The Hustle (Irreparable #4) (26 page)

“There might have been a wild girls’ night out that involved a lot of Tug-talk. Oh, and your sister came. She’s awesome, but she kind of drunk-invited me to her wedding, and I kind of drunk-accepted. So, I don’t really know if she expects me to show up.”

I expect him to laugh, but the worry remains. Maybe even stronger than it was seconds before. The tight set of his jaw concerns me as now I think he’s upset with me. “Well, you’re off the hook with that one. The wedding’s off.”

I exhale, feeling relief that it’s not me he’s upset with. “Oh . . . Because of Gabe?”

His head cocks to the side, clearly baffled with what I asked. “Who?”

“Some guy named Gabe that Liv kept going on about.”

“No.” He still appears confused; however, I’m able to relax as his anger diminishes. A small smile appears. “I wish Gabe had something to do with it. He’s a good guy . . . the guitar player in Brady’s band, but my sister’s never hooked-up with him. The wedding’s off because Harrison cheated on her . . . again. He’s been like a scab that won’t go away.”

It’s hard for me to imagine Liv with a guy like that. The charming, carefree girl I’d spent time with didn’t appear at all the type to put up with a cheater. But love does funny things to people. Makes them do things they wouldn’t normally.

The man sitting across from me is proof of that. I was never the type to waste nearly a year of my life pining after a guy. But I did. Why? Love. Love is deranged, both fickle and fierce. It happens when we least expect it and once it grabs hold of you, it won’t let go until it’s completely satisfied.

I can’t judge Liv, especially when I’m still waiting out my own complicated relationship. I can only hope it ends differently for me than it has for her.

J
avier spent the night at Brady and Tori’s. Thank God for family. Peyton in my bed and in my arms the entire night was bliss, but it was also humbling. Not in a way I should be ashamed of or that makes me resentful. In a way that makes me see what I have, and how much I want to hang on to her. It won’t be long before I tell Javier. He’s too smart not to figure it out and lying to him isn’t right. Nor is making Peyton pretend. She’s mine and I don’t want to hide her from anyone.

“Aidan,” she says in a sleepy voice, lifting her head from my chest and looking right at me. “I love you.”

The air rushes out of me in a sigh that sounds like I’m irritated with her. Her frown bothers me because I hate disappointing her. “Hey . . .” She tries to smile, but can’t. “I don’t . . . I can’t . . .” Fuck, everything I think in my head doesn’t come out right when I open my mouth. Her lip quivers, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let her cry. With my arm already hooked around her, it’s easy to flip her to her back so I feel like I have some control. I stare down at her now, brushing the hair from her face. I love her, but I’m not capable of admitting it. “I can’t lie to you and say something I’m not ready to admit, but I do love hearing you say you love me. And I don’t want you to stop.”

She nods as a smile finally forms. “Okay.”

The intensity in one little fucking word makes my heart swell. I bend my head and kiss her on the mouth, the cheek and the tip of her adorably perfect nose, before I return to her mouth. This goddamn woman is going to strip away every single block from the walls I’ve spent years building. I know she is and it terrifies me, and not because I’m worried about the power she’d have to destroy me. It’s the fear of me forgetting why I built the walls, because if I can’t remember, I might just destroy her.

I
n the afternoon, after I spent the morning giving Peyton several well-earned orgasms, we make the walk from the rental car to Brady’s front door. I feel the nerves buzzing between our joined hands.

“He’ll be all right with this,” I tell her to offer some reassurance. In truth I’m as nervous as she is to tell Javier. She nods as I ring the doorbell.

Brady answers and holds the door open as we go inside. He hugs Peyton like she’s a good friend which throws me for a minute, until I remember her and Tori have spent a lot of time together. “Tori’s out back,” he tells her, nodding at the slider. “I’m sure she’d loved to see you,” he adds when she doesn’t make a move to leave.

“Oh, sure.” She smiles at me before heading to the back door.

“Subtle, bro,” I say, shoving Brady in the shoulder.

“What, I just want to check on how things went.”

“Dude, we aren’t in high school. I’m not swapping stories.” He gives me that look he can’t help when he doesn’t find me amusing. “It went well. I’m fine. She’s fine. Good?”

