Page 101 of Dream a Little Dream

“How would you know that?”

Kenny waited a beat, then, “Because I saw her today.”

The confession landed like a physical blow to Aaron’s head. “Youwhat?”

“I went to see Roisin. With DI Bentley.” Kenny moved away from him.

Aaron waited for it. The look. The realisation. That same look when Aaron’s first foster father had discovered who he was. Who his mother was. The same one that the bloke he’d accidentally told who he was had. Fear.Disgust.

“How is she?” Aaron swallowed his dread.

“The same as she always is. Manipulative. Detached. Exceptionally clever.”

“Did she ask about me?”

“Yes.”

“What did you say?”

“What she wanted to hear.”

“Which was?”

“That you were talented. Beautiful.”

Aaron’s lips tugged into a small, involuntary smile, soft and fragile. “That what you think?”

Kenny sighed, running a hand through his hair as he turned away, putting even more space between them. “Aaron…” His voice was quiet, heavy, as though carrying the weight of everything he wanted to say but couldn’t. He paced, his movements restless, radiating tension.

This was it. The full stop Kenny was about to put on whatever tangled thing existed between them, and Aaron braced himself for the second blow.

Kenny leaned back against the fridge, folding his arms across his chest as if putting on armour. He stared at the floor for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before lifting his gaze to meetAaron’s. His eyes were dark, shadowed by an unmistakable blend of regret and restraint.

“I’m here for you,” he said, steady but laced with an undercurrent of tension. “You can trust me. But this—whatever thisisbetween us—anything more than what we already have? It’s impossible. You know that.”

Aaron’s smile faltered. He didn’t respond, waiting; the silence stretching taut as a wire.

“It’s not just because I’m your professor, though that alone should be enough. It’s because you’re now actively involved in a case I’m working on. You’re not just any student, either. You’re connected to the very case that defined my entire career, the case that shaped the person I am today. The conflict of interest alone should send me running in the opposite direction.”

Aaron’s chest tightened, the faint flicker of hope dimming with each word Kenny said.

“And it’s not just aboutme.” Kenny rubbed his forehead. “If I cross these lines, it’s not just my career on the line. It’s yours, too. Before you even have one. Whatever it is you evenwantfrom this degree. Do you understand what that means? Every single choice I’ve made to protect you, to help you, would be called into question. My credibility?Destroyed. Every case I’ve ever worked on, every victim I’ve ever tried to help, would be thrown into doubt because of us.”

Aaron flinched, the words hitting harder than the ones before, and he tried to defend the first time he’d ever latched on to anyone for anything. “I won’t tell any—”

“Then there’syou.” Kenny pressed on, determined to hammer it home. To Aaron. To himself. But his eyes softened, as if it pained him to say it all. “You’ve already been pulled into the depths of something far darker than most people can comprehend. You’re carrying the weight of your past, your family, the things you’ve seen and lived through. You don’t needme making it worse. What you need is space to figure out who you are. Without someone like me complicating everything.”

Kenny dropped his hands to his sides, fingers curling as if he were trying to hold himself together. “And I…” He hesitated, swallowing hard. “I’m not sure I can trust myself around you. That’s the truth. You have this way of unravelling me, of making me question every boundary I’ve ever set. And that, to be honest and open,terrifiesme.”

Aaron ground his teeth, biting down to prevent either an outburst of anger or an influx of tears.Thiswas why he hated emotion. Hatedpeople. Because they could producethispain.

“This is about integrity.” Kenny searched his face. “About doing the right thing, no matter how much I wish things could be different. But if I let this happen,continueto happen, I’m not protecting you. I’m failing you.”

“You got all that after seeing my mum?”

“I’m sorry, Aaron.” Kenny’s voice broke at the edges. “But this is where it has to stop.”

Aaron stared at him, chest tight and his throat burning, but he didn’t speak. What could he say? Kenny had drawn the lines, set the boundaries, and there was no crossing them. Not now.Not ever.

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