“Hi, Anya,” Emmett yelled like they hadn’t just seen each other.
“Hi!” She stopped in front of the house and stared up at the brick-front exterior. “You have a way bigger house than we do.”
Aiden rubbed the back of his neck, dropped his chin to his chest, and sighed audibly.
At least I wasn’t the only one with a filter-free chatterbox in this scenario.
I smiled at Anya. “Well, there were five of us when my brother bought the house. He had to have enough space for me and my three sisters. That’s a lot of bedrooms.”
Aiden lifted his head, and again, I got the feeling he was studying me.
Anya’s eyes got wide. “You lived with your brother? Cool.”
I nodded.
That was when my chatterbox nephew decided to interject. “Really, he’s her half-brother. They had the same dad. He had a heart attack. But when their mom left, my dad bought a bigger house so they could all live together.”
“Thank you, Emmett.” I sighed. Aiden’s mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile. “Anything else you want to share?” I asked the little person next to me.
“Yes.”
I gave him a look.
“Well, you asked!” He took a deep breath and turned to Aiden. “You shouldn’t feel too special that Iz had your picture on her wall when she was fifteen. She had a lot of people on her wall, and there was probably a whole section of athletes she didn’t like too, you know, just to remind her who they were.”
“Emmett,” I ground out, “stop talking.”
“Fine, geez,” he murmured.
I raked my fingers into my hair and blew out a breath. “Why don’t you show Anya either your video games or the backyard or … something.”
“The treehouse!” Anya yelled, then she looked up at Aiden. “Can I?”
He crouched down to her height, sliding off his sunglasses. “Yes, but you treat their things respectfully, and what’s the other rule?”
She sighed. “No climbing up too high.”
“Go ahead,” he said softly. He held out his fist, and she bumped it before running off with Emmett. They whooped and hollered like little savages, and I smiled as the sound disappeared into the backyard.
Aiden straightened.
And we were alone.
“I’ll grab the fuses I have,” he said. “Hopefully, one will work.”
With a nod, I watched him open a steel-plated toolbox in the bed of his truck. Watched the stretch of his back, the way the muscles in his arms bunched as he moved items that I couldn’t see. And his ass in the jeans he was wearing. I almost whimpered.
So yes, if I was guilty of anything, it was my complete physical objectification of this man. Yes, he was so much more than a beautiful body, but holy hell, his body was so, so nice to look at.
I wanted to do things to that body and let it do even more to me.
I opened the door when he reached the front step and followed him into the entryway. Head tipped, he took in the staircase curving up to the second floor, the wall of framed pictures that covered the wall leading to the kitchen, dining, and family room.
At the end of the display, there was one that made him pause—me, my sisters, and Emmett when Lia and Claire finished their undergrad. The twins in their cap and gown were flanked by Molly and me as Emmett stood front and center, sticking his tongue out at the camera.
“He’s your nephew, you said?”
“Yeah.” Then I laughed under my breath. “But sometimes it feels like he’s our little brother. We have a”—I paused—“unique family tree.”
He hummed. “All that teenage anger you mentioned.”
Slowly, I nodded. “Yeah.”
Aiden studied the line of pictures, and I wondered what he was thinking. His gaze landed on one of me, Logan, and Paige when I was sixteen.
“Your mom left the four of you.”
He stated it so simply, without any inflection, that it didn’t knock the breath out of me. Again, I nodded.
When he turned, his eyes held a dangerous edge. “I’d be pretty fucking angry too.”
My smile was wide, my laughter unexpected. But it felt really good. Aiden’s expression softened.
I stood next to him and looked at the picture. “That’s the anger you caught”—I glanced sideways at him—“a couple of weeks ago. My sister invited her to their wedding, and I … didn’t handle it well,” I said wryly. “Maybe I’m still not handling it well.”
Aiden watched me with heavy-lidded eyes. Something about my honesty seemed to affect him the most.
“So I don’t need to expect attacks like that often?” he asked. “I’ll keep my guard up if I should.”
“No,” I answered around a small smile. “You don’t.” At his nod, I breathed just a little easier. “I’ll show you where the utility closet is.”
I brushed past Aiden, my arm grazing his where my shirt had slid off my shoulder, and I felt the small touch down to my toes because his skin was warm and firm. As he followed me, he was quiet, but I got the sense he was studying our home. Studying me.
We passed the guest room and a bathroom, turning by the doorway that led to Logan’s office. Aiden paused, glancing inside. Over my shoulder, I saw him peering at the Washington Wolves paraphernalia lining the walls. Two framed jerseys hung centered over the couch along the back wall from Logan’s professional career and college. Photos of him and Paige, the sisters, and Emmett adorned the wall behind his desk. On the dark wood surface were two massive computer monitors and neat stacks of books and binders.
“No trophies out,” Aiden commented.
I smiled. “I think they’re in a box in the closet.”
His eyebrows popped up briefly. “Mine will probably end up there too. I can never figure out how to display them without seeming pompous.”
“The burden of greatness?” I teased lightly.
One edge of his mouth hooked up in a wry smile. “Something like that. I haven’t set up my home office yet.”
“Probably because
