Dirty Toe Drag (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 6)

“Duly noted, but why do you feel like you fucked up?”

“’Cause I answered his phone. I shouldn’t have done that, but I was worried it was someone he wanted to talk to but didn’t save their contact. Or a team member calling from another phone. I didn’t know, and I’m scared to tell him.”

“Why?”

I almost drop a cupcake, I’m so stressed. “Because what if he shuts down again or breaks it off because he is trying to leave that part of his life behind him and I answered the phone when I shouldn’t have?”

She thinks that over. “True, but I still think you should tell him.”

“Well, I know that. I just don’t want to.”

She laughs as she taps her hip to mine. “Don’t worry, my love. He’s smitten with you.”

My lips curve at the side because I know he is, but is he smitten enough not to get pissed I talked to his dad? Just then, another voice joins us.

“Are we talking about my best friend?”

Audrey and I both whip our heads to Aiden, who wears a shirt that reads, I PUCKED her, and now I’m a future baby daddy.

Classy.

I feel Audrey’s gaze on me, but Aiden’s eyes trap mine. I lick my lips, nodding. “Yes, my boyfriend.”

He scoffs. “So, now that you know I know, you’re all upfront about being with my best friend?”

I roll my eyes. “You know I’ve liked my boyfriend for a while. I was waiting for him to grow up.”

“True, but I thought maybe he’d be smart enough not to get involved with you. But of course, he’s not, and now if something goes down and you break his heart, I’ll lose my best friend.”

I gawk at him, glaring. “Oh my God, stop being dramatic. If I waited this long for him to grow up, do you really think I would go into it blindly? I’m not dumb, Aiden.”

Audrey hooks her thumb at me. “She’s right. She really did wait this one out.”

“So did he,” he says then, holding my gaze. “He’s in it, so I hope when you get done with school, you don’t decide to blow him off for some big job in New York or California.”

I swallow hard, and while it’s an opening to admit that I’m not going anywhere, it isn’t one I’m willing to take right now. “That’s not going to happen. But what if he gets traded? Leaving me behind?”

“He has it too good here,” Aiden says simply. “Elli or Shelli won’t trade him because of all the progress he is making here. It’s about his mental health. I hope you realize that.”

“And I hope you realize that I know that and wouldn’t take it lightly.”

“You’re young, a baby.”

“Guys, I think we need to calm down,” Audrey tries, but I’ll be damned.

“And so is your wife,” I throw back at him. “And you trust her, married her, pucked her up,” I say, holding my hand out to his shirt. “My age has nothing to do with this. You’re worried for your friend, and I need you to know, I worry too. I care greatly for him.”

Still, our gazes stay locked. I don’t know how we got into this standoff, but I wouldn’t expect anything less. Aiden loves fiercely, just as I do. So, bring it, big brother. “You care greatly for him? You don’t even know him.”

I glare. “I’ve spent three nights a week serving him at Brooks for the last seven months. I almost slept with him at your wedding. It’s only been a couple weeks, but it feels like a couple years. Don’t question how I feel or how he feels.”

His eyes narrow to slits. “You don’t know what he’s been through,” he snaps at me.

“I know for a fact that I know more than you know because he told me so. And let me tell you this, Aiden Brooks, I would never discredit or take his feelings lightly. I am in it to win it, just as you were with Shelli.”

It’s as if I’ve hit Aiden. His eyes widen, his mouth parts a bit, and while I don’t know what he was about to say, when the door opens, I’m thankful for the welcome interruption.

Wes looks between us, holding a large bottle of whiskey and with Shelli on his arm. Of course he looks adorable in a light-blue shirt with khaki shorts. His hair is combed nicely to the side, and he looks so well rested. Almost as if the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. How can I tell him I spoke to his dad, possibly putting that weight back on his shoulders?

Wes’s eyes settle on me then, and a wide grin comes over his face. “Damn, you’re hot.”

I grin back as I place my tray of cupcakes down on the bar and head toward him. He meets me halfway, kissing me fully on the mouth. Against my lips, he asks, “Did you get this hot for me?”