Page 82 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

“Thanks.”

She led me to the den, where I sat down on the edge of one of the armchairs, lacing my fingers together as I waited. In the month and a half I’d been back in town, this room had become familiar. Now, it was uncomfortable. I was overstepping.

But that’s what I’d been doing all along, and it was time for me to face my fears.

Aaron appeared in the mouth of the room. He hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, his jaw showing more stubble than usual. He watched me with eyes of a lighter brown than Lizzie’s, then dipped his head. “Sean.”

I stood and wiped my hands on my pants. “Thanks for seeing me.”

He nodded and took a seat across from me. Silence stretched; he wasn’t going to make this easy on me. I didn’t blame him.

I inhaled and started with the most obvious of my sins. “I should have told you I was interested in Lizzie.”

Aaron blinked. Frowned. “You… This wasn’t just… This has been going on for a while?”

I licked my lips. “Since I came back, yeah.”

“She set you up on dates with other women.”

“They were torture.”

Aaron stared at me like he’d never seen me before. “I thought Christmas was the first time.”

“I…no.”

We were quiet for a while. I looked down at my hands and rubbed my knuckles, trying to think of what to say. I wanted to tell him what he meant to me—but I also wanted to tell him his sister was something else altogether. I wanted to rage at him for not appreciating her, but I wanted to ask him for forgiveness too.

I was a mess. I’dmadea mess of this.

Thinking of the perfect way to fix this was impossible, so I settled for honesty instead. “We ran into each other the week before Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t until Thanksgiving itself that I really noticed her.”

“Noticed her,” Aaron repeated, brows drawn.

I worked my jaw and stared at a spot on the floor before darting my gaze up to his then back down again. “Yeah. She was standing in the kitchen, staring out the window, and, I don’t know… Just the way the light hit her, or the look on her face…” I trailed off and forced myself to look up again.

Aaron stared at me hard. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. I had the sneaking suspicion I was making everything worse, but how much worse could it get? My best friend had caught me with his little sister on Christmas Day and punched me. Well. Grappled with me like we were teens again.

All I could do was keep going.

“We spent some time together while she was trying to set me up on those dates, and she’s just—great. She’s funny and bright and she makes me feel like everything’s going to be okay. It’s like she has this light, you know? And I kept looking forward to our meetings, kept finding excuses to bring Mikey over to her house. She made me actually enjoy Christmas.”

“She madeyouenjoy Christmas?”

I huffed a laugh and spread my palms. “I tried to stop thinking about her, because she’s your sister and you’re my best friend. The whole reason I moved here was to have a support system for Mikey, and the first thing I did was try to blow it all up. I tried, man. But she kept setting me up on these dates with other women and all I could do was compare them to her. There was no spark, or their laugh wasn’t as bright as hers, or their eyes didn’t pull me in the way hers do. I kept trying to make myself attracted to these women she set me up with, but none of them were right because none of them were her.”

“Jesus,” Aaron said in a hushed voice.

I swallowed thickly and put up my hands. “I’m not trying to antagonize you. I know I should have said something to you, but—but…” I exhaled. “It just caught me by surprise, Aaron. It was like a two by four to the side of the head.”

Aaron gave me that same odd look, but the edge of it had softened. He gulped, then said, “You’re in love with my sister.”

“I…” I met his gaze as his words landed between us. All I could respond was, “Yeah.”

“Holy fuck.”

“Look, I don’t want to fight with you. You’re my best friend, and?—”

“I’m not fighting. I’m just coming to terms… Mysister? But she’s not… How could you… There are so many other women who are…”

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