Ty smacks Jack’s chest with the back of his hand. “No, ‘Skye’s Spelled Sanatorium.’”
The two of them crack up, cackling like a pair of lunatics. I push past them, eager to get inside because my feet are freezing.
“Ha, ha,” I grumble. “You two are hilarious.”
“Oh, come on,” Ty calls after me, laughter in his voice. “Aren’t you glad they’re not trying to burn you anymore?”
I flip him off and stomp to Jack’s room for a shower. I swear, sea dragons will be the death of me.
Ten
Jack
As funny asthe scene with Skye was, there’s a bigger issue we need to address. And bywe, I mean Aiden, Ty, and me. Not an hour ago, I burst into Aiden’s bedroom to find Skye in his arms, dressed in his shirt. Now, I’m not a jealous guy—I have absolutely no problem sharing her with Ty.
What I do mind is Aiden jerking her around. I know they had an argument, and she’s been down ever since. But even after they slept together, he didn’t even acknowledge her this morning. I saw the hurt expression on Skye’s face before she put her walls up, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Hey, wait up,” I call to Ty, who’s heading to the kitchen.
He stops, his eyebrows raised.
“Come on, let’s find Aiden.”
Ty blows out a long breath. “Is this about Skye?” he asks. “Cos I’m pretty sure she’ll bust your balls if she thinks you’re interfering on her behalf.”
“I’m not interfering,” I argue. “It’s him I’m worried about. He’s acting weird, and I don’t want Skye to get caught up in whatever the hell is wrong with him.”
“Yeah, okay,” he concedes.
We head down the hall toward Aiden’s office. But the boss—our best friend—is not in there. We search the Lodge, including the attic, and I finally realize he must have slipped out without us noticing. So we follow his scent trail out the back door and into the woods. It’s not hard to track him—his scent is all mixed up with Skye, and the whiff of stress he’s giving off is potent.
Yeah, we need to chat. This isn’t healthy for anyone.
Even though the leaves are turning brown, the undergrowth is still dense enough that I don’t see the small clearing until we stumble into it. Aiden is sitting on an old tree stump, his sweaty t-shirt clinging to him.
“You two make enough noise to wake the dead,” he grumbles without looking up.
Ty and I exchange a glance as we walk closer with careful steps. Whatever crawled up Aiden’s ass has me twitching, because I have no idea how he’ll react to what I have to say to him. He’s been on edge for days, not that I can blame him. I just have no wish to get my nose broken if he takes offense.
“Listen,” I start, “we need to talk.”
“I screwed up,” he interrupts. “I should never have slept with her.”
Straight to the point, then. “That’s not what I’m trying to say,” I reply. “We don’t mind.”
Aiden’s head snaps up, and he stares at me, then at Ty. “You don’t mind?”
“Nah,” Ty says, shrugging. “It’s you. With any other guy, I’d be pissed, but if Skye decided she wants you as well, I’m good with that. I love her, and so does Jack. If you do, too, this will only get better.”
Aiden buries his face in his hands, stifling a groan. “You’re impossible.”
“Why?” I take a step closer, stopping just short of taking him by the shoulders and shaking some sense into him. “Tell me one good reason for this crap. Why are you pushing her away? Is itus? Do you want her to choose only you?”
The thought is painful and uncomfortable. WhatwouldI do if Skye picked Aiden? If she decided she didn’t want me, or Ty?
I’d respect her decision, of course, but I don’t know if I could remain here in Amber Bay, watching them be happy together.
Not that she gave me any indication that she wanted to break things off with me and Ty. But I get some of what Aiden is feeling. I do. But I don’t want this to hang between us, because it’s damaging our friendship.
