Page 78 of Heat Exchange
“I guess we’ll see how it goes, then,” Scotty said.
“It should go fine,” Walsh said. “You’re pissed because Hunt was sleeping with your sister. Hunt’s pissed your sister doesn’t want to sleep with him anymore, which means he’s no longer sleeping with your sister. It seems like the problem resolved itself.”
“I’m not pissed. For chrissake, I...” Aidan stopped talking, but when he lifted the bottle to his lips, he didn’t drink because he was afraid the liquid couldn’t get past the lump in his throat and he’d choke on it.
“Holy shit.” Scott set his beer on the table with a thump and leaned back in his chair. “You’re in love with Lydia.”
Aidan flipped him the bird. It was all he was capable of at the moment.
“You love my sister. You asshole.”
“Way to be sensitive, Kincaid,” Danny muttered.
“What the hell am I supposed to do now?” he demanded, throwing up his hands. “When I thought he was just bangin’ my sister, I could be totally pissed off. But if he really loves her and his fucking heart’s broken, then...he’s my best friend, so what the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
“You could hug him,” Danny suggested.
Aidan glared at him, but the knot in his throat and his chest was loosening and he gave a hoarse chuckle. “No hugging.”
“If you cry, Hunt, I’ll hug you right here in front of God and everybody, so suck it up.”
Aidan was surprised when that got a laugh out of him. He’d thought it would be a lot longer before he was able to laugh at anything. “I’ll do my best not to cry into my beer.”
They were all quiet for a few minutes, listening to the music and staring at their drinks, until Scott gave him a serious look. “Am I right?”
After so much lying, it was hard but still a relief to look his friend in the eye and admit it. “Yes, I love Lydia.”
“Likereallove?”
“Like the marriage, babies, dog, minivan, white picket fence, matching rocking chairs and thinks she’s gorgeous in ratty sweats kind of love.”
“Shit.”
Aidan nodded. “That pretty much sums up my life at the moment.”
“But she doesn’t love you?” Danny asked.
“She doesn’t love firefighters.”
“What does that mean?” Scotty asked. “Her entire family’s firefighters, for chrissake.”
“It means if I worked at Home Depot or turned wrenches or anything else for a living, she probably would have moved in with me by now.”
“Todd was an asshole,” Walsh said.
“It goes a little deeper than her ex-husband, I think, though he’s a huge part of it.”
“She always had a hard time with Dad,” Scotty said. “Even though she’s the middle child, she kind of took over the mom role when Mom died, and I think being the woman of a firefighting household before she was even a grown woman was tough on her. It made some of the day-to-day issues experienced wives deal with seem larger than life, I imagine.”
“It’s tough even when theyaregrown women,” Walsh said. “I’m sure Ashley and I being separated helped shore up Lydia’s beliefs about being married to firefighters, too, especially since that’s why she came back in the first place.”
“Speaking of that,” Aidan said, running his finger down the condensation on his bottle, “has she said when she’s going back?”
“Ashley hasn’t said anything to me about it.”
Scotty shrugged. “Again, she’s not speaking to me. Thus illustrating one of the many reasons you don’t want your best friend sleeping with your sister. Everything’s fun and games until the breakup, and now you’re an asshole, I’m an asshole and my sister has a broken heart.”
Walsh nodded, then lifted his beer as if in a toast. “Yeah, but at least your sister’s broken heart will heal.”
