Page 58 of His to Cherish

Aidan’s temper flared like the Fourth of July and I knew all that foreboding I’d felt earlier—everything was about to explode and light up the sky like a firework extravaganza.

“Aidan,” I whispered, but he didn’t seem to hear me.

“Yeah?” Aidan replied to David, his eyes narrowed slits of anger and anguish. “You know what the fuck my boy wanted? He wanted to live, you fucking prick! He wanted to play ball and kiss girls and he wanted to learn how to drive my damn truck. He wanted college and more girls probably. But he sure as fuck didn’t want…to…fucking…die.”

He was panting after his rant and wobbled on unsteady feet. Whether from the booze or his grief, I didn’t know. I lunged to grab him when David threw his arm out, stopping me.

His arm was a solid bar of steel and his voice lowered. “I know, buddy. I know all that and I know this sucks, but you throwing all this shit around your house, all this anger at my feet, and all your grief into a bottle isn’t going to help a damn thing.”

“It silences it.”

David shook his head. “It hides it, hides your pain and your sadness until it’s forced to come out another way. Be sad, Aidan. Grieve and mourn and wail, but don’t lose your fucking mind over this, or your life. You know this shit.”

Aidan laughed. It was the first time I’d heard him laugh, and I coiled back into the safety of David’s protection because I couldn’t stand the sound.

Nails on a chalkboard sounded more pleasant than the evil, dark cackle that escaped his thick lips.

“You’re such a prick.”

David nodded. “I know. You love me for it, even if you’re too fucking stubborn to admit it.”

“Get the fuck out of my house.” His hands balled into tight fists and I shrank back, unsure if there was going to be a brawl, but both men were wired so tight I wouldn’t have been surprised.

I didn’t want them fighting.

David stayed still for several minutes until his shoulders relaxed. “We’ll go, then.”

I frowned and looked at David. He’d wanted me here to help but hadn’t let me do a darn thing yet.

The way he said “we” seemed to spark something in Aidan.

“She stays.”

I jerked back, surprised he even knew I was there, considering he hadn’t yet acknowledged me in any way.

“I don’t—” I started, but was cut off by the lethal glare Aidan flashed my way.

“Stay,” he growled.

No way in hell was I staying.

David ran a hand through his hair and smiled sadly before he took my hand in his. The comforting squeeze he gave me did nothing to help me. “He won’t hurt you, but don’t put up with his shit, either. Throw it back at him, he needs it, I promise you.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I mumbled when I felt a wall of heat at my side, trying to burn us to death.

A large hand wrapped around my elbow and I was pulled away from David, into Aidan’s side.

“Get your hands off her.”

“Be nice, man.”

“Go away.”

David’s smile changed like this had actually been fun. I decided he must have been crazy. He hadn’t helped anything and now he was throwing me to the big, bad, really pissed off, really drunk, and really sad wolf with great big green eyes and sharp, wicked teeth.

“When your hangover disappears tomorrow, give me a call.”

He stepped forward, slapped Aidan on the shoulder, and pulled him in for a man hug. He murmured something that I couldn’t hear into Aidan’s ear, and when he pulled back, some of the tension and anger tightening Aidan’s shoulders had evaporated.

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