Page 25 of Aiden & Lily

Love like that needed to be cherished. Protected. Fostered.

The love he witnessed between Penny and Royce was the kind of thing he’d always assumed belonged to other people. Men like Mathew and Reese. Men who knew how to be there for a woman.

But what he felt simmering between Lily and himself was beginning to scare him in a way that felt almost like hope.

What was he going to do when Mathew and Reese found out?

Without thinking too long about the consequences, Aiden shot Lily a text.

Aiden:I can’t stop thinking about you.

He didn’t get a chance to wait for her response before he was pulled into another emergency. The next several hours stayed busy, but his thoughts kept shifting back to Lily and what his lifecould be like if he didn’t have to hide his attraction to her from his friends.

By the time he tossed his keys onto the counter at home, the sun was coming up.

Parker stood in the dimly lit kitchen with a coffee in hand.

Aiden dragged a hand through his hair, fully aware he looked like a mess after last night’s shift. By the amused look on Parker’s face, it was probably worse than he feared.

So he did what any brother would and glowered at him.

“You don’t have to look so smug. I haven’t seen you head out for that so-called job you said you have lined up.”

Parker lifted a brow. “Sheesh. I didn’t realize you would be in such a mood today.”

Rolling his eyes, Aiden reached over his head and pulled the scrub top from his body. He still wore a fitted, long-sleeved Henley, but at least he wasn’t covered in a full shift’s worth of grime. “It’s hard to be chipper when the embodiment of perfection is staring at me first thing in the morning.”

His brother snorted. “Embodiment of perfection? What is that supposed to mean?”

Aiden had nearly made it to the hallway when he stopped.

Slowly, he turned, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

“Honestly, I have no clue. I know we haven’t been on the best of terms…”

“Best of terms?” Aiden strode toward his brother and pointed a finger at him. “You stole my first girlfriend.”

Parker let out a bark of laughter. “I did no such thing. She told me she wasn’t dating you and you guys weren’t exclusive.”

“But you knew I was seeing her. You knew?—”

“Look, Aiden, I was just a dumb teenager who got caught up in the excitement of a girl a grade older than me paying attention.” His hard stare softened. “And back then, that was…nice. You were the cooler older brother who everyone liked. I just wanted that, too.”

There was a note of longing in his voice.

Aiden wanted to sneer at his brother. To point out that Parker had always been the likable one. He’d always been the one to get away with stuff when it came to their parents. He was the perfect child, while Aiden had a knack for getting in trouble.

But that instinct faded when he really took Parker in.

His brother looked almost vulnerable.

Scratch that. Aiden had never seen Parker looking so helpless. It was like he didn’t have even a lick of the confidence Aiden had witnessed throughout their teens.

It was hard to push his brother around when he could relate.

Aiden sighed. “You know, she told me about that night.”

Parker lifted his head. “What?”