Chapter Six

The rest of the evening passed without incident. The shift between them was palpable after Aiden abandoned all pretenses of being polite and just said what he was thinking. Finn reacted better to that, even if it did result in Aiden calling him a dick. But it was a familiar sort of dichotomy that Aiden could fall into. Most of his friends operated in a similar way. Fuck you often being equivalent to you’re hilarious.

So with the understanding that the less Aiden held back, the more Finn opened up, the evening was actually nice.

Especially when the whole intimidatingly mysterious aura that Finn had about him was stripped back ever so slightly.

Single father, big brother, occasional photographer, and scuba diving instructor.

Not just annoyingly hot guy who rescues tourists.

“What about sharks?” Aiden asked, perched on Finn’s small, lumpy couch with his legs tucked up beneath him.

“What about them?” Finn was in the middle of telling Aiden about his business that he co-owned with Ryan—running both lessons for beginners and hosting group dives for more experienced divers.

“Aren’t they a thing?”

“Yes, sharks exist,” Finn deadpanned, and Aiden barely resisted the urge to whack him with a cushion. “Beaches are patrolled, and we’re notified if there’s a sighting. It’s not as dangerous as people think.”

“Sharks,” Aiden stressed as though that proved his point even further.

“Are kind of cute from a safe distance.” A glint to Finn’s eye told Aiden that he was enjoying winding him up.

“Still not enough to convince me to get into the water.”

“Then you’ll have had a wasted trip here.” Finn paused, a contemplative expression crossing his face before he spoke again. “Tell me to fuck off if this is too invasive.”

“I can tell you to feck off,” Aiden replied, a little on edge about what potential question could be posed.

“That’ll do,” Finn said. “Not a lot of people travel to the other side of the world alone, unless they’re visiting family.”

“No family here.” Aiden shook his head. “All back in Ireland.”

Aiden’s gut tightened, nausea swirling there with the stew.

“Just felt like a holiday?” Finn looked at Aiden oddly, making him feel scrutinized in every way he didn’t want to be.

“Some things happened back home.” He shuffled a little in his chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs, unsettled. “I just needed some time. And I always wanted to visit Australia, so why not?”

“I understand,” Finn said quietly.

“It’s, uh, getting kinda late.” The evening had been pleasant enough, even if Aiden’s nerves were on edge since he spotted the spider, but he was eager to turn in for the night.

“I changed the sheets this morning,” Finn said. “So you don’t have to worry about that.”

Aiden shook his head. “I’m not taking your bed. The couch looks plenty comfy.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind putting your back out for a week,” Finn said. Aiden really couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just take Millie’s bed.”

Aiden paused, running his eyes up and down the long length of Finn’s body, trying to visualize him lying comfortably in an eight-year-old’s bed.

“Are you sure you’re going to fit?”

Finn opened and closed his mouth abruptly. Apparently he hadn’t thought of that minor issue, either.

“Seriously, the couch is fine.”

Finn opened his mouth once more to protest, because clearly he was as stubborn as Aiden. Something that Aiden already knew, considering their first-ever interaction.

“I’ll manage,” Finn decided, crossing his arms over his chest like that solidified his point. “I’ve slept in worse places before.”

“That’s kind of worrying, but okay.” Aiden took a breath, starting to stare the man down. “You can’t exactly stop me if I lie on the couch.”

“No, but I can send you back to the spiders,” said Finn sweetly.

Aiden’s mouth was ajar. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“You are so annoying,” Aiden said, conceding.

“I hear that almost every day from Tam and my kid,” said Finn, unbothered. “I’m used to it. Just give me five minutes to grab some things, and then the room’s yours.”

During that time, Aiden toyed with the idea of lying down and pretending to be asleep. He could do a convincing snore when he tried. It had always fooled Dan, in the beginning, when he’d wanted to go out dancing and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Faking snoozing was sneaky, yes, but oftentimes necessary.

This time, however, Aiden wouldn’t put it past Finn to shake him awake and physically move him to the bedroom. So he shelved that idea.

“All right,” Finn said as he emerged from the hallway. Aiden turned to look and promptly choked on air. Not that Finn was wearing anything particularly scandalous or anything. No, boxers and a vest were perfectly reasonable things to sleep in. But they looked the furthest thing from reasonable on Finn. His thighs filled out the legs of his boxers so well that Aiden dreaded (loved) to think of how it looked if he turned around. And his shoulders looked even more obscene than they did in regular shirts.

“You all right there?” Finn asked, concern laced through his features. “Need a drink?”

Not unless the drink is you.

Oh god, horny Aiden was a fucking terror.

