Page 36 of Aiden & Lily

And harder to ignore.

“Reese would never?—”

“You don’t know what he might feel once he sees us together.” Christopher’s voice lowered. “What if he’s still holding a torch for you? That’s not to say I don’t trust you. I do. But I don’t know what it will be like to stand there and have him look at me like I took something from him.”

Lily watched him warily. That felt like a different answer than before. More honest, maybe. But it still didn’t settle everything.

A lot of relationships failed because one person couldn’t accept that their partner had a platonic friendship with someone of the opposite gender. And Reese wasn’t just some guy. He was her ex.

But Christopher wasn’t asking her to cut Reese out. He wasn’t making demands or issuing ultimatums. Still, his reluctance bothered her more than she wanted it to.

Lily dropped his gaze, guilt weaving its way into her heart. “I just want my two favorite people?—”

She cut herself off.

It was too soon to admit that.

Christopher stopped short and stared at her, eyes flaring. “What?”

She shook her head, warmth spreading up from her chest and flooding her face. “Nothing. Let’s drop it.”

“No, we’re not going to drop it.” He closed the distance between them and crouched down in front of her. “You said your two favorite people.”

Lily refused to look up at him.

“Lily…”

His voice softened, and she felt his fingers pause beneath her chin before he tipped her face up gently enough that she could have looked away if she wanted to.

“Am I one of your favorite people, angel?”

She bit her lip so hard she nearly broke the skin. Then she closed her eyes. “I…”

“Because you’re my favorite person.”

Her eyes flew open, and she stared at him, searching for any evidence he was lying. She found none. “I am?”

One side of his mouth quirked upward, and he nodded. “Yeah.”

Lily exhaled, a soft laugh coming out with her held breath. Emotion burned behind her eyes. “You’re my favorite person, too.”

His smile was blinding. Then his focus dipped to her lips. For a brief second, she thought he might kiss her. That second stretched out for an eternity, the air between them charged and quiet.

But then Christopher withdrew. He settled back on the blanket they’d been sitting on, his eyes dancing with amusement mingling with something else. Longing, maybe.

Restraint.

Things between them had shifted. Even though it was new, she could sense in her heart that they had crossed into something deeper.

Even though Christopher was still holding back, it was nearly impossible to blame him for all of it. She liked the quiet moments she had with him. Heck, she wanted to keep her relationship with him private from her family for her own reasons.

She’d only hoped he would be up for meeting Reese because it felt like the reasonable next step. One day, she hoped the two of them would become close friends so they could all spend time together.

There was a possibility that would never happen, though.

Christopher didn’t appear to enjoy the company of others. Besides his brother, he didn’t talk much about having friends. That didn’t mean he was hiding something. But it did make her wonder how much of his life he was keeping to himself.

Lily reached for her bag and pulled out the snacks she’d brought with her. Grapes, crackers, and little cubes of cheese. She nibbled on a cracker as she considered the best way to satisfy her curiosity without shattering the peace they’d just found.