wake up and realize what he’d chained himself to. He couldn’t bear to look into Liam’s eyes one day to see those three harsh words reflected in them.

12

The cabin is silent save for the soft patter of falling snow on the roof when Aiden slowly blinks his eyes open. Snow falls in heavy sheets outside the windows, muting the entire room. Maybe they’ll get trapped in the cabin together, like a Hallmark type of thing. Hopefully, Liam’s car is a real SUV and not just for show. He wouldn’t be adverse to being stuck here with Liam though. Time with Liam feels suspended, as if it doesn’t exist outside of this small cabin tucked into the mountains.

As quietly as he can, he sneaks back up to the loft, carefully crawling into the bed beside a still sleeping Liam. Familiar soft snores escape Liam. The bed moving under Aiden’s weight brings Liam out of his deep sleep. Green eyes flutter open and a smile pulls at Liam’s lips when his sleepy gaze lands on Aiden.

Liam looks out the window past Aiden for a moment before his eyes fall back on him. His gaze is warm, so warm it’s like a fluffy blanket falling over Aiden’s shoulders. Stubble dots Liam’s jaw, making it look sharper, more defined. His lips are slightly chapped from the cold. Everything about Liam is absolutelyperfect. The odd urge to cry wells up in Aiden at the sight of Liam, but he pushes it back down, far down where all his other scary feelings go.

“It’s snowing,” Liam announces matter-of-factly. Rolling over onto his back, he props his hands behind his head, making the muscles in his biceps pop. Aiden licks his lips. He looks sodevil may carethat Aiden’s heart skips a few beats.

“Yep.” Because Aiden can’t say anything else.

Liam grins rakishly up at Aiden. “You’re stuck inside with me all day. No escape. Is that going to kill you?”

“Nope.” He straddles Liam over the sheets. Running his fingers through Liam’s sleep messy hair, he gently tugs out a few knots, before leaning down to sweetly kiss his nose. “I like your nose. It’s cute when you scrunch it up when you’re distracted or I’ve said something that irritates you.”

“I’m not cute. I’m ruggedly handsome.”

Aiden laughs and dramatically rolls his eyes. “Sure.”

Liam flips them over with an annoyed grunt. “I’m not cute.”

“It’s cute that you think you’re not cute.” Aiden boops him on the nose, causing Liam to cutely wrinkle it. “See, you just did it.”

Liam dips down and bites Aiden’s finger, hard. Somehow that devolves into them wrestling around on the bed. Aiden gets Liam in a headlock and wraps his legs around Liam’s chest. Laughter fills the air. They’re both breathless, staring into each other’s eyes with wide grins, when the sound of Aiden’s phone buzzing fills the room.

“I won,” Aiden announces as he climbs off of Liam.

Liam slaps his ass hard, grabbing a handful of a cheek. “You got lucky.”

Aiden winks at him. “You can get lucky later.”

Liam rolls his eyes dramatically at the bad pun. Licking his lips, he watches Liam swagger naked into the bathroom. Thephone lights up when Aiden flips it over to show Archer’s contact ID on the screen.

“Sup?” Aiden says into the phone. He tosses himself back onto the bed, letting the lingering smell of Liam calm his racing heart.

“You got a minute?”

“For you? No.”

Archer huffs out a laugh. “Funny.”

Aiden grins. “I know. What’s up?”

“I met with a lawyer yesterday. One of the guys on the team recommended her. He had to use her when he had an ugly separation with his ex-wife. Anyway, it went great. She needs to talk to you though. I told her that you’re away with your boyfriend, but that you can meet with her when you get back.”

“Don’t use that word,” Aiden hisses.

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