Page 85 of Aiden & Lily

She didn’t give Reese a chance to answer before racing through the front door.

As Lily burst from the house and looked around, Aiden was nowhere in sight. Then she caught a glimpse of his shoulder behind a tree near the side of the property and strode toward him.

Her concern quickly tangled with frustration.

How could he run from this? From her?

Hadn’t he learned anything after the last time his secrets came between them? His insecurity explained why honesty was difficult for him, but it did not excuse withholding the truth. Not after she had asked him more than once whether there was anything else she needed to know.

Her hands curled into fists at her sides as she rounded the tree.

Then she stopped short.

Aiden leaned against the trunk with his head resting against the bark. His eyes were closed, his jaw tight. He didn’t react to her arrival, and for a moment, she wondered if he had even heard her approach.

He looked miserable.

Lily’s heart squeezed, but she refused to let his pain erase her own.

She had already given him another chance. She had trusted him when doing so had gone against every instinct she had spent years building. Seeing him hurt did not make what he had done hurt any less.

Lily folded her arms and cleared her throat.

His head snapped forward. When his bloodshot eyes found hers, her resolve nearly faltered.

Nearly.

Lily drew a steadying breath. “I want to know everything.”

“Lily—” His voice cracked.

“I don’t want excuses. I want answers.” She forced herself to hold his gaze. “I want to know what happened from the beginning. I want to know why you thought keeping this from me was worth the risk when you knew how hard it is for me to trust someone again after they’ve lied. And I want to know whether there is anything else you still haven’t told me.”

His eyes darted toward the house as a car door slammed somewhere nearby.

Lily stepped closer, but she kept her hands to herself. “I mean it, Aiden. I need the whole truth. Because if there is more, and I have to find out from someone else again, I don’t know how we come back from that.”

He flinched, and Lily nearly felt the pain of her own words lancing through him.

“I know,” he rasped. “I made mistakes. I was trying to tell you in the kitchen before Reese came in. But I know I should’ve done it long before then.” Aiden closed his eyes again.

Lily waited.

Then, slowly and painfully, he told her everything.

He began with seeing her at the rodeo and overhearing her say she wanted to date a cowboy. He reminded her that he sometimes used Christopher, his middle name, when he competed. At first, letting her believe that was his name had seemed harmless.

Then he had discovered she was related to Mathew.

Not long after that, he had realized she was Reese’s ex.

Each new detail landed like another stone in Lily’s chest.

Aiden explained how close he and Reese had once been. How strongly Reese felt about friends dating one another’s former girlfriends. How afraid Aiden had been that Reese or Mathew would convince her to walk away before she had the chance to know him for herself.

“But you didn’t know how I felt about it then,” Lily said.

“No.” Aiden’s gaze dropped. “I didn’t.”