Page 45 of Liberating Love

Holds grins and shakes his head as he opens the door all the way. “You’re fine… Freckles.”

“Fuck,” I murmur as I elbow Delaney in the ribs because he’s laughing softly beside me. “Not you, too.”

Holden laughs, and as soon as I step inside, he pulls me into a tight hug and whispers, “I’m glad you’re okay, and I’m glad you came.” He hugs me so long that I release Delaney’s hand so I can return it. “I was afraid you wouldn’t show.”

Guilt niggles its way into my chest and I hug him harder. “I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head, releases me, and smiles, but before he can say anything else, a blur knocks him out of the way and crashes into me. I laugh as I stumble and try to hug Gavin back without falling on my ass. Gavin, the king of tackles.

He mutters, “Sorry.”

That makes me chuckle. “Good to see you, Gav.”

With one last squeeze, he releases me and gives Delaney a quick hug. Holds and Gav head toward the living room, so I glance at Delaney, who’s already watching me. After swallowing down my nerves, I hold out my hand to him and he takes it with a big grin, then we follow my friends into the living room.

Jovany comes over first and pulls his dad into a big hug, but Delaney doesn’t let go of me. It’s like he knows what I need better than I do. When Jovany reaches me, he gives me a back-slapping hug and mutters, “You doing okay?”

I know he means after everything that went down the other day at work, so I nod and answer, “Yeah, I think so. What about you?”

He nods and sighs. “Yeah, I’m alright. I’m worried about Seth, though.”

“Is he okay? God, he must be a mess.” That poor kid was shot at and had to watch his cousin bleed out from across the room while Jovany covered him with his body and called for help. I can’t even imagine how he must be feeling.

“He is, but he’s handling it better than I thought he would.”

“Let me know if you need help with anything.”

Jovany smiles at me. “Thanks, Aiden.” He slaps my shoulder before heading to the couch.

Delaney squeezes my hand and I squeeze back, grateful he still hasn’t let go. Having him by my side, being my rock, is exactly what I need right now.

Drix walks over and does the same bro-hug as Jovany, and I say, “I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”

He chuckles. “It’s all good. Gav was pretty understanding, but I’m still making it up to him.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what that means.”

He laughs. “No, probably not.”

“Ugh.”

Three dogs come barreling inside from the back yard, so I finally release Delaney’s hand so I can greet Peanut, Nana, and Brutus. Delaney and I both kneel down and are assaulted with a billion doggy kisses, and I can’t help but laugh as I try to pet all three of them at the same time. When I finally stand up, Jameson is standing there, watching me. Delaney walks over to hug his son and whisper something in his ear, and then Jameson’s staring at me again, and I don’t know what to do.

I swallow hard, feeling my face heat under his scrutiny, and I stare at the floor for a few seconds. I really have no idea what to say to him. He seemed okay the other night, but now that he’s had time to think about everything, to think about how I kept this from him—a man I was partnered with for months, someone that brought me into his group of friends, his family—maybe he’s changed his mind and is pissed. If he is, I’m not sure what I can possibly do to fix it.

“Aiden?” Jameson says, and I look up into his green eyes—so much like his father’s, which is admittedly a little freaky. He offers a small smile, then pulls me into a hug and whispers, “I’m glad you came over today.”

All the tension I’d been feeling rushes out of me in a big whoosh of air and I hug him back. “Me too. You’re… not mad at me?”

“No.” He pulls back and shrugs. “Weirded out, yeah, for sure, but I’m not mad.”

I nod. I can handle weirded out.

His eyes scan over me quickly, then he glances around the room before frowning. “I’ll be mad at you if you didn’t bring your brownies.”

A laugh bubbles out of me. “Shit, I left them in the car.”

“I’ll go get them,” Delaney offers, then walks past me, pressing a kiss to my temple along the way.

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