Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

managed a nod before turning and limping toward the door. He made it outside before Aiden slipped in beside him and took some of his weight. "Where are we going?" Aiden asked, and Cade shook his head in frustration.
    "I have no idea."
    "Fort's too far with that leg," Aiden said firmly. "Here, this path is good, it goes up to a little clearing."
    Cade obediently let himself be helped up the path, Aiden's body firm and strong against his. The familiar comfort of Aiden's touch was almost unbearable; now that events were in motion, Cade's brain was screaming at him again, demanding that he find some way out of this, some way that didn't involve telling Aiden the truth.
    They reached the clearing and Aiden turned to Cole, his face expectant. "What's up? What do you need?"
    Cole didn't have the words. He tugged at his shirt, borrowed after the "casual cottage atmosphere" had turned into a damn dinner party, and frowned in frustration. "I'm not like you. I've done things, been things…" None of that made sense. Cade groaned. "This shirt, it isn't me, it doesn't…"
    Aiden's face was calm, but confused. "The shirt's the problem? You asked to borrow it, so I loaned it. If you don't want it, take it off." A frown, and then Aiden unbuttoned his own dress shirt and shrugged it off onto the ground. "See? It's easy. I don't care about the clothes, Cade. You know that." He lifted his hands, slow and easy, to the buttons of Cade's shirt. "I love you . The guy underneath the shirt." He grinned and started undoing buttons. "I think you know that I'm happiest when you're wearing nothing at all."
    Cade let Aiden tug his shirt off, and they stood there together, bare chested in the warm summer evening. "Is your leg sore?" Aiden asked, and there was a hint of huskiness in his voice that made it clear exactly why he wanted to know.
    "Not really," Cade said.
    Aiden sank to his knees and looked up at Cade with mischievous intent. "Nobody comes up here. We're well out of sight…" he brought his hands to Cade fly and started undoing the buttons. Cade couldn't make himself step away, and his body was definitely interested in a little attention; it had been too long since Aiden had touched him like this. But everything was still wrong, and he still had a secret too big to be kept any longer.
    He sank to the ground in frustration, and Aiden seemed disappointed that his target had shifted, but adapted quickly. He threw a leg over so he was straddling Cade's and then leaned forward, his warm lips finding the perfect spot on Cade's neck, the place that always made his troubles disappear from his mind. Aiden's hand tugged at Cade's waistband, working his jeans further down, further open. "I'm sorry you're not having fun, Cade," Aiden murmured. "I'm sorry my mom's being a bitch. I'm sorry you had to go golfing, and I'm sorry you're so bad at it." Cade snorted at that and felt his body starting to relax. "I'm sorry Uncle Warren's being annoying," Aiden added, and Cade tensed again. He wanted to cry, or hide. Instead, he raised reluctant hands to Aiden's sun-kissed shoulders and pushed him gently away.
    "I need to talk to you," Cade said.
    "It wasn't just about the shirt?" Aiden asked. He was still kneeling with his legs on either side of Cade's, his hand was still resting on the waistband of Cade's open jeans, but he wasn't moving, wasn't kissing, and it let Cade's brain do a little work.
    "No. Not just the shirt." Cade needed to do this. He pushed on Aiden's shoulder. "Can you not… can you not look at me for a minute? I need to tell you something."
    "Something that I can't look at you for?"
    Yeah. "I don't want to see your face when you hear it."
    Aiden frowned, and eased off to the side. He didn't turn around, but at least he wasn't taking up Cade's entire field of vision.
    Cade looked at the trees and tried to think of how to begin. "We both took a break between high school and college. You went to Europe."
    "And you worked to save money. I know it's not really fair, Cade."
    "I worked," Cade agreed. He needed to keep the momentum going. "And I tried to save. But neither of my parents had jobs, and they were both drinking up their welfare as soon as it came in. I needed to pay rent, and buy groceries, and I was working for minimum wage. I was barely making ends meet. I wasn't saving a dime."
    "Okay," Aiden said, and for the first time, Cade heard a trace of doubt in his voice.
    He tried to ignore that and pressed on. "So one night I was walking