“I’m okay,” Aiden managed, voice far too mangled to be such. “I just— Bed. Yeah?”

Finn was slow to respond, regarding Aiden with an air of hesitancy before directing him down the hall to the first door on the left. Aiden ducked his head on the way past Finn, and he absolutely did not shiver when his shoulder brushed against his bare arm.

It set a premise for the rest of the evening. Aiden lay there in the dark of Finn’s bedroom, surrounded by sheets that smelled like him. Musk, and sea, and—

Aiden was going to get lewd if he kept going with that train of thought. Not that he wasn’t already, his thoughts switching between their first interaction and riding the motorcycle with him.

Watching those arms flex, feeling his trim waist beneath Aiden’s hands.

Aiden let out a frustrated groan, flopping onto his front.

He wondered what Finn was thinking about while he curled up in that bed he was undoubtedly uncomfortable in. He pondered whether Finn was thinking about him. About Aiden lying in his bed, wearing his clothes, thinking of him.

Aiden stopped that train of thought just as quickly as it came. But his subconscious betrayed him, presenting him with, “Finn has definitely jerked off in this bed.”

Pulling a pillow to his face, Aiden just about managed to muffle his exasperated cry.

This was going to be a long night.

…

Miraculously, Aiden was able to put those thoughts to rest and catch some z’s. He likely would have gotten some more if it weren’t for Finn’s voice snaking up the hallway.

“Y’ello?”—pause—“yeah, yeah. By the front door, up in the corner unless the bugger’s moved.”

Aiden sat up, bleary-eyed and decidedly not bushy-tailed.

“We’ll be there in ten. Thanks.”

Aiden stretched his arms over his head, expelling the last sign of exhaustion from his body. Finn’s shirt was completely down one shoulder, and he could feel his hair sticking up on end. Definitely not fit for human interaction just yet. Maybe if Aiden was fast enough, he could sneak past Finn and get to the bathroom…

“Ya decent?” The bedroom door swung open, and Aiden dropped his arms with a surprised yelp. “Great. Listen, cavalry’s arrived. You good to go?”

Aiden wanted to ask him in what semblance of the term he was “good to go.” But the words died in his mouth when he noticed how Finn’s shirt was hitched up on his waist, giving him the barest peek of his hip bone.

Thoughts from last night came back with a fury.

“Yep. Yeah.” Aiden nodded, waving a hand for Finn to leave. Finn didn’t move for a moment, didn’t look away from Aiden, with his lips parted—undoubtedly about to say something sarcastic. Aiden was sure of it. “Two minutes. Tops.”

To his credit, Aiden was ready in five minutes, and they were back on the bike not long after. They arrived at Ryan’s to find a white van parked at the back, two people standing there, both armed with nets and a box.

“How ya going?” Finn said with a practiced ease, lingering to help Aiden without a second thought. Finn’s kindness threw Aiden off for a moment as the other man braced him by the arm before making his way over to the others.

“Hey.” Aiden waved, almost shyly—because now there were other people, and he knew how ridiculous he looked.

“Morning!” The woman waved back, far too cheerful for someone who was about to deal with a spider the size of her face.

“Lucky you spotted that one when you did,” the man commented once they got closer, hands resting comfortably on his hips. “We found a nest of ’em at the back.”

Aiden blanched.

“But they’re dealt with now,” the woman assured him quickly. “We’ll get this beauty out of the way now. Have you got a key for us?”

Shit, where had Aiden put the key?

“Here, I have a spare.” Finn dug around in his pockets. A moment later, he handed a shiny silver key to the spider wrangler.

It was fascinating to watch how they dealt with the spider, and, at the very same time, Aiden never wanted to witness anything like that ever again. While they opened the door, box at the ready and hands covered with thick gloves, Aiden clutched onto Finn’s arm.

Finn didn’t shake him off, and Aiden kept holding on for dear life until the spider was secure in the box and he could breathe again. Only then did he notice that Finn looked just as nervous and stiff as Aiden felt, long fingers gripping at the hem of Aiden’s shirt.

“Don’t hesitate to give us a call if you spot any more,” the woman said casually, like she didn’t have a box with a giant spider in her arms. “Ask for Suze. I’ll come right out.”

“Thank you,” Aiden said, a slight tremor to his voice.

“You two get something sugary to eat, settle those nerves,” Suze said.

“Bigger than it looked through the glass,” Finn said a few moments after the van was gone, glancing down to Aiden with a wavering grin. “Up for some breakfast?”

Aiden should have turned right back around, gone into the house, and pulled the bedsheets over his head to recover from the past twelve hours. But there was something that compelled him to say yes.