Page 17 of In the Arms of a Hero

Andy looked at him and said, “Belinda seems real nice.”

“She is,” Aaron agreed but stiffened as he heard a tone in his brother’s voice that he couldn’t identify.

“Think she’s got any lasting power?”

Straightening, Aaron lowered his brow. “What?”

“Maybe that’s not fair?—”

“You think?” he bit out.

“Come on, Aaron,” Andy continued, standing in front of him, their gazes locked. “I swear, you date women in seasons!”

“What the fuck?—”

“Spring, summer, winter, fall. Okay… sometimes you’ll skip a season. Every time you end up with a girlfriend, you bring her around to meet Dad and me, and then you break up with them shortly after. It’s gotten to where Dad and I don’t try too hard to get to know them because they’ll be gone soon after.”

Aaron jammed his fists onto his hips but remained quiet. Whatever was on Andy’s mind, he knew his brother would spit it out eventually.

“Look, I’m not trying to be a dick, bro. I think Belinda’s beautiful, smart, and funny. She’s different from the type of woman you usually date.”

Aaron’s brows now rose to his forehead. “Type? What type?”

“You know who you bring around. The kind of woman who is fine to date for a month or so, and then you drop them because they never had any staying power to begin with. I’ve never once seen you with any woman who was going to last.”

“You make it sound like I’m some kind of player who’s just after a quick fuck, and then I move on.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. You don’t go for hookups. You don’t mind going out with someone and making it exclusive. You’ll take them to dinner, bring ’em to a family gathering, but you break it off before it can get serious. You make sure to dump them before they have a chance to walk out on you. I used to think you’d date someone you knew would be easy to dump without your heart getting involved.”

“Since when did you become a relationship analyst?” Aaron asked, trying to change the serious conversation to one that was more comfortable, considering his brother was right.

“In all honesty, I was never concerned because as long as you were happy, that’s all I cared about. All of your past girlfriends were nice, but I never saw you getting serious about any of them. None of them seemed right for you. But in spending the past couple of hours with Belinda, she seems different. It just makes me wonder when you’re going to dump her and if it’s going to finally hurt you instead of just her.”

He sighed, irritated by Andy’s analysis of his previous relationships, but couldn’t argue that Andy was right. He pulled off the gloves he’d worn as they had chopped and carried the wood, and handed them back to Andy. “All I know is that I’m having fun for now. As you said, Belinda is a great girl.”

“Yeah, but a relationship takes time. You’ve got that detective exam to study for after the holidays. You know you’ll be fine, but I know you’ll throw yourself into studying for it.”

“Yeah, I will. But we both know it’s going to take a hell of a lot of work for me to achieve becoming a detective.”

“How will you have the time to work on that and a new relationship at the same time? Don’t you see that as just another reason to break it off?”

“I don’t know.” He sighed heavily and dropped his chin to stare at his boots for a moment. Lifting his head, he held his brother’s gaze.

Andy clapped him on the back. “You’re going to make detective, Aaron. We all believe in you and will do anything we can to help.”

“I appreciate that ’cause you’re right. I have no idea how to make it all work, even with a woman as great as Belinda.”

9

“Think she’s got any lasting power?”

“...you date women in seasons.”

“...you break up with them shortly after.”

“You make sure to dump them before they have a chance to walk out on you.”

“…without your heart getting involved.”

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