Page 39 of The Fall Fix Up

Aiden returned it before reaching back into the box. His smile slipped when he pulled out a tattered blanket and a picture frame, the glass missing and the frame itself blackened at the edges. Janae looked over, her eyes widening when she saw the picture in it.

“Is that you?”

Aiden’s shoulders tensed and he nodded sharply as he cradled the items. “My grandmother made me the blanket when I was a baby. Every year on my birthday, she would add a square to it.” His gaze landed on the picture. “And this . . . is my mom. Or . . . was.”

Janae swallowed hard as she noted his wording. She knew she had to tread carefully. “She’s beautiful. You look a lot like her.”

Aiden smiled over at her, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that his thoughts were miles away. “Nah, she was pretty beyond compare. She died when I was a baby—a couple days after this picture was taken, actually. It’s the only one I have of her now.”

Janae’s chest cracked open at the thread of pain in Aiden’s voice. He said the words so matter-of-factly, but she could taste his sadness. It made her want to reach out and hold his pain so he didn’t have to.

Without thinking, she stood up and crossed the room, grabbing one of the picture frames she had on the bookshelf in the corner. It had come in a matching set, but she didn’t think twice about taking her solo picture out of it and bringing the now-empty frame to Aiden. When he looked up at her in clear confusion, she rushed to say something.

“You don’t have to use it,” she insisted, realizing how impulsive she was being. “I just . . . This is your home too, and I want you to feel it. And it matches so it also has a home here. So . . .” Her voice trailed off as she ran out of things to say.

Aiden stared at her for a moment longer before his gaze slid down to the frame in her hand. Slowly, he reached out, taking it gently, like it was fragile.

“Thank you.” He carefully rescued the picture from its charred container, transferring it into the new frame. He looked down at it, fingers tracing the image now protected behind glass once more.

“If you ever want to talk about her,” Janae started, swallowing hard when he looked back up at her. “I won’t pretend to know what it’s like to lose a parent, but I can listen if you just need someone to be there.”

Aiden’s dark gaze was on her and there was something swimming in it that she wasn’t sure she could name. The moment was tense, but not in an awkward way. There was something there, simmering in wait. Janae let it stretch, waiting for Aiden to make a move. This had been a lot, and she wasn’t sure if either of them had really processed the events of the past couple weeks. She knew she was still reeling, so she could only imagine how Aiden felt.

When he stood, she took a step back to give him space. He picked up his box. “I’m going to put this in my room and then get started on dinner.”

“Okay,” she replied softly. Her eyes stayed on him as she watched him walk over to the bookshelf and pause. Her breath caught when he finally set the picture frame beside the others that had her family. When he glanced back at her with a small smile, she was helpless to do anything but return it.

Once he’d left the room, she stared at that photo, an idea sparking inside her that she would need a bit of time to bring to fruition.

Chapter 16

Aiden sighed happily as he sat back on the couch. He’d been burning the oil at both ends and a guy’s night was exactly what he needed. He loved the Williams clan like the family he never had, and he’d been more than enjoying his time with Janae, but he needed some time away from the house that was slowly but surely becoming too much like home. Plus, he needed to have the blood not pooling in his dick for once.

Besides the one kiss a couple days ago, he and Janae had been tiptoeing around one another, but even the slight awkwardness wasn’t enough to have his libido give him a damn break. Thankfully, fixing the shower faucet and showerhead in the main bathroom hadn’t taken too much effort and they’d used it since then without it giving them any more grief, because he’d been taking slightly longer ones as of late just to find relief without raising suspicion.

Yes, a boys’ night was exactly what the doctor ordered. All Aiden had to do was show up, sit down with a beer, and make sure he let Thomas know just how much he appreciated whatever food he decided to whip up for them.

“Took you long enough to get here,” Bradley said when he plopped down on the couch beside him, holding out a beer. “I thought you were going to miss kickoff.”

“Hell no,” Aiden said as he grabbed the bottle. He took a swig before continuing. “But I wanted to shower quick, so I didn’t come over smelling like paint thinner.”

On the television, the home college team fumbled the ball, making Aiden and Bradley groan.

“See, that’s what I was saying,” Bradley said as he gestured at the TV. “These guys are just pissing away their scholarships playing like that. Thankfully, the high school team has some real standout players about to graduate this year.”

“You actually sound optimistic.”

He nodded. “I am, now. The team really managed to turn it around this year, probably thanks to the new principal threatening to pull funding completely.” When Aiden raised his eyebrows, Bradley grinned. “You know the office ladies talk, so I got the info on how that conversation went.”

“I can imagine,” Aiden replied. “I’m kind of surprised that you’d be gleeful about it since you’re the PE teacher and all that.”

Bradley waved away his words. “Please. I’m the debate coach, not the football coach. I might be a former football player, but I can recognize wasteful spending. Especially when you have other school teams doing better but not receiving near as much funding.”

Aiden nodded. “I heard the bowling team is undefeated this year.”

“Damn right they are. Ava and Grace have those girls going like a well-oiled machine.” Bradley grinned like he was coaching them himself and it brought a smile to Aiden’s face. “And the new principal is a damn force of nature too. She lit a fire under the county’s ass about budgets and reallocation of funds.”

“So maybe replacing textbooks that are held together by thoughts and prayers?”