Page 4 of Spring Fling
But I’d wanted it.
Aiden Grant was almost five years younger than me, but it hadn’t mattered. The second he started spending time with us, we’d clicked. I’d treated him like I treated all my friends. Except he was different. And his brother had caught on quickly.
Nathan wanted me nowhere near his brother. Which was bullshit. Aiden was nineteen now, and more than capable of making his own choices—an adult.
“Did you want to come back to the house with us? I’m sure Teresa wouldn’t mind—”
“I think I need to get home and edit these.”
What the hell was that? Aiden was up and walking away before I could stop him. Sure, he’d come to spend a little time with us, but that hardly counted. We’d barely even talked.
Chapter 3
Aiden
Iclicked through the images on my screen. McKenzie Bishop was easy to take photos of and I’d had an assignment on movement so these would work beautifully. My stomach still felt jumbled up in knots, twisting tighter and tighter, the more I thought about being anywhere close to Joe.
The second I’d gotten the message from him, guilt had flooded me. I knew what he looked like naked, what he looked like when he was aroused and pleasuring himself. I knew the sounds he made when he came.
My eyes slammed closed as I tried to erase the images dancing through my mind. That wasn’t my focus. That I hadn’t even been able to look at him when I’d gotten to the park made it all the more clear that watching the video had been a huge mistake. An invasion of privacy. Though, was it private if it was online?
I shook my head, focusing again on adjusting the lighting in the shot of McKenzie chasing another little girl around the playground. Her pigtails trailed behind her, and she had so much life in her eyes. Kids had it so easy. Not a care in the world.She didn’t have to worry about life outside of playdates, elementary school, and if she’d eat her chicken nuggets for dinner.
I sent the image to my photo printer. It came off clear on matte paper. The real reason Teresa tolerated me spending so much time around her house and her brother was because I gave her so many pictures like this of her daughter. It was a small perk, I guessed.
The paper was heavy in my hands that shook as I realized in order to hand it to the little girl’s mother, I’d have to see Joe. I really needed to get over it. There was no way I could avoid him for the rest of my life because I’d found his porn page. Nope.
“What do you have there?”
I jumped, almost dropping the photograph as I turned to look at my mom. She leaned in the doorway of my bedroom, and I debated one more time just how practical it had been to choose to live at home. Nathan had stayed in a dorm through most of his college experience, but I’d learned a few things from watching him. The first being that dorm living was another expense I didn’t need. The second was being away from home increased the temptation to party. While I still had a tendency to, it wasn’t at the frequency my brother and his friends had.
“I went to the park today. Met up with Joe.”
Mom nodded before sliding into the room. She looked over my shoulder at the picture.
“And who is this? Does he have a kid I wasn’t aware of?”
Mom knew all of Nathan’s friends better than that. “Not his. McKenzie is his niece.”
She sighed, taking the photo from my hands and studying it.
“You have such a gift for this, Aiden. I have no idea where it came from. All the family photos I took of you boys as kids are a mess and your father doesn’t have an artistic bone in his body.”
I laughed, taking the photo back and placing it inside of a folder for safekeeping. Joe had mentioned going back to the house, and I’d chickened out of it, but maybe now that I was delivering something to his sister, it wouldn’t be so bad. There would be a buffer there to keep me from doing something stupid.
“I don’t know. There’s just something about seeing the world through a lens. You capture life in such a unique way...” I trailed off, knowing that I sounded like a sap.
Mom grabbed my arm and gave it a squeeze. “Regardless, I’m glad we bought you that first camera and that you’re doing something with it.”
Something squeezed in my chest. Pride? Maybe. Mom didn’t talk like this with Nathan, and that was probably a little screwed up. Then again, out of the two of us, I’d caused her a lot less trouble.
The evening had cooled down significantly, and I pulled my jacket around myself more tightly as I walked down the sidewalk. One perk of living in a place like Seattle was that most places were easy to get to by walking or taking the bus. I’d been in no hurry tolearn how to drive. The drivers on the road scared the living shit out of me, anyway. I was content to live the life of a passenger. Regardless, Mom still made me get my license for emergencies.
When the Bishop house came into view, my heart jumped into my throat, suffocating me and slowing my progress. Maybe Joe had gone back out and he wouldn’t even be there. I could hand the photo to Teresa and leave, not having to worry about seeing him at all.
But luck was not on my side. No. Joe was sitting on the front stoop, phone in hand as he scrolled absently. He hadn’t noticed my approach and part of me wanted to keep walking and continue to be a coward.
Still, luck wanted to poke fun at me. The second I stood in front of the house, Joe looked up and gave me a toothy grin.
