Page 82 of My Irresistible Enemy

He sucked the tip of my cock into his mouth one final time before closing his eyes and letting it fall. He leaned forward, resting his head against my thigh, panting. I stroked the back of his neck. I felt strangely at peace, and had the sense that once either of us moved, that would disappear.

I didn’t want it to.

“Fuck, I’m going to have to ask Mal for carpet cleaner,” Aiden said with an exhausted laugh after a minute. I followed his gaze to the wet patch he’d left on the floor. “Do you think he’d buy it if I told him I spilled heavy cream up here or something?”

I laughed. “I doubt it. But Mal’s made of sterner stuff than he looks. I’m sure he’s seen worse. And at least you’re not making him do the cleaning.”

“Good point.”

“Actually,” I said, zipping myself back up with a sigh, “I can go down and ask him for it if you want. I am partially responsible, after all.”

Aiden shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You sure? I really don’t mind.”

“Positive.” He smiled. “I told you to use me however you wanted, didn’t I?”

“Well, yeah, but I thought that was just for sex. I didn’t realize it extended to the after-sex cleanup, too.”

“It’s your lucky day, then.”

Aiden got to his feet and walked away. I frowned, until I realized he was just picking up his briefs from where he’d folded them up with the rest of his clothes. He pulled them on and turned back to me.

“Really, Nolan, it’s fine. You don’t owe me anything.”

He was being perfectly nice, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was being rebuffed. It didn’t make any sense. It had to just be because I wasn’t used to this—the aftermath of a hookup where I’d actually gotten off.

I was probably making it weird.

“Alright. I guess I’ll just…see you around then?”

“Sounds good.” Aiden smiled brightly.

I nodded. There was nothing else to do but leave. So I did, closing the door behind me with a final wave and walking back to my room.

There was no reason to feel weird about any of this. I’d been perfectly clear with Aiden that this thing between us was physical, nothing more. And he understood that. We’d had fun, which was honestly a minor miracle, considering how much we were usually at each other’s throats. This was a good thing.

So why couldn’t I shake the feeling that something was wrong? And why the hell couldn’t I get him out of my mind for the rest of the night?

13

Aiden

“So would you say Aiden’s always had the baking bug, or is this more of a recent interest?” Nora asked Gabe a week later.

Gabe darted a quick glance to where I stood off-camera, and I shrugged. Whatever he said, I’d just have to roll with it. They hadn’t even told us they were filming thesemeet the familysegments until Tuesday, and they hadn’t let any of the contestants see the questions beforehand.

“These vignettes will help viewers get to know you even better as we move into the semi-final,” Vivian had said, clasping her spoon and beaming at us. “They’ve had a chance to fall in love with you in the tent over the past six weeks, but this will show them another side of you.”

“And who knows what sorts of skeletons will fall out if we rattle enough closet doors,” Tanner added with a grin that I was pretty sure was supposed to be mischievous. It just made me feel sick to my stomach.

It was crazy enough that I’d made it to the semi-finals. I didn’t want to think about what other surprises might be in store.

We’d had to give the producers contact information for our family before the show even began, and I’d only given them Gabe’s. I hadn’t talked to my parents in almost a year, and I wasn’t sure Iwantedthe show to have the ability to get in touch with them. Who knew what they’d say?

The semi-final challenge episode next Monday was going to be a surprise, with no chance for practice or preparation, so the producers had blocked off this whole week for filming family interviews instead.

Lucinda and Aisha, the other two bakers who were left besides me and Nolan, were both off-site, filming segments in their hometowns. Nolan evidently hadn’t given the show any family contact information at all, so the producers had filmed him with Mal and Deacon instead.

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