Best of My Love (Fool's Gold, #20)(39)

Shelby sighed. “You know the purpose of this group was to get to know each other without getting romantically involved.”

“Why on earth would we want to do that?” Allison asked. “I have plenty of girlfriends. I’m looking for a man. Aren’t you?”

“Not right now,” Shelby told her. “I’m taking a break.”

Which was kind of true. To be honest, she was getting tired of trying to explain her relationship with Aidan. While their situation shouldn’t have been complicated, a lot of people had trouble understanding it.

Allison perked up. “You mean he’s single?”

Aidan walked over and sat next to Shelby. He looked at Allison. “Am I the he in question?”

Shelby wanted to push the blonde away, which made no sense. Instead she said with fake cheerfulness, “You are. Women continue to flock to you.”

“I’m not single,” Aidan said firmly.

“You’re not?” Allison and Shelby said together.

Aidan raised his eyebrows. “No. I’m...” He hesitated. “I’m not single.”

Allison glared at Shelby. “So you are dating.”

“We’re not.”

“You’re the reason he won’t go out with me.”

Aidan leaned back against the bench. “She kind of has you there.”

“It’s not funny,” Allison said, coming to her feet. “What kind of game are you two playing?”

“It’s not a game.” Shelby pressed her lips together, both happy and uncomfortable. “We’re just— It’s hard to explain.”

“Obviously.” Allison turned and walked away.

“She’s not a fan,” Aidan said lightly. “Nick doesn’t get it, either.”

“You discussed what we’re doing with your brother?”

“I told him the basics. Not why we’re trying this.”

Meaning he hadn’t shared anything about her father. Shelby wasn’t surprised, but still the words gave her a warm, glowy kind of feeling in her chest. Aidan was so nice and—

Allison returned with the redhead and Rob.

“Tell them what you told me,” Allison demanded. “Because I think you’re playing some kind of sick game.”

Several other members of the group gathered around. Charlie raised his head. His ears came forward and his posture changed from relaxed to watchful. While Shelby appreciated that he wanted to protect his new pack, she wished there was a way to explain it wasn’t necessary.

She looked at Aidan, who smiled at her. “I’ll take this one,” he said, before turning to the group.

“Shelby and I are friends. We’ve agreed to hang out with each other for six months to learn how the other half thinks and behaves. Our goal is to grow as people and learn to appreciate the opposite sex so we can have better relationships in the long term.”

About a dozen pairs of eyes stared in disbelief.

“You’re just friends,” Allison repeated, sounding skeptical. “As in just friends, but you’re not seeing anyone else?”

“No dating,” Shelby told her. “It would be a distraction. This is better.”

“Than what?” Rob asked. “You’re spending time together and not getting any? For six months? Man, that’s rough.”

Amanda turned on him. “I knew it. The only reason you want to go out with a woman is to get laid. You’re a real jerk, you know that?”

“Hey, if you had something interesting to say, I’d want to listen.”

A couple of the guys groaned. The redhead’s mouth dropped open. One of the men took Rob by the arm and led him toward the door.

“You should probably get out of here while you can.”

The unfolding drama was compelling, but it wasn’t enough to keep Shelby’s attention. Instead she found herself watching Aidan. The Aidan who used to have a different woman in his bed every weekend. The Aidan who was currently not, to quote the eloquent Rob, getting any.

Her first instinct was to offer to fix the problem. You know, with her. And with that thought came tangled images that made her insides quiver. Holding Aidan, kissing Aidan, making love with him. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she couldn’t help a minidaydream on the topic.

Then she reminded herself that he was her friend and that he deserved better from her.

“What?” Aidan asked. “You’re thinking something.”

“You. Sex.”

His eyes narrowed. “We’re not having that conversation.”

“But you—”

“Nope. Not going there. Everything is fine. This is working, Shelby. We’re both different. You’re trusting me and I’m getting to know you as a person. We’re doing what we set out to do. I’m not going to mess that up.”

“But you have needs.”

“I’m fine and we are done talking about this.”

He stared at her until she nodded slowly. Fine. They wouldn’t talk about it anymore, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t think about it. Her friend had a problem and somehow she was going to have to fix it.

*

AIDAN SPENT A week waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Shelby kept her word. There weren’t any discussions of his needs, or anything else that made him uncomfortable. Which was exactly how he wanted it to be. Only every now and then he found himself wondering how she would suggest solving the problem. He could think of a couple of great ideas, all of which involved them naked.