The Pact(33)

“Hope you didn’t piss your panties,” she says as she bear hugs me and I laugh.

“I was close,” I joke and then Aaron is at my side handing me a glass of wine. I stare up at him with bright eyes. I can’t believe he actually planned this all for me. I’m hit with a pang of guilt at the thoughts I was thinking earlier. I need to be better to him – apparently he’s full of surprises.

Someone puts on Led Zeppelin’s “Trampled Underfoot,” one of my favorite Zep songs, and the night swings into action. The Lion is out of the question now, here is where the party is and where it was always supposed to be.

I go into the kitchen to help Nicola and Aaron take some of the appetizers out of the fridge. Once Nicola leaves with a bowl of spinach and artichoke dip, I grab Aaron around the waist and hold him close to me.

“Thank you,” I tell him sincerely as I peer up at him. “Thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

He gives me a bashful, boyish smile. “Don’t worry about it. I thought it was a good idea. It was all Linden’s though.”

Did I hear that right? “What?”

“Yeah, he called me a few weeks ago and said he had a great idea for your birthday present but he needed my help. He wanted to use my place because you’d be less suspicious that way and I was like sure, that’s cool. It was all him.” He reaches behind and squeezes my ass. “My birthday gift will come later though, don’t you worry babe.”

I’m too surprised to pay that promise any attention.

This was all Linden’s idea?

Linden did all of this…for me?

I find myself pulling away from Aaron and staring at him with new eyes. He doesn’t seem ashamed in the slightest or even jealous that another guy would do all of this. In fact, I’ve never seen Aaron get jealous over Linden, not even once. I used to really like that about him but now I’m starting to wonder if a little jealousy is a healthy thing.

“More wine?” he asks and brings out the bottle from the fridge, filling it up before I say anything. “Here’s to fucking thirty, you cougar,” he says jokingly. I glare back and am still glaring as he leaves the kitchen to join the rest of the party.

I stay leaning against the counter, sipping my glass for a minute, trying to wrap my head around it all. Linden had done this for me. I’m sure to some people it’s not a big deal – their friends throw them surprise parties all the time and he is my friend.

But for some reason, it was cutting deep, and in a wonderfully warm way.

I decide to head toward the bathroom and as I go down the hall away from the party and round the corner, I literally bump right into the man of the hour. Linden.

It’s amazing how my body brushing against his just unleashes this vat of butterflies right into my stomach.

“Sorry,” Linden says with a cheeky grin, peering down at me.

I grab his forearm. I love a good, strong forearm on a man and his forearm game is on point. Skin still dark from the summer, just enough hair to make him manly but not a gorilla, the quotes tattooed on the inner side (“She’s mad but she’s magic. There is no lie in her fire”) and muscles to burn, like you can imagine him either chopping wood with ease or gripping your hips as he takes you hard from behind.

I’m starting to think maybe grabbing his forearm was a bad idea. I let it go and then for what seems like the first time ever, I’m at a loss of what to say to him.

“Linden,” I say and then stop, biting my lip like some moronic schoolgirl.

His dark blue eyes search mine. They can be so damn intense sometimes and I’m afraid of what he’s looking for and what he’s about to deduce.

“Did Aaron tell you?” he asks cautiously.

I nod. “Yeah.”

“I didn’t want him to,” he says, not taking his eyes off of mine.

“Why not?”

He shrugs, his brow furrowing. “I don’t know. It didn’t seem right. I wanted you to think that it was all his idea.”

I give my head a small shake. “Why?”

He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing on his thick neck and I briefly imagine what it’s like to bite him there, just a small nibble or two. I bet he tastes like sage and testosterone.

His eyes settle on my lips. “Because this is the sort of thing the man in your life should do for you. Not your friend.”

Something in my chest is growing warm, clawing through me. I don’t know if it’s all in my head or what but something in this dark hallway is changing. The air around us is becoming electric, like before a summer storm, and the tension feels thick enough to choke you.