Page 59 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

My face crumpled. "Damn you."

"And fuck you," he replied easily. "Aiden, we never got to discuss the polyamory bit."

"What about it?" Aiden asked testily. "I'd rather Selene be with us than hang around with a bunch of strangers we don't know. Plus, have you seen social media and the news? I kinda think something's going on with her, especially after that thing she saw on her phone last night. Dunno what it was, but it shook her up pretty badly."

"So, you think polyamory is okay because..." Niall let the empty space hang in the air, waiting for Aiden to fill it up.

Aiden shrugged like an angry bull. "I don't know. I just think she's safe with us. We're not going to hurt her."

There it was. I had to pretend to scratch my beard to hide my smile.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face. It's not what you think," he grumbled. "I hate this shit."

Hewasfeeling stuff for Selene. Niall could see it, and so could I. But it would not be right to keep pressing on the matter.

This was his road to walk, and we could support him on the way, but he'd have to do the walking himself.

There was no denying how special Selene was too. If anyone laid claim on all three of us, I was glad it was her.

Aiden mumbled something about needing a shower and disappeared from the room. Niall sighed. "Do you think we need to be worried?"

"About whom? Selene or Aiden?"

"Both of them," he replied. "Like, he's clearly moping over her. And she... I don't know how she feels about us, but I don't want her to get any wrong expectations. Aiden will likely eat bricks before he admits anything."

"And you're worried that Selene could misinterpret the signs and think he's in love and get hurt?"

"Pretty much. He'd also regret it later. I feel protective toward both of them."

"There's not much to do here except see where things go, buddy." I tapped his shoulder. "I don't think we need to interfere. If it's right, let's trust that it will work out."

"Isn't that leaving too much to luck?"

I smiled benignly. "Maybe. But luck hasn't treated us too badly, wouldn't you say?"

"Hurry up and get ready. I want to go dig into that vindaloo. Dom, it had better be good." Aiden's voice carried over from the bathroom.

We spent the rest of the day going over inventory at the restaurant.

It felt nice to work in an empty space, surrounded by rows and rows of fresh ingredients and spices.

Afterward, we went to the Indian restaurant, and the food was every bit as good as the hype.

Niall wanted to go shopping, so we did that. And by the time night had rolled in, Aiden decided all of us needed a breather. This meant going to a bar.

I was the most reluctant of the lot—I didn't want Aiden putting himself through the wringer.

From sheer habit of knowing him for so many years, I could tell this was his way of convincing himself he wasn't a clown in love around Selene.

We had an argument. This ended with him saying, "Fuck off, then. I'm going whether you come or don't," and me replying with,

"I'm not letting you get wasted alone."

Niall served as the referee, and we wound up going to The Azure Lounge, not too far from Aiden's apartment.

We got past the bouncer and entered the bar. It was a nice enough place, although I'd lost my liking for the raucous music and the drunk dancing a long, long time ago.

I decided this was something I was doing for my best friend. So I followed him to the bar and kept an eye on him as he downed two drinks in quick succession.

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