The Sweet Talker (Boston Hawks Hockey #1) - Gina Azzi Page 0,69

didn’t even look at the menu,” he grumbles.

“You could have.” I nudge the wine list closer to him.

He rolls his eyes and stares at me. “I want the full story, Indy. From the beginning. I want to know what’s going on and then I want you to tell me exactly what you need.”

His sincerity brings tears to my eyes and his expression shifts to one of horror.

“It’s the hormones,” I explain, dabbing my eyes with the cloth napkin. I take a deep breath and dive in. I tell Aiden all about Noah’s and my arrangement. Our friendship that flourished into more. The fun we had together being tourists in Boston. Nights at Taps. Then, his awkwardness on Thanksgiving and trying to set me up with Aiden.

“I knew it!” Aiden jabs a finger in the air.

“Yeah, he wasn’t very subtle,” I agree.

“Why would he do that? Try to set you up? Why not just end things with you?”

I shrug but I’ve thought about Noah’s motives a lot. Especially over the past few days. “He knows we don’t want the same things. I think when he met you, and we have all this history together, he thought I’d be better off with someone like you.”

Aiden catches my eyes and we stare at each other for a long beat before cracking up. “I thought this guy knew you?” Aiden wheezes. “You would be bored to death with a guy like me.”

“I know, right? And you would be frustrated most of the time with a girl like me.”

“Someone to organize my sock drawer? I’d be the most passive-aggressive son of a bitch on the planet.”

We laugh and I roll my eyes, wiping away an errant tear.

In an instant, Aiden’s expression grows serious. “Then what happened?”

“I told him,” I murmur, picking at a bread roll.

Aiden watches me curiously, not saying anything for the first time in his life. It both soothes and annoys me.

“It didn’t go well,” I add.

“What happened?”

“He stormed off, that’s what happened.”

In an instant, Aiden’s face flushes and his eyes narrow. “I’ll track down the—”

“It wasn’t like that. I think I, I think I pissed him off.”

“By carrying his baby?” Aiden scoffs, clearly pissed for the both of us.

“He was fine at first. Asking about me and if I need anything…” I shake my head, furrowing my brow. “But the second I mentioned that I didn’t have any expectations of him and that I’m not going to follow him all around the country, that my life is here, he got frustrated.”

“Hold up.” Aiden shakes his head. “What exactly did you say to Scotch?”

“I knew you knew his name.” I grin. Then, I recall two nights ago for Aiden, who grows stiffer with each word I mutter. “And then he left.”

“Well of course he left, Indiana,” Aiden chides me. “Are you seriously saying that if someone you were having a baby with told you exactly what it’s going to be like and told you they didn’t need you for anything, you wouldn’t be pissed?”

“It wasn’t like that—”

Aiden lifts an eyebrow.

“I was processing. Trying to make sense of everything.” I stand my ground.

“And? Did you give him a chance to make sense of things?”

“He left.”

Aiden gives me a look. “Has he called you at all?”

“Four times,” I admit.

“And?”

“I’m not ready to talk yet.”

Aiden whistles. “Damn, I forgot how you can hold a grudge.”

“It’s not a grudge. I’m just, I’ve got a lot going on at the moment, okay?”

Aiden tilts his chin toward me, his expression softening. He reaches over the table and clasps my wrist. “You do. God, Indiana. You’re doing a really great job and you’re going to be a really amazing mother. But you need to talk to Scotch. You need to set things straight with him and let him be involved. Even if this thing with y’all was just fun in the beginning, it’s more than that now. It doesn’t matter if you’re together or not, you’re having a baby together. You will always be in each other’s lives, always be connected in some way. You don’t want to start this kid’s life off with two parents who can’t communicate with each other.”

I bite my lower lip, nodding my thanks to the server as she drops off our entrees. After she runs through our dishes and cracks some fresh black pepper on Aiden’s mashed potatoes, I say, “You’re right.”

“I know.” He smiles at me.

“I’m scared,” I admit.

“I know. But you’ve got this, Indy. You’re going to be a kick-ass mom. And