Page 142 of Perfect Storm
Lyla looked surprised. “Oh,” she said, comprehension dawning then. “When Landry and Riley dragged Levi to your house.”
Aidan nodded. “So really, it’s their fault.”
“You mean, it was our good deed of the fucking year,” Riley said impudently. “You’re welcome, bro.”
“We’re happy for you two,” Linda Banks said, tugging him in for a quick hug. Larry held out his hand and Aidan shook it firmly. “Can’t say we saw it coming, only because Levi hasn’t seemed particularly interested in finding the right guy, only the next guy.”
“Dad!” Levi exclaimed.
Aidan settled an arm around Levi’s waist. PDA would probably never come naturally to him—you’d catch him over his dead body fucking in someone else’s kitchen—but it felt right touching Levi like this. Looking up at him and feeling the warmth of his love spill out of his eyes.
Landry scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m . . .I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Told you, Aidan,” Riley said, a mischievous expression on his face. “You blew his mind.”
“How, what,why,” Landry whined.
Levi laughed. “You really want to hear about it?”
“No,no,” Landry retorted.
Lyla turned to Paige. “I think my brother’s brain is broken. If that’s all that comes out of this, I’m good.”
Paige laughed. “When Riley told me, I thought he was kidding. Are you guys gonna have one of those ‘seven brides for seven brothers’ weddings?”
Aidan froze, deer in the headlights.Wedding? They’djustgotten together.
“Hell no,” Riley said easily. “You think I’m sharing the spotlight with this guy more than I have to?”
Aidan relaxed a fraction.
“Besides,” Levi added with a devilish grin, “I’m enjoying fucking around in sin way too much.”
“God,” Landry groaned, putting a hand in front of his face.
Riley elbowed Levi in the side. “Your parents arerightthere, dude.”
“And they’ve heard so much worse,” Levi said smugly.
“So I guess you’re not going to move out, then,” Landry said. “I couldn’t figure out why you didn’t want to find your own place immediately.”
“Yeah, he was having conniptions about it,” Riley teased. “On the phone to Logan every other day about it. Never occurred to him—pretty stupidly, I might add—that might be because Levi didn’t want to leave.”
“I thought he was just . . .I don’t know . . .being lazy about it!” Landry exclaimed.
“Bro,” Levi said flatly.
“Yeah, be nice to my boyfriend,” Aidan said, and realized with another jolt that it was the first time he’d said it out loud and that he and Levi hadn’t really talked about specific verbiage.
But Levi beamed like he totally approved of Aidan’s word choice. “Yeah, be nice, Landry.”
“Why am I not surprised that you two are going to be totally smug about how happy you are, all the time?” Lyla wondered, not sounding particularly upset about that.
“I’m not surprised,” Paige echoed.
Levi broke away from Aidan to argue with his sister, good-naturedly. Something about how both of them deserved to be smug about finding each other.
It was cute and Aidan was totally endeared, but his best friend was still staring at him like he’d just seen a ghost.
