Page 57 of Spring Fling
My shoulders rolled in a shrug. “Why did you pick Chase? I don’t think we have a lot of say over who our souls choose, man.”
My friend fell over into the grass laughing. “Jesus, dude. That was the cheesiest shit I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth. Fucking soulmates? Really?”
I raised my eyebrows at Nathan’s theatrics. It wasn’t like him, but he’d been an absolute dick to me recently, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised.
“Nate?” We all settled down, as Aiden sounded so damn unsure. “It’s not that strange. You never thought it was weird that I never dated? Never had an interest in anyone? Then suddenly I can’t seem to stay away from one person and you’re doing everything in your power to keep me away from them?”
“What are you trying to say, Aiden?” Nathan asked.
Aiden sighed loudly, sitting on the ground in front of his brother. “Chase told me last year to talk to you about this, and we never got the chance. Between Uncle Drew’s heart attack and everything else going on, the time never seemed right.”
“You mean my boyfriend knows about this and I don’t?”
Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose before he kept talking. “And this is why. You’re so damn hard to talk to sometimes.You have the best intentions, but I was so damn confused and needed a safe space. He explained to me what being demisexual was. And it made sense. It all clicked into place. Why I didn’t have the same interest in hooking up that everyone around me did.”
It was at that moment that things seemed to make sense to Nathan. His eyes widened as he looked between me and his brother. “Well, shit.”
I laughed. “That’s all you have to say about it?”
Nathan pushed off the ground and approached slowly. All my muscles seized, ready for him to haul off and hit me again. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility, but the hit never came. Instead, I got a gentle hand on my shoulder, and that shocked the fuck out of me.
“Joe?”
“What?”
“You fuck him up and I’ll fuck you up.”
Aiden busted up laughing behind us. “Jesus Christ, Nathan. He’s been nothing but attentive.”
When Nathan’s hand slipped from my shoulder, his arms crossed over his chest. “Attentive? By filming you?”
Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed. It was so fucking stupid. Of all the things I’d done, this was small, but I got it. It involved Aiden as well. I’d kept it a secret for months.
“The filming was always my thing. Aiden found out about it. He’s asked to participate.”
Nathan looked between the two of us again. He looked at his brother like he was seeing a stranger. “So let me get this straight. You went from not being interested in sex at all, to wanting to film with this guy? That didn’t come across as weird to you?”
If only Nathan knew about some of the other things his brother had discovered he was into. But that was none of his business.
“It really didn’t. What’s important is that I found someone who I was comfortable enough to explore things with. I mean, shit, Nathan. The things I’ve had to hear come out of your room. Don’t get me started...” Aiden held his hands up as if in surrender.
That had Nathan blushing. We’d all been made privy to the things that Nathan said to Chase since the two had gotten back together. Aiden overheard a lot while the two had lived at the Grant house, and then when Daniel had stayed with them off and on before he’d gotten together with Shawn.
I heaved a sigh and wrapped an arm around Nathan’s shoulders, pulling him in close. “Look, dude. I’ve got it bad for him, okay? He’s in really good fucking hands. Try not to stress over it.”
He nodded as we headed back to the house. “Can’t make any promises.”
That was when I stopped him, pulling him in closer. “Listen, I’ve put up with a lot over the last few months. I thought we were better friends than this and if you ever hit me again…”
Nathan threw up his hands. “I get it. I was an ass. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
I glared, but slung my arm back around him. “It better fucking not.”
Chapter 37
Aiden
It would have been a lot easier if telling Nathan was all we had to do. No. Telling everyone was so damn awkward. Not only because it required me to come out of the closet to an extent, but because it exposed Joe’s secret, whether he was ready to share it or not.
