Page 9 of It's Complicated

Ooooooh.

I see now how my words could’ve been misinterpreted. I’m about to clear the waters, telling him how wrong he is when I notice the look of distress on his face. Aiden seems really to dislike the idea of Jace and me…canoodling.My heart leaps in my chest. Is he jealous? Oh my gosh, hesois. Is me pretending to date Jace what it’ll take Aiden to finally realize he belongs with me? I mean, Taylor Swift said it.

I know what I’m about to do is stupid,reallystupid, but I can’t help myself. This is one of the few, I-can-count-on-one-hand reactions I’ve got out of Aiden in over a decade that has made me feel seen as a woman—and not just his bestie. So I shrug. “Oh, you know, not that long.”

Aiden’s face darkens still, sending a thrill of excitement down my spine. He really isn’t happy about this.

“Gosh.” He rakes a hand through his perfect blond locks and takes off his coat. Aiden folds it on the backrest of the couch and sits at the kitchen bar, head in his hands. “How did it happen?”

How did it happen? Fair question. With no actual answer. Think, Lori,think.

I turn again toward the coffee maker and fiddle with the pot. I have the worst lying face. “Oh, you know… it just happened?”

“How?”

How? How? How?I summon one of my million fantasies about how Aiden and I would eventually get together that is time-of-the-year appropriate for a fairly new tryst. “Erm, I got stood up on a blind date one night and Jace was in the same bar by chance having catch-up drinks with his b—” Aiden has a brother, Jace has a sister. “Sister. He was having a drink with Jessica.”

“Yeah, I know the name of Jace’s sister,” Aiden comments curtly.

“Sure you do. Anyway, long story short. I joined them. We had a few drinks. Then Jessica left, and Jace offered to drive mehome, saying I shouldn’t wait for the train at a freezing station in the middle of December. He was very sweet and looked at me funny. And I don’t know, it must’ve been all the Christmas decorations because he kissed me and confessed how he’s always been secretly into me.” Okay, I could’ve left this last part out, but in my fantasies, Aiden would always confess to loving me from afar for all these years. “Anyway,” I chuckle nervously, “the rest is history.”

“And why did neither of you feel the need to inform me of this new development?”

I add two sugars and a splash of milk to his coffee and hand it to him.

“You were busy with the wedding. We didn’t want to distract you or steal your thunder or anything. Plus, it’s so new, we don’t even know what we’re doing…”

I hide my face behind my mug and take a sip.

“So, you and Jace?”

“Yep, me and Jace.”

Our eyes lock, and Aiden’s are intense. Oh my gosh, what is he going to do? Will he beg me to choose him? Swear he’ll cancel the wedding, but could I please be with him?

Instead, he just presses his lips together. “That’s a lot to take in. Is Jace even alive?”

“No, I killed him with too much sex last night.”

Oh my gosh, will I shut up?

Aiden positively winces.

“Too soon?” I ask.

He nods.

“I’ll go wake him,” I say.

And I also have to convince him to go along with my crazy story.

4

JACE

Lori wakes me, straddling me in bed. My eyes fly open and before I can say anything, she puts a hand over my mouth. “Don’t talk.”

For a moment, I think I’m still dreaming, that this is one of my fantasies coming to life, but her weight on me feels too real.

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