Page 66 of Worth

“She doesn’t belong here, Aiden,” I murmur, surprised at the lack of fight rising in me. “She deserves more than trapped doing what we do.”

He’s silent for a minute. “Claire called me,” he announces. “Last night.”

“And?”

“And she’s worried about you, bro. Or at least, shewas, after she chewed my ass for disappearing.”

“Claire is worrying for nothing,” I grumble.

“Claire said you’re scared.”

I snap around to him. “Of what?”

“Of feeling,” he answers. “She said that she thinks you want Blake to leave because she’s bringing up too many emotions for you.” I grit my teeth, not planning to acknowledge that. “She also said that neither of us deserves Blake, not with the way we’ve treated her.”

I hear the agreement in his voice. “And what do you think?” I ask anyway, looking back at the girl in question. She’s watching us, her expression now more curious, her studying gaze bouncing between us.

Curiosity killed the Kitten,baby girl.

“I don’t think we deserve her either,” Aiden says. I glance at him and catch the soft smile he’s giving Blake. “But maybe it’s less about whether we deserve her and more about how to earn her.”

“What if we can’t earn her, either?”

“I would die trying,” he responds. “She’s it, Zander. She’s everything I ever dreamed of, but never thought I would get. I would die trying to prove that. But would you?”

I swallow, refusing to answer. Addressing that question is trouble.

“That’s what I thought,” he sighs. “You should really apologize to her.”

“For what?” I demand, incredulous. “Ididapologize when she got locked in. She turned my clothes pink, Aiden. Pink!”

He grins. “Okay, but it’s cute how she thinks she’s being so naughty by playing little pranks on us.”

I snort, shaking my head, refusing to admit that the naughty look in her eye when she’s got a prank brewing isn’t darling as fuck. Because it’snot. It’s. Not.

“We hurt her, Z. Both of us. You fucked her face, made her beg for you, and then left her sitting in a puddle of your cum. You’re only one of two dudes she’s asked to have sex with ever.” His words hit me low in the gut, sending guilt spiraling through me. “You keep saying that she needs to go because she doesn’t deserve to put up with us. Have you ever thought that maybe the reason she’s here is that she’s not a reward or a punishment, but that she is our redemption?”

I stare at him because of how eloquently he just explained himself. “Who are you and what have you done with Aiden?”

He gives me a wry smile. “I just want to be the one that she loves. The one she dreams of. The one she kisses good night.”

My brows knit together. “That’s one of your songs, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he answers, nodding, and I chuckle at how quickly he slipped back into his normal habits.

Sand sprays across our legs. We look up at the same time, at Blake looming over us.

She sways a bit. “We’re going home now,” she announces.

I raise a brow at the command in her voice. “Says who?”

“Me,” she answers, pinning me in place with a look. “Let’s go.”

Aiden hops to his feet and then does some sort of ridiculous bow. “As you wish, Kitten.”

She hiccups a laugh, grinning at him, and then stares me down, a challenge in her eyes.

“Who put you in charge?” I ask, staying put. I see Aiden scowl at me out of my periphery.

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