Page 37 of Broken Pregnant Mate
***
“Blow out the candles!”
Aidan and I don’t get a chance to talk because the moment I come out of the bathroom, he gets a call from Kira, asking him to pick up the boys’ birthday cake. We lock eyes while he says, “Yeah, I can do that.”
When he gets off the call, he clears his throat, says, “I forgot the boys’ birthday party is today. Do you…Do you mind coming with me?”
Right—because everyone at that party thinks we’re mates, and it’s going to look weird if he shows up without me. Aidan needs me to keep up this ruse so he can go after Jerrod Blacklock.
“Of course not,” I say, because I told him that first day in his apartment that I would do this for him—that I could keep up this lie. Of course, I regret it now. Now that it feels like ripping myself to pieces to be around him, knowing what it’s like toreallyhave him.
Silently, we each get ready for the party. I slip on one of the dresses from Veva, and when Aidan comes out, coincidentally dressed in a matching polo, I even manage to laugh at the sight of him, of us.
Looking like that was on purpose.
Like we’re really mates.
We climb into Aidan’s SUV and drive down the road to the bakery. He goes in without me, then brings the cake out, carefully sliding it into my lap. When he does, he leans in so close that I can smell his scent.
I think I might never stop smelling his scent. Not after last night.
Without meaning to, I flash back to the memory of him pressing his teeth to my skin. Like he wanted to bite me, mark me.
But I had to have been imagining it. What reason would he have to mark me?
The cake sits heavy in my lap as we drive the winding roads out of town and up to Dorian and Kira’s house. It’s set deeply into the thick of low-lying trees and brush, to the point that I almost miss it until we turn the corner and it comes into view.
Built in the style of so many homes around here—designed to let out the heat, keep your home cool, even in the bright sun and high temperatures—this one is even more impressive, with a large front area and a long walk up to the door.
Just behind it, the landscape falls away, leaving nothing but the view of the land and the mesas in the distance.
Aidan parks behind a row of other vehicles already lining the driveway and road. When he opens the door and gets out, circling around to open the door for me, I catch the sound of music floating from the back of the house, and it makes something in my heart pang.
What has it been like for him, coming to these things? When for us, growing up, a birthday party like this wasn’t even on the menu? At best, we’d get an acknowledgment from the other kids, maybe an old, donated toy.
But the house manager would acknowledge the birthday with a tsk, knowing each year we grew older was another tick against us ever finding a family that would want us.
Aidan takes the cake from my lap, and we walk up together. I alternate between feeling like I’m really with him and reminding myself that this is just for show, just to keep up the ruse with the people inside.
“Ready?” Aidan asks, glancing at me. When I nod, he knocks on the door three times, and it only takes a second before it swings open, revealing Kira, who beams at us. She looks radiant in a floral sundress that hugs her curves, her copper hair curled and falling over her shoulders prettily. “The two of you look adorable!” she says, then, “Oh, and you’re Godsends! The boys would have imploded without the cake.”
She tries to reach out and take it, but Aidan insists on carrying it to the counter for her.
Then we’re walking into the back courtyard, which is decorated for the party in green and blue. Dorian appears with a twin tucked under each arm, and when he sets them down, we see the matching shirts that readBirthday Boy!
“Happy birthday,” Aidan says when one of the twins runs up to him. But the little boy isn’t interested in what Aidan has to say; he just thrusts his hands into the air.
“Up!”
Aidan glances at Dorian, then at Kira, and I feel it—his trepidation. That sense that he doesn’t belong, that they might take him apart for daring to touch their children.
He really doesn’t get it, doesn’t feel how welcomed he is here. When Kira beamed at him from the door earlier, it was a genuine, real reaction. She was happy to see him.
Everyone here is happy to see him.
Aidan lifts the little boy high in the air, making him squeal with delight.
“Look at you, big guy!” Aidan says, face transformed with happiness. “You are getting so heavy!”