“Going after some girl and asking her to stay with you is huge and that’s all I get?

“She’s not just some girl.”

“Clearly. So is it serious?”

“Yes.”

“Good. That’s what I wanted to hear. Peyton’s cool and her and Tori are tight so don’t fuck it up.”

It would be pointless for me to tell him I won’t, when we both know my fucking up will happen eventually. Whether intentional or not, I’ll end up hurting Peyton at some point. How I handle it when I do will determine if I’ve truly changed. “I’m trying, Brady.”

“I know you are.”

My worries are in her discovering I have a bad habit of letting people down. “There’s still a lot she doesn’t know about me.”

“She knows what she needs to and she and Tori have . . . talked.”

“She knows about our history,” I tell him after assuming that’s what he was getting at.

“You shouldn’t worry. She’s okay with it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Peyton’s always
okay.
I’m starting to think her heart is made of steel. “I’m passed that. I have been since before I met Maria. Helping Tori while you were on the road was never about trying to get her back. I hope you know that.”

“I’m grateful you were here for Tori . . . but you know you aren’t the only one that has regrets about Maria. We all could have done things differently. Things that may or may not have prevented what happened.”

Maybe he’s right but pointing fingers changes nothing and only one of us played a game that ended her life. “The Hunter closet is packed full of skeletons.”

“Yep.” He pops the top off of two beers and hands me one. “Here’s to sealing that door shut and moving the fuck on.”

Right when I’m about to take a drink, the reason I want to move on runs into the room.

“Daddy.”

“S
o?”

I may not have known Tori long, but it’s easy to recognize how giddy she is to hear details about my night with Aidan. We’ve shared a lot with each other. I even told her about my first time, but last night . . . what happened, and what it meant feels too private to share with anyone. Especially a woman who’s been with Aidan, and although I know they’re long over, I can’t provide the intimate details. It feels wrong and somehow takes away from how special last night made me feel.

“Obviously you know he came for me.”

“And.” She presses by gesturing wildly with her hands.

“And I’m still here.”

The smile slides off of her face. “You’re not going to tell me anything else, are you?”

I sigh and sit down next to her at the table on the back deck. “It was . . . everything I could have asked for.”

It’s all I can give her for now. I wish I could have said it was everything I’ve ever wanted. But I don’t have all of Aidan yet, and the parts I do have are mine and I don’t want to share them with anyone else. I want to hold every intimate moment close to my heart and savor that they belong to only me.

“Good. So you’re happy?” I nod. “How are those new tires?”

We burst into wild laughter. I love how good it feels to laugh with her. “Oh, shit,” I say, laughing harder as I remember there is one thing from last night I can tell a friend.

“What?”

I can barely get the words out as if the absurdity of the memory is finally hitting me. “I crashed into his Porsche.” Her laughter comes to an immediate halt as if I’ve just delivered some life-altering bomb of information. If possible, I’d push her eyeballs back into her head and take it back just so I didn’t have to look at the shock on her face. “What? It’s just a car.”

“And he wasn’t pissed?” The way she asks, you’d think I stole the car.

“Well it isn’t totaled.”

“Oh, my God.” Her mouth falls open as she takes a minute to stare at me. What the fuck did I say that was so shocking? It doesn’t take long for me to find out. “He’s totally in love with you.”

Her assessment of the situation has me laughing again, but as I make eye contact with her it’s clear she’s not joking. “Tori, come on. It’s just a car.”

“Not to Tug. You don’t understand. That car was a
fuck you
to his mom. Sheila promised to buy him one if he graduated Valedictorian, which he did. Then she reneged, saying he could have done better. He bought it after he went to work at Gibson. It’s his baby. No . . . this is huge.”

“You’re being ridiculous. Seriously, we already discussed our feelings and he’s been pretty honest that he’s not in love with me.

“Did he say that?”

Did he?
I can’t actually remember what he said. Maybe that he wasn’t ready, or that he needed more time. Why I’m even pondering it is comical. It’s a damn car. “Not in so many words, but . . .”

“But nothing . . . I know Tug better than anyone and . . . he’s completely in love with you.”

It becomes blatantly obvious I’m not going to convince her otherwise, so I just nod in agreement and try not to laugh.