Page 90 of Aiden & Lily

“What do I want? That’s rich.”

“I don’t have time for this. I’m trying to get some air?—”

“How long?”

Aiden had taken only one step before Reese asked the question. “What?”

Reese sighed, his hands dropping to his sides. “How long has it been going on? You and Lily?”

Didn’t he already know? With how close he and Lily were, she would have surely told him. He gritted his teeth, refusing to answer.

His friend sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. “Come on, Aiden. I’m trying to figure this out.”

“What’s there to figure out? We don’t talk about relationships. I don’t owe you every detail of my life.”

This time, Reese scowled at him. “We didn’t used to talk about relationships. But I thought things were changing—you know—after we started getting back into the swing of things.”

Why did his words fill Aiden with that annoying sense of guilt? He was right. The whole point of reconciling was to get back to a place where they could find the friendship they used to have again.

Reese blew out a hard breath and started pacing. “I’m angry with you, that’s for sure.”

“Join the club,” Aiden muttered.

He huffed out a dark laugh. “But not for the reasons you probably think.”

That surprised Aiden. He wanted to know what Reese’s reasons were. Was he just going to dangle that statement and not give Aiden anything else to go on? Did he expect Aiden to ask? Because that wasn’t going to happen. Aiden shoved his hands into his pockets and startled as his right hand curled around the ring box. A reminder of everything that had gone wrong today.

“Honestly, I’m hurt that you didn’t trust me enough to talk to me. But more than that, I’m angry because you hurt Lily.”

“Well aware,” Aiden bit out.

Reese’s expression hardened. “She doesn’t put up with disrespect. Or has she told you that she doesn’t give second chances?”

Aiden could only manage a curt nod. Yes, he knew about her rules. And yes, he knew he’d already been given more grace than he deserved. But her patience was running out. Did Reese know about her willingness to forgive him? Or had she kept that part private?

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?” Reese demanded after the silence between them stretched for too long.

“What do you mean?” Aiden muttered. “I messed up. I know that. I broke her trust, and I don’t know if there’s any coming back from that. So I’m…” He blew out a rough breath. “I might have lost everything.”

His friend laughed, but it was void of humor. Reese shook his head as he stopped pacing and pinned Aiden with a hard stare. “I know her better than almost anyone, besides her family. And there’s no denying how much she cares about you. So I’ll ask you again. What are you going to do about it?”

Aiden’s hand tightened around the ring in his pocket. Conflicting thoughts warred in his mind as he considered his options. Then he threw caution to the wind and put his faith in one of the friendships he probably didn’t deserve anymore.

He withdrew his hand and opened it to reveal the ring box. “I bought this a couple of weeks ago.”

Reese’s brows shot up as his gaze landed on the box. “Aiden…”

“I love her,” Aiden rasped. “I love her more than life itself. There is no one else I want. No one else I can see myself with. Before I met Lily, I wasn’t even sure I would ever get married,and then…” He lifted the ring box again and shrugged. “Then I met her, and everything fell into place. I could see a future with us. A house. The whole white picket fence. Kids.”

His friend blew out a long, slow breath through pursed lips. “Dang, man.”

Aiden nodded. “I know.” He curled his fingers around the ring box and shoved it into his pocket. “But I messed everything up because I was too scared to risk losing her. I let my secrets fester like an infected wound. I knew she wouldn’t be thrilled when she found out the truth, and yet I continued to talk myself out of telling her. I hurt her.”

Reese studied him for a moment. “Yes, you did.”

The simple agreement hit harder than Aiden expected.

“I thought I was protecting what we had,” Aiden added. “But really, I was protecting myself.”