Page 13 of Reclaimed

“Good.” He nods once. “I might not be able to leave if I knew someone was going to put their hands on you after what we just did.”

His hand touches the doorknob.

“I liked it, Aiden.”

His head rises, turning over his shoulder to look me in the eye.

I continue. “It won’t happen again, but just this once, I’m glad it did.”

5

Aiden

I’ve goneto my brothers for advice about many things. They were the role models growing up. The ones that showed me what kind of man I could become. But through all the scuffs and scrapes and mistakes I’ve made over the last twenty years, I don’t think I could go to any of them with this.

“It won’t happen again, but just this once, I’m glad it did.”

For the last week, she’s all I can think about.

That little whimper plays on repeat in my head.

The way she felt cradled on my lap, the weight of her against my body. The moment was pure perfection.

It won’t happen again.

Like hell it won’t.

For two shifts I’ve watched her dance, sneaking out the back door the minute she exits the stage. A return to our normal. But it isn’t normal any longer. Not when I know what it feels like to make her come on my hand, and I’m done pretending it didn’t happen.

An incoming call alerts through my headset. With a scowl, I stab the retrieval button.

“Blue City Electric. How can I help you?” The rote greeting scrapes up my throat as I speak my first words of the day.

“Why’s my power out this morning?”

“Can I get your address so I can look into this for you?” I drop heavily into the rolling chair at my desk, and my orange cat, Chevy, butts against my shins. I key in the street, tuning out the sound of the man bitching in my ear.

“It appears that your location is experiencing an outage affecting approximately one hundred customers,” I respond, using the memorized script. “We anticipate your power will be restored by ten-fifteen this morning.”

The man goes off on a rant about how he pays entirely too much for this shit. I relax against the headrest and close my eyes, waiting until he wears himself out.

“Our crews are working diligently to restore your power. You will receive an update by text to the phone number we have on file. Have a nice day.”

I end the call and sink my fingers into Chevy’s bristly fur, completely unsurprised when my headset rings again.

After thirteen calls about the same outage, I’m hungry and cranky and tired of people thinking I can turn their lights back on with the push of a damn button. I find myself pacing my living room floor while the latest caller demands a full month’s reimbursement for a three-hour power outage.

I glance out the window. The overcast day heralds a welcome fall rainstorm. As the woman in my ear calls me an incompetent dingbat, a pair of headlights flash at the curb.

Ah. The brotherly brigade has arrived.

“We really do appreciate your business. You’ll receive an update by text. Bye now.” I click off and swing open my front door. “Fellas.”

Lee flicks his gaze to my headset. “You busy?”

I swiftly inventory the expressions of three of my older brothers, hardening a little at the open concern on their faces. “Working.”

“How’s the call center going?” Corjan slips beside me into my house and picks up my cat.

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