Page 58 of Crossed Up

His brows furrow in confusion, but instead of being annoyed or frustrated, he just sighs and pulls me to his chest. “Ly… why on earth would I be upset about something you have no control over?”

I shrug, leaning my cheek against his warm skin and tracing the tattoo of mine and Crew’s birthday that sits over his heart. “I figured you wouldn’t want to share a bed with me until I was done.”

He stiffens against me, and his expression is thunderous when I lean back to look at his face. “Your period doesn’t turn you into a leper, Lyla. There’s not a single goddamn thing on this earth that would make me not want you in my bed, but especially something that’s completely natural. For fuck’s sake, I just told you I want you to have my babies, and you think a little blood is going to scare me off?”

Something clicks in my brain with his words, and I sag against him, burying my nose where his neck and shoulder meet. “I’m sorry,” I murmur with a kiss to his neck. “I think I just found something new to talk about with my therapist.”

He heaves a breath, softening minutely. “What did he do to make you so afraid of your own body, sugar?”

Tears spring to my eyes in record time, both at the term of endearment and from the reminder of life with Sebastian. “He made me sleep in a separate bedroom every month when I’d get my period. Only with the IUD, it’s not always regular. So whenever it would show up randomly and catch me off guard, I would have to hide the evidence from Sebastian, my ex, so he didn’t get angry and take it out on me.”

Aidan’s anger is so visceral he’s shaking with the force of it, but knowing it’s directed at Bas and not me eases the remaining fear I felt seeing my blood on his sheets this morning.

Blowing out a deep breath, he crushes me to him, his words sounding like they’ve been dragged through gravel on the way out. “Listen to me, angel. You never, and I do mean never, have to be afraid of my reaction to anything. Especially not something like this. You’re precious to me, Lyla. Every single part of you. And if you think I’m going to be upset because of something that indicates you’re healthy, you’re dead wrong.”

“I know. I’m not afraid of you, Aidan. I don’t think I ever was. But this is one of those things I didn’t realize would be a trigger until it happened.”

“I know, baby. And we’ll work through it together.”

I open my mouth to thank him, but he shocks me when he places one of his warm hands directly over my uterus. “Are you in pain? How bad does it usually get?”

My mouth gapes, and I’m sure I look like a fish out of water, but I can’t seem to formulate a response. I shouldn’t be surprised he’s asking because Aidan is so purely good. Of course he’s asking about my period symptoms.

Shaking off the shock, I smile softly. “The first day or two are pretty bad, but they’re way worse without the IUD. That’s actually why I got it in the first place.”

He nods, a pensive frown covering his handsome face. I yelp when he picks me up suddenly and carries me into his massive en-suite bathroom. All the cabinets in here are done in the same sage green as the kitchen, and heated white tile floors and gold accents complete the modern design.

My jaw is still hanging partially slack when he sets me down on the cold countertop, but he just smirks at me and moves to the tub across the room, turning it on. I look on in stunned silence while Aidan prepares what looks like an epic bubble bath in his oversized freestanding tub.

He throws in bath salts that fill the room with the scent of eucalyptus and mint and enough bubbles that the mountain it creates would cover a grown man and absolutely bury me. When he turns back to me with an expectant look, I just raise a brow at him.

He rolls his eyes with a dramatic huff and stomps back over to me, picking me up bridal style and dropping me into the steaming water. The action reminds me so much of Crew that I have to stifle a laugh at his expense.

The bubbles completely overtake me, just like I thought they would, and Aidan’s laughter booms through the space. His large hands part the bubbles like Moses and the Red Sea, and then I’m face to gorgeous face with my new boyfriend’s wide smile and pink cheeks.

“You said you were in pain, and Epsom salt baths always help me when my muscles are sore. Do you want some pain meds? I have regular and extra strength.”

“Extra strength would be great, thanks. But you know you don’t have to do all of this, right? I’m a big girl, Aid. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time now.”

Aidan meets my incredulous look head-on with a single arched brow, grin still firmly in place but softening the longer he studies my face. He lifts his hands to cup my cheeks and plants a gentle kiss on the tip of my nose. “I know you have. And you’re probably the strongest woman I know. But one benefit of having a partner, a family, is that you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore. You want my burdens? I get yours, too.”

Another kiss, this time on my forehead. “Let me take care of my girl.”

I nod silently, something akin to pain rolling through me at the sincerity in his tone. My entire life, I’ve been seen and not heard. My father was too busy to do the whole parenting thing, my nannies never treated me as anything more than a paycheck, and to Sebastian, I was a means to an end. A plaything.

And then along came Aidan. Aidan, with his sweet smiles and happy disposition. Who’s selfless to a fault and is raising the most kind-hearted little boy I’ve ever met. The man who broke down every single one of my sky-high walls and implanted himself so deep in to my heart I can’t foresee ever getting him out.

It’s for all of those reasons I let my reservations go and offer a hesitant nod in response to his words. And when his eyes light up before he rushes off to get me pain medicine? I know I’d agree to just about anything to keep that look on his face.

After an obnoxiously long bath and a massage Aidan insisted on giving me, I feel as good as new and ready to face the day ahead. Today is Aidan’s last day before the season opener, so he decided to skip their last optional practice and stay home with Crew and me so we can tell him about our relationship.

Thanks to our morning activities, I’ve just sat down with my coffee much later than usual when Crew comes flying through the French doors and launches himself onto the swing next to me.

He tucks himself into my side with a contented sigh and an exuberant, “Morning, Lyly!”

I toss an arm around his shoulders and kiss the top of his head, loving the smell of his watermelon shampoo. “Good morning, Crew-bug!”

Just then, Aidan joins us on the deck, his own coffee in hand and a nervous grin on his face as he sits down on the swing, propping a single knee up on the seat so he’s facing us. “Raptor, do you know what a girlfriend is?”

---