Page 35 of Liberating Love

His green eyes sorta light up as he thinks over the idea, and then he’s smiling that huge, bright smile at me. “That’s a great idea, Freckles.”

“You’d be great at that. A lot of the prisons and stuff have programs. We’ll have to look into it.”

He leans in and presses his lips to my forehead. “I would love that.”

With a smile, I wrap my arms around him and lie on his chest. “I’ll ask around at work. See if anyone knows about any programs.” I yawn and my eyes drift closed. “I’m sorry I’m not much fun right now,” I say, but what I mean issorry your fuck buddy is falling asleep before we had a chance to fuck.

He rubs my back and pulls me impossibly closer to him. “This is perfect, Aiden.” He kisses the top of my head again.

As I begin falling asleep, my mouth mutters, “Stay with me,” without my permission.

He freezes for a few seconds, then whispers, “Of course.”

I have a moment of panic that I actually asked him to stay. Obviously it was a moment of weakness because he’s so warm and comfortable and I’m sleepy, but when I take a breath, the panic starts to calm. It’ll be fine. In fact, it’ll be nice not to feel so alone, even if it’s only for one night.

When we climb into bed, I move straight into his arms, and as Delaney presses his lips to my forehead, my eyes drift closed. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so comfortable in my life. If having him here wasn’t so dangerous to all those damn emotions that keep creeping up, I could so easily get used to this.

13

Delaney

The last week has been different with Aiden, my Freckles. We haven’t seen each other any more than before and we’ve been texting throughout the week for a while, but something’s changed. I’m scared to get my hopes up too soon, but I sense a softening.

“Where do you keep drifting off to?” Dwayne asks, nudging me in the side.

“You’re a real pain in the ass,” I say, bumping my shoulder into his as I focus back in on my three best friends. It was hard going all those years without them, without anyone I could be close to really, except my children, but within a short amount of time and our weekly meet-ups, it’s as if we were never separated at all.

“I’ve noticed he gets a faraway gleam in his eyes. I think he’s holding out on us,” Chet teases before he plops an olive in his mouth.

“Oh yeah, who’s the lucky lady? Is she a looker?” Jack waggles his brows at me like an idiot.

Dwayne snorts, asking Jack, “How is it possible that you still act like a twelve-year-old boy?”

Jack tugs on the corners of his collar, just like he did when he thought he was too cool for school in ninth grade and was pulled up to play varsity football. “Don’t be jealous, Whiney-Wanie. It’s not your fault you never achieved my level of greatness.”

I nearly spew soda out of my nose at the old familiar nickname. “Whiney-Wanie,” I sputter. “I forgot about that.”

Dwayne shakes his head at me like he thinks I’m as big an idiot as Jack. “Hey,Foxy, don’t forget I’m your boss.”

That only makes me laugh harder. Chet reaches his arm across the table to pat Dwayne’s hand. “Don’t worry, Dwayne. We’ve never held it against you.”

We all expected Chet to offer words of comfort—that had always been his role in our little group, the sympathizer—so the unexpected dig even makes Dwayne chuckle.

After we calm ourselves, we slip back into conversation about our everyday lives. The first few meet-ups had involved a lot of reminiscing about our youth, but since then we’re back on equal ground. Speaking with these men, stopping in to have lunch a few times a week with Jack, spending time with them and their spouses has become my new normal. My sons—a title which I’m continuously reminded includes Holden, Gavin, and Hendrix now—have even had dinner with us a few times and gotten to know my friends. The only person missing has been Aiden. I would enjoy him getting to know these men and hear the stories they tell, as embarrassing as some of them are, but I’ve purposefully picked nights when I know he has obligations with his mother. The less interaction we can have around my sons the better until I can convince Aiden to be mine. Or at the very least, until I can convince him that it would be okay to tell the others about us.

“Real talk time.” Dwayne pushes back from the table and faces me.

Jack and Chet both push their plates up, so they can lean on their elbows, their faces grave. “Why do I feel like this is an intervention?” I chuckle nervously.

“What are you going to do with your life?”

“Uh, what do you mean? I work for you, or is your mind slipping already?”

Dwayne smirks. “As much as I appreciate your help, and as invaluable as I’ve found it having someone I can rely on, you can’t possibly want to do this for the rest of your life.”

“Huh. It’s interesting you say that. A friend suggested I look into programs that help people.”

“Help how?” Chet asks.

---