‘Ok, fair point. Right, well it usually falls into one of a few categories, so I’ll shoot first and stop me when I get there.’ She was on a roll now and the sooner they talked this out and came up with a solution, the sooner they could get back on that dance floor. ‘Is she married?’
‘Nope.’
Bugger. That was the one she’d thought most likely.
‘Pregnant?’
‘No. Look, Eileen—’
‘Her family doesn’t love you?’
‘No, it’s—’
The answer had struck her like a bolt of realisation. It wasn’t a ‘she’. It was a ‘he’. And the ‘he’ was Aiden. That had to be it. The guy flew all the way here today, from the opposite side of the country, on the basis of a text that Aiden had sent him saying that there were problems here. That was more than friendship. That was love.
‘It’s a “he”,’ she finished for him. ‘You’re in love with Aiden.’
‘Eileen! I’m not in love with Aiden. But I am beginning to understand why you’re still single,’ he blurted, mimicking her comment from earlier.
She was about to object when…
‘It’s complicated because the woman I’m in love with is older than me. She is the mom of my best friend. And she has no idea how completely amazing she is.’
Several things happened at once. Eileen’s jaw froze, leaving her mouth stuck in the open position. She became absolutely incapable of speech. And she realised that her hand was still on top of his, but that he was now very gently rubbing her thumb with his.
As soon as she recovered her motor skills, she snatched her hand back and groaned, ‘No. Trevon, you’re not. This is something else. Something different.’
‘Eileen, it isn’t. It’s exactly what I think it is.’
‘But that’s crazy.’
He visibly bristled at that. ‘Why?’
‘Because I’m twenty-five years older than you, for a start.’ She felt herself starting to sweat, and her heart went into overdrive as it tried to fight against the lungs that were, right now, squeezing the air out of her chest.
‘I’m thirty-eight. You’re seventeen years older than me, and I’ve no idea why that matters.’
‘Because I’m seventeen years older than you!’ she repeated, with more emphasis on the ‘seventeen’.
‘Still don’t get why that’s a problem,’ he shrugged, not buying into it at all. ‘What was the age difference between Gary and his last girlfriend? Or the one before that? Or the one before that? A pretty solid twenty-five years for every one of them.’
‘And holding my ex-husband’s dating standards up to me as a reference point is not going to win you this argument,’ she said sharply.
‘Just pointing out the double standard,’ he retorted, and she could see why he’d been so successful in his professional life. The guy just didn’t back down.
She tried a different angle. ‘Fine. But it definitely matters that you’re my son’s best friend. Trevon, that’s just… not cool. For either of us.’
‘Why? Because people will judge us?’
Eileen’s irritation levels rose with that one. ‘No. I don’t give much of a toss what people think. But I care what Aiden thinks. And this…’ She paused. What was she saying? There was no ‘this’. It was ridiculous. Outlandish. She ploughed on anyway. ‘This isn’t going to be okay with him.’
‘I disagree.’ He leaned forward again, his body language emanating absolute confidence in what he was saying. ‘Aiden loves you and he wants you to be happy. He feels the same about me. It might take him a minute, but he’ll get this. I promise you. I just need to know that you get it too. I need to know that this isn’t a one-way thing.’
Eileen sat back, stunned. Unable to process the question. Unable to give him an answer. She’d truly never considered this possibility. Why would she? He was her son’s best mate and that was a boundary that it had never even occurred to her to cross.
And she wasn’t ready to start doing that now, because the one thing in her life that she’d ever done right was Aiden and that wasn’t a relationship that she would risk for anything.
‘It’s a one-way thing, Trevon. I’m sorry. And I think it’s time I went back to the hotel.’
