Page 64 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

“Come on, Jess. Just try it.”

I took a tentative sip and swallowed. It had an interesting taste. Not bad, just very sweet. Stern faced Alden actually looked excited about sharing this with me. “It’s good,” I said and took another sip. I was getting used to the sweet flavor the more I had it.

“Lexi and I used to fight over this stuff when we were kids.” He smiled. I loved it when he shared something from his childhood with me.

I’d always pictured him as a gentle giant. The protector of the weaker kids in the neighborhood. “I bet you were a cute kid.”

He shrugged.

“Tell me the types of things you used to do as a kid.” When we’d been together that summer we didn’t talk much about his past. He’d only lost his parents a few months before and talking about them was too hard.

Alden grabbed an apple spiced cupcake and groaned after his first bite. “This is amazing.” He chewed while his brow furrowed in concentration. “I don’t know. It was pretty typical I guess.”

I raised an eyebrow. I had a feeling our view of typical was vastly different.

“Okay, well maybe for the majority of the world who don’t have billions of dollars.” He winked at me.

I propped my chin on my hands, waiting to hear. Lexi had shared some of her childhood, but I was curious to hear about it from Alden’s point of view.

He finished his cupcake and leaned against the counter behind him, his tongue peeked out from his mouth and slowly licked the frosting off his thumb.

Oh, fuck.

Heat raced into my cheeks, and wetness pooled between my thighs as I squirmed in my seat while watching his unintentionally sexy move. Now a montage of him running his tongue up and down my body played on repeat in my head. I grabbed another cupcake and shoved it in my mouth to stop from groaning.

“We didn’t have much, but my parents loved us. They both worked, so growing up we had a lot of aunties in the neighborhood who took care of us until they got home. We played ball, rode bikes, swam in the local pond, got into fights, played manhunt at night.” His eyes had a far-off look as though he was reliving each event.

“What’s manhunt?” I scrunched up my nose. I’d never heard that term before.

“Oh Jess, you’ve never lived until you’ve played manhunt. It’s actually a lot like hide and seek. We would play at night on teams, one team would hide and the other would have to find us. It was fun.”

“I bet you found the best hiding spots.” I could picture Alden scoping out various locations after school and evaluating which ones he’d use during the next game.

“Of course.” He grinned. “I was usually the last found.”

“Tell me about your friends. Were you good in school? Did you like being a big brother?”

Alden laughed. “That’s a lot of questions. Where to start? I guess with Lex. I didn’t want to be a big brother. What twelve-year-old does? But then I saw her.” A smirk played at the corner of his mouth and his eyes softened as if he was remembering that very first glimpse of his baby sister. “I vowed then I’d always protect her.”

“And you have.” He was a good man and an even better brother. He gave Lexi a built-in support system. Something that I’d never known. A pang of jealousy settled in my gut, but then vanished at Alden’s smirk curving downward.

“I try. I just wish I could help her out more. With the store and everything, you know?”

I reached out, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. His eyes locked on mine. “Stop being so hard on yourself. You have. She’s lucky to have you.”

He nodded, and I knew that was the end of that conversation.

“So what about school? Were you a bad boy?”

“Oh you know it!” That devilish grin that I loved played across his lips.

“I have no doubt.”

He told me stories of junior high and high school and with each one, I wanted to hear more. I wanted to know everything about the man in front of me. The man who had burrowed into my heart and never left. But the time sped by and before I could stop myself, a yawn interrupted his newest tale of middle of the night sneak outs.

“Enough about me. Why don’t you go to bed, and I’ll finish up the dishes from today.”

I waved my hand at the sink. “Leave them. I’ll do it in the morning.”

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