Touch And Go - Aiden Bates Page 0,40

why I didn’t do relationships—I couldn’t rely on anyone but my brothers, and someone always left. Not that what I had with Seb was anything more than a fleeting sexual attraction.

“I’m not your boss, and you’re not some victim to me, but it’s fucked up to tell someone you’ll stay and then sneak out.” I sounded like a jilted lover, as if I’d woken up in an empty bed after a one-night stand. As if that wasn’t what I usually wanted.

Seb flinched but set his jaw defiantly. “Yeah.”

Shit. He had no idea where I was coming from. How could he? We knew next to nothing about each other and there was only one way that was going to change.

I came around to the couch and slid down next to him while I searched for the right words in my sleep-hazy head. “I…had a pretty shitty childhood. I know everyone did in one way or another, but I need to be able to take people at their word. I get a bit…angsty…about honesty.”

He lowered his eyes and nodded. “Yeah… Fuck, yeah, I’m sorry. That was shitty of me. I’m not normally a do-and-dash kind of guy.”

I laughed, and he smiled at his knees.

“I can arrange for you to stay with one of my brothers, if you’re uncomfortable here because of what happened—”

“No. I told you, that wasn’t a problem…for me.” He shot his green eyes at me before staring down at the bag in his lap. “This is the most comfortable place I’ve ever been. I just need to go and see my brother.”

My heart faltered. His brother? The guy was trouble, I was sure of it. His presence in the hospital had been sketchy at best, and I got a nasty feeling when I thought about him being involved in the trashed apartment in some way. “Ben?”

Seb shrugged. “Yeah, I got an email from him. I’m meeting him tonight to get some answers.”

Absolutely not. I couldn’t let it happen. But Seb seemed determined, and I’d meant what I said–I wasn’t his boss or his keeper. I cleared my throat and shook my head. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“No.” He snapped his head up as a panicked look flashed across his face.

A knot rolled in my stomach, and I slumped back as though slapped. Another rejection. More mistrust. Not that he owed me. I’d built my life around being someone people could rely on—a doctor, a patriarch of my mish-mashed family, the dependable one.

Seb shook his head. “It’s not about you—”

“It’s fine.” The hell it was. This shit hurt.

His voice pleaded. “Really, it’s not.”

“Then what’s it about?” I waited for his answer, but he opened his mouth and nothing came out. “Fine. I’m going for a run.”

Twenty minutes ago, he was hell-bent on leaving. He could damned well see himself out. I was acting like a dick, but I couldn’t listen to his shit. I couldn’t sit in a chair and pretend like he wasn’t tearing my heart out. Neither could I understand why I felt so hurt. Instead, I went straight for my gym gear in my bedroom. A run would help me burn through my emotions and clear my head.

“Hey.” I looked at Seb, framed by the doorway like a perfect picture. “I’m serious. It’s not about you. You’re the best person I could have in my corner. I’m just not sure I can trust Ben, and I don’t want to drag you into my mess.”

I sighed and slumped onto the bed, relieved. He leaned in the doorway with his bag on the floor, and his wrist so poorly wrapped it was probably cutting off circulation to his fingers.

“Can I fix that?” I nodded to the injury.

The loose bandage trailed down his forearm as he held it up. “This? You don’t like my handiwork? Artistic, no?”

I chuckled. He could lift my mood with just one playful comment. “Maybe expressive, but not effective.”

“Ha. I like that.” His grin grew into a smile, and my irritation slipped off my shoulders.

The bed sank as he sat beside me, and I unraveled the twisted bandage. “So, you don’t want to drag me into your mess?”

“Yeah.” It hurt me to hear the shame in his voice.

I pulled the last of the wrapping from his arm and wound it into a workable coil. “I was born into a complicated scene, you know. Spent most of my early life in one, too. I’m familiar with mess.”

He let out an amused breath and gave me more of