Second Chance Summer(51)

They got out and Aidan stared at the building, wishing that he had even a half a percent chance at finding Lily in his bed waiting for him. “You’re a lucky son of a bitch, having Penny decide on you way back in middle school, when you were actually decent-looking.”

Gray laughed. “I know exactly how lucky I am. Especially given what an idiot I was.”

“Was?” Aidan asked.

Gray wrapped an arm around Aidan’s neck and returned the painful noogie.

Aidan gave Gray a push in front of him and then tripped his brother up the stairs.

Then they walked into the building together and went their separate ways. Aidan walked into his and Hud’s place starving and exhausted. He wanted a huge breakfast spread that included eggs rancheros and a mountain of French toast and Lily in his bed.

Naked and willing.

None of the above was waiting for him. He opened his fridge and was staring at slim pickings when his phone rang.

“Problem,” Hudson said.

Aidan closed his eyes. “Dude, I just got home and am on three hours of sleep. Solve your own problems.”

“I’m at Gray’s desk staring at a monitor and I’ve got Lily sitting on a north-facing rock staring down Dead Man’s Cliff.”

“Shit,” Aidan said.

“Want me to go out there?”

“No.” Aidan shoved his hand through his hair. “I’ve got her.”

He drove up the hill and jogged the rest of the way, and was at the trailhead in under seven minutes. He tried calling Lily. He went straight to voice mail. Blowing out a breath, he hit the trail. It wasn’t often he did this. In the winter, he often skied every part of this hill, but in the summer months if he ended up out here in any capacity, it was because he was looking for someone, or fighting a blaze.

He was halfway up when he heard Lily coming down. And sure enough around the next turn she nearly plowed right into him.

She was flat out running for her life.

So that she didn’t take them over the edge he grabbed her arms and absorbed the impact.

With a gasp she stilled. Out of breath, damp with sweat, she stared up at him. “What are you doing here?”

“You first,” he said.

She backed from him and gulped in air. “I’m running.”

“From what?”

She stared at him for a beat and then laughed. She had to bend over and put her hands on her knees, and he took the moment to soak up the sight of her in a T-shirt and spandex shorts, both revealing lots of smooth, gorgeous skin and mouthwatering curves.

Finally she straightened.

“You going to tell me what’s so funny?” he asked.

“You, thinking the only reason I’d be running is because something’s chasing me.” She smiled. “I’ve spent the past month eating my emotions. The only thing I’m running from is the calories I’ve consumed.”

“Oh.” He relaxed. “I thought maybe—”

“I needed rescuing?”

“Well … yeah,” he said, and rubbed his jaw, watching her closely to see if she was going to fall apart.

He should’ve known better.

Her smile gone, she shook her head. “I don’t need rescuing.” Then she gnawed on her lip. “Okay, so not counting the snake and the tire, I don’t need rescuing.”

“No,” he agreed. “You don’t. You’re one of the strongest women I know. You bury your shit deep. I know a little about that, Lily, and it never works out well. I can promise you that.”

“And just what do you think I’m burying?” she asked.

“Just about everything … including your feelings for me,” he said.

She stared at him. He waited for her to laugh and deny it, or throw the words back in his face, but she did neither.

“This is my battle to fight,” she said. “Alone.”

This was an alien concept for Aidan, who never felt alone. Hell, his siblings lived right on top of him. “But you’re not alone.”

“I need to be for this,” she said stubbornly.

Independent to the end. And God forbid she accept help or support from anyone, especially him. “Lily, you’ve been on your own a long time, but you don’t have to be—”

“The past is the past. It plays no part in the here and now.”

“If that was really true, you wouldn’t be harboring a mad at me,” he said.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not mad at you.”

“You sure about that?” he asked.

She held his gaze for only a beat before looking away.

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” he said.

“Oh, goodie,” she said. “Sounds like fun.” And then she took off down the trail on her own.





Chapter 18


Lily slept poorly that night, thinking of what Aidan had said. She was mad at him, she realized. Not because of Ashley. It wasn’t his fault her sister had fallen for him. No, Lily was mad because he’d made her want him again, with no effort at all.

Also not his fault, a small part of her brain said.

She didn’t care. She wanted him, quite badly as it turned out, and irrational or not, it made her mad. Being back in Cedar Ridge was hard. Being on the mountain was even harder. But she was working on all of that.