Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell #6)(21)

“He probably didn’t hear much,” Aidan said, sounding hopeful and making her groan pathetically as she abruptly turned and headed towards her kitchen, deciding that she just didn’t have it in her to have this conversation with Darrin.

If he knew then they’d talk about it, but not right now when all she wanted to do was grab a Coke and the bag of Hershey Kisses that she had hidden in the box of tampons upstairs and veg out in front of the television. She grabbed two cans of Coke and headed upstairs, not really surprised when Aidan followed her. He didn’t say anything, probably because he was afraid that she’d start crying again, which she hated to admit, was a definite possibility, something that she didn’t want to do in front of Darrin.

She placed the Cokes on her nightstand and walked into her bathroom, pulled the bottom drawer open and picked up the economy sized box of tampons that she’d bought eight years ago and carried it back to the bed where Aidan was already lounging with one of her precious Cokes in his hand. Frowning, he watched as she opened the box and dumped the two large bags of Hershey Kisses that she’d been hiding from Darrin on the bed.

“What the hell……,” he murmured as he looked from the empty tampon box to the chocolate that she planned on devouring, back to the empty tampon box.

“Tell Darrin and I’ll make your life a living hell,” she promised, popping the top off her Coke with a sigh as she reached for the remote and settled in for a long, depressing night of Lifetime movies.

“Understood,” Aidan said with a nod as he reached for one of her bags of chocolate.

“Touch my chocolate and you’ll be singing soprano for the rest of your life,” she bit out, even as she shifted so that she could settle back against him.

He cleared his throat as he quickly lost interest in her chocolate and put his arm around her, “Duly noted.”

*-*-*-*

“Where’s Marybeth?” Reese asked as he sat down next to him at the crowded tavern table.

“At home,” he said on a tired sigh as he took a sip from his beer.

“Why didn’t she come?” his twin brother asked with a confused frown as Darrin was once again forced to shift his chair to the left and away from the couple making out next to him.

“Because this is a guy’s night out,” he bit out, looking pointedly at the two large bastards sitting to his right, the same ones that had not only brought their wives to guy’s night out, but who also couldn’t seem to stop kissing and pawing at their wives’ asses.

“If you wanted to have a guy’s night out then why did you invite them?” Reese asked, gesturing towards Trevor and Jason with a handful of peanuts.

“I didn’t,” he said, rolling his eyes in disgust when Zoe giggled as Trevor playfully nipped at her neck.

Pathetic, he thought with disgust, not at all jealous that his cousins were free to touch and kiss the women they loved whenever they wanted while he had to hide his relationship with Marybeth. It was fine with him, absolutely f*cking fine, he told himself as he held up his empty beer bottle and gestured to the waitress walking past them to bring him another one.

“Then why are they here?” Reese asked, holding up two fingers, ordering his own beer.

“I have no f*cking clue,” he said with a heavy sigh. “They just showed up an hour ago, sat down and started making out.”

“Do you want to move to another table?” Reese asked when Trevor suddenly grabbed Zoe from her chair and dragged her onto his lap.

“I already tried that,” he admitted, nodding his thanks when the waitress placed a cold bottle of beer in front of him. “They followed me.”

Reese chuckled as he sipped his beer. “Is Danny coming?”

“No, his girlfriend is making him dinner tonight,” he said, hating the fact that he was jealous of his brother, especially since Danny deserved some happiness after all the bullshit life had put him through.

“Have you met her yet?” Reese asked, grabbing the small appetizer’s menu positioned between the ketchup and barbeque sauce bottles in the middle of their table.

“No,” he said, shaking his head as he signaled for the waitress.

“Aidan and Uncle Jared can’t say enough nice things about her,” Reese said, looking over the menu.

“That’s because she bakes for them,” he pointed out.

“There is that,” Reese said, his lips twitching with amusement as he gestured to the appetizer menu as the waitress stopped by their table and pulled a small notepad out of her apron. “Four of everything, please.”

“Better make it five if you want the girls to get anything,” Darrin said, gesturing towards Haley and Zoe, who seemed completely besotted with the bastards holding them.

“I’ll put those orders right in,” the waitress said with a smile, not even batting an eye at their request, more than used to dealing with Bradfords and their appetites.

“Did you run a background check on her?” Reese asked once their waitress walked away.

Darrin chuckled as he took a sip of his beer. “Three months ago. You?”

Grinning, Reese nodded as he finished off his beer and signaled for another one. “Dad asked me to do it four months ago,” he admitted ruefully as he grabbed another handful of peanuts.

He wasn’t exactly surprised since their father couldn’t seem to stop worrying about their older brother. Their father was always fretting over Danny, worried that he wasn’t eating enough, that he wasn’t taking care of himself or that he was in pain and wasn’t telling anyone. Darrin worried about his brother, they all did, but they were free to worry about him. Their father on the other hand…