Page 23 of On The Run

Bronx grinned, unphased. He wrapped his arm around Gray. “Come on, Gray. Let’s go before Daddy gets really grumpy.”

“I’ll show you grumpy,” I grumbled at them as I took my jacket off the hook by the front door and my bag from its place on the floor, leaning against the wall.

Gray and Bronx just laughed and chased each other outside.

Once Gray was strapped into his booster seat, I climbed into the driver’s side. Bronx was going to meet us there since he brought his motorcycle today, and I was glad because it gave me some time to process my thoughts.

I understood why Bronx showed up at my door this morning. After Aiden ran out of the restaurant, I was terrified and couldn’t think straight. By the time I got my debit card back and ran outside, he was long gone. I drove around the neighborhood by the restaurant, but it didn’t take long for the skies to open up and the storm to start, and I couldn’t find Aiden anywhere. Of course, he wasn’t answering his phone. The dad in me was in a straight panic, imagining the worst.

Finally, the thought occurred to me to drive back to the café and wait by his car. I wouldn’t talk to him if he didn’t want to speak to me, but I just wanted to make sure he was safe. I waited nearly an hour and there was no sign of him. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where he lived, his dad’s real name, any of his friends’ names or contacts, and didn’t have anything but the one phone number that he wasn’t answering.

A sane person would have gone home, but I couldn’t go back to my house without at least knowing Aiden was ok. I considered calling my mom or one of my sisters, but I was not ready to deal with them yet. So, I called the only other person I could always count on. The one friend who didn’t turn away from me those first few months I had Gray when I kept cancelling plans and ignoring messages and just being a distant asshole. I called Bronx.

He was in the middle of a last-day party at his conference, but like always, he dropped everything to talk me off the ledge. And now here he was, when he only got home late the day before, following me to breakfast to make sure I was ok. Fuck, I didn’t deserve this man’s friendship.

Aiden finally messaged me when I was still on the phone with Bronx. The relief I felt knowing he was safe was short-lived. It wasn’t even being friend zoned. I was just thrilled that Aiden didn’t ghost me completely. I’d accept friends—for now. No, it was the look in his eyes when he apologized right before bolting. This wasn’t some young kid who didn’t want to settle down or who realized that the boring old dad aesthetic wasn’t for him. Aiden was terrified and devastated. I needed to know who or what made him feel like that and try to fix it for him.

Somewhere deep down, I knew that may not be the normal response. I barely knew the guy, but I’d always been a fixer when it came to the people I cared about, and I was already starting to care about Aiden. Hell, I’d cared about him for a while. The way he’d always been so sweet to Gray was enough for me. And after our date, until it all went to shit, all those warm feelings I had for him increased tenfold.

We pulled into the lot of the café and the rumble of Bronx’s motorcycle followed us into the spots toward the front. I desperately tried not to search for Aiden’s car but failed. I saw it in its usual spot toward the back of the lot where employees parked, and my stomach felt tight with nerves. I just “so happened” to be driving by the café on Sunday and saw that he had picked up his car, so I knew it meant that Aiden was working. Fuck. Part of me was desperate to see him with my own eyes and make sure he was ok, but the other part of me was hoping that he wouldn’t be here. I had no idea how this was going to go.

Gray was oblivious, of course, as I helped him out of the car. I was very vague about the details of the date to my family, Gray included. I knew that Laura was suspicious and didn’t buy my non-answers and redirections at all, but luckily, she let it go for now. I fully expected an interrogation soon.

I wasn’t even sure why I kept it from them. It just felt wrong to expose Aiden like that. It may have stung having your date run out on you, but I just knew Aiden wasn’t intentionally hurting me, and I wouldn’t be spreading his story everywhere. I loved my family, but my sisters had big mouths, and Laura and Jana knew every-fucking-one in the county. It wouldn’t take long for that story to spread, and I wasn’t going to do that to Aiden.

I wasn’t even sure if I’d have told Bronx if I were in a better mental state at the time. But I also knew Bronx. He’d never break my confidence, and it felt good to tell someone.

Bronx walked up to Gray and me. He had a worn backpack over his leather jacket and his helmet in his hand. He was eyeing me meaningfully. “You two ready?”

I sighed and looked into the shop. The windows were tinted so I couldn’t see anything, but I knew he was there.Well, here goes nothing.“Yes, I’m ready.”

Chapter10

Aiden

“Aiden, look who’s here.”The warning in Anna’s tone had me panicking for about five straight seconds before I realized that there was no possible way she was talking about the sperm donor. By the time it registered that she meant Max, Gray was bursting through the front doors.

Against my will, my eyes searched for his, and I was held frozen in place by Max’s serious gaze. This should be about the time I bolted, but I didn’t. I just continued to stare as Max followed his son up the counter. I half thought Max wouldn’t show up today. I knew he said he wanted to be friends, but really, who would want to be friends with a freak who ran out in the middle of a date?

But he was here now and walking right toward me. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with this man for the last year, I probably wouldn’t notice the stiffness in his posture. It was so slight and the only tell he wasn’t completely relaxed.

I swallowed hard when he was in front of me, but I couldn’t get my mouth to move. I was vaguely aware of Anna not so subtly watching us, but it didn’t do anything to get me to kick-start into action.

“Oh, so this is the kid who got you all in a tizzy on Saturday?” My eyes flew from Max’s and for the first time, I noticed the man who walked in with him. He was shorter than both Max and me but held himself with such confidence. He looked like a mixture of surfer and biker, and I had no idea what to make of him. Who was he? He wasn’t Max’s boyfriend, right? No. No, Max wasn’t like that.

Max glared at the man. “Jesus Christ, Bronx, can you filter your words once in your life?”

Max turned back to me, his expression instantly softening. “I’m sorry, Aiden. Ignore him. I was just very worried about you after, you know.” His gaze flicked to Anna, and I appreciated Max not airing my dirty laundry in my place of employment. “I promise I didn’t tell him anything overly personal.”

It just hit me that Max must’ve called whoever this man was after our date, hence the comment. Of course, I was so concerned about him being a love interest, I didn’t even think about a possible invasion of privacy.

I was way too overwhelmed to process all this right now, so I just nodded. “Um, it’s ok. I really am sorry about everything.”

“It’s ok, Aiden. You don’t have to apologize or explain yourself.”

“Daaad, Uncle Bronx has never had one of their cake pops. He needs to try one.”

Uncle Bronx. I thought Max only had sisters. A brother-in-law possibly? Or maybe a close friend? People did that, right? Had their kids call close friends aunt and uncle? They did in movies sometimes, at least.

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