Page 18 of Liberating Love

I bark out a laugh. “No, that’s not… it was hot, amazing.” Part of me wants to elaborate, but I don’t let myself.

“Okay, so what’s the problem then?”

I stop pacing and cringe. “You, uh, you know him.”

Chancing a glance, I see his eyebrows raise. “Who is it?”

I bite my lip. “You have to promise me you won’t hate me after I tell you.”

“What the hell, Aiden? Now you’re freaking me out. Who is it?”

Blowing out a breath, I look away and mutter, “Delaney.” Several seconds pass in silence, and it’s killing me, so I ask, “Are you going to kick my ass?”

He waves me off with a shake of his head, then cringes. “Delaney Fox?”

I nod.

“Jesus Christ, Aiden!”

“I know.”

“What… how… what are you…”

“We met the night before Thanksgiving. I didn’t know who he was, and we got a hotel room and… anyway, I didn’t even know his name until I showed up at your brother’s place the next day.”

I plop in the seat across from him and sag down so my head is tilted back and I’m staring at the tiled ceiling while he sputters and freaks. A strange relief floats through me at finally getting that off my chest.

He clears his throat. “So you think Jameson’s going to be mad?”

I nod. “Don’t you?”

“I’m not sure. If you guys didn’t know each other beforehand, then I really don’t see how—”

“We slept together after we helped him move in, too,” I say, now wanting to get it all out there.

“Holy shit,” he whispers before groaning.

“Yeah,” I say in agreement, still staring at the ceiling.

“But you’re not planning on doing it again, right?”

“Ab—” I snap my mouth shut. I’d been on the verge of saying absolutely not, but to tell the truth, I’ve picked my phone up several times to text Delaney over the past two weeks, so… I can’t say for sure.

“Jesus, Aiden,” Drix says after a pregnant pause.

“I know, but…” I take a breath. “Are you pissed at me?”

“Huh? No, don’t be stupid,” he says. “It’s not my father you’re scr—” He cuts himself off, snapping his mouth shut with a fake shudder before offering a smile and an eye roll.

A huge weight lifts off my shoulders as I realize that he’s not mad. Disgusted? Maybe. But not angry. Thank god. I thought for sure he was going to kill me when I told him. He’s not Jameson—he for sure will murder me—but at least I know I’ve still got one friend around here when this inevitably blows up in my face. All that tension I’ve been holding is finally beginning to drain away.

He suddenly groans again. “Why did you tell me this?”

Tilting my head down, I see him lying his cheek flat on the table with his arms out in defeat, and for some reason, it makes me chuckle. The fact that he didn’t immediately try to kick my ass probably helps. “You asked.”

“I know, but I thought you were going to say… pretty muchanythingother than that. If I would’ve known…” He trails off as his nose scrunches up. “Oh, god, ew. Fuck, now I have this image in my head and I…” He shudders.

I kick his foot lightly under the table. “That’s mean.”

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