Colt comes to stand next to us. “Chill, Aiden. She's my sister.” He looks at me with a jerk of his chin. “Who is this guy?”
“It's no one,” I tell him. I give Kinsey a look, and it's obvious she feels bad for saying something. But I know she felt she had to.
Aiden's voice is almost lethal. “Fuck that, May. Who is it?”
In frustration, Colt turns to Aiden. “Dude, what is your problem? Don't cuss at my sister. She's my responsibility. I'll take care of it.”
Aiden's hand squeezes my shoulder, and he presses close to me. “No, she's mine, Colt. She's my responsibility. There's something that I need to tell you.”
“Aiden,” I say with a warning in my voice. “Right now is not the best time to do this.”
Aiden's hand slides from my shoulders around my back and onto my other shoulder, tucking me under his arm. “No, May, it's time. It's past time.”
When I don't argue with him, he looks at Colt. “I’m in love with your sister.”
I know my mouth drops because I sure as hell wasn’t ready for that, and Colt doesn't take it very well either. “What? You and my sister?” His face turns red. “Have you been fucking my sister?”
In an instant, Aiden releases me and reaches out and grabs Colt by the front of his shirt and pulls him toward him. “Don't say that. Do not talk about your sister that way.”
“You bastard!” Colt says, pushing Aiden away, and when he staggers back a little, Colt rears back and punches Aiden in the face.
Kinsey screams, and I jump between the two of them to pull them apart. Aiden is quite a bit bigger than Colt, and I know that if he punched him, he could probably hurt him pretty badly. Luckily, Aiden just stands there, nose flaring, teeth gritted, and stares at him.
Colt points at the front door. “Get the fuck out of my house and never come back.”
I try to get Colt’s attention. “You don’t understand. Please just listen to what I have to say.”
Colt looks at me fiercely. “You’re a fool, May, if you think he's changed. He takes women home with him all the time. Always someone different. You're just a notch on his fuckin’ bedpost.”
I'm shaking my head, not wanting to believe anything that my brother is telling me. “It's not like that, Colt. We both knew what this was going into it. I knew who he was. I'm old enough to make my own decisions.”
“Fuck, May. What do I have to do to prove to you that you’re the one?” Aiden asks me. My attention has been focused on Colt and keeping him away, and instead I should have been looking at Aiden. He looks so hurt, and I did that to him. I keep doing that to him. I'm speechless, not sure what to say right now, but I don't have to figure that out because Aiden throws his hands up in the air. “Fuck it,” he says and turns on his heel and walks out the front door.
Colt moves to go after him, and I put my hands across his chest to stop him. He's pissed and not thinking right. A part of me can't blame him; I kept this from him. “Colt, listen to me. This was not his fault. I'm old enough to make my own decisions.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t understand. I don’t want you hurt, and Aiden will do that to you.”
I push him harder in the chest. “Well, it's my choice to make.”
Kinsey walks up to Colt. “Let's just take a few minutes, just take a breath.”
“Okay, Kinsey,” he says. She’s able to stop him from going out after Aiden, at least.
I look between the two of them. “Look, I'm going to go and let you cool off. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I tell him.
“Stay, May,” Kinsey says, but I’m already walking toward the door.
Kinsey follows me and hugs me tight. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
I nod and look over her shoulder at my brother. He’s looking at me as if I’ve committed the worst betrayal against him. Heck, to him, maybe I have. He doesn’t acknowledge me or act as if he wants anything to do with me. I walk out of the house and get into my car.
All I can think about is Aiden. Two nights in a row now, I’ve screwed up. I pull out of the driveway and get to the end of the block when I see Aiden’s car parked on the side of the road. I stop on the road behind him. He rolls down his window and waves me on, but instead of going past him, I pull up next to him, and he rolls the window down again. “Are you okay?” I ask him.