Troublemaker (Goode Boys Book 1)

by Sean Ashcroft

  Aiden crossed over to the door on the other side, tugging it open and spilling a mound of snow inside along with a blast of cold air.

  “Great,” he sighed as Dad went over to him, the two of them pushing on the door until it closed again.

  A shiver ran down my spine. We were trapped in here.

  Hallie: don’t panic

  Hadn’t quite gotten to panic yet

  Yet being the key word.

  I waved a hand in front of a nearby heating vent to confirm it was still working and breathed a sigh of relief when I felt warm air coming out of it. Okay. So, not nearly as critical as it could’ve been.

  Hallie: the owners say there’s a radio in the kitchen. The whole town’s under at least four feet of snow, more in some places. It just all came down at once, I guess you guys were too busy working to notice. Sorry.

  Not your fault. Unless you control the weather now.

  Hallie: no weather machine here

  Shame, would’ve been cool to be related to a supervillain

  Hallie: you’re related to Mom

  Harsh.

  Hallie: but not entirely unfair. Stay safe, okay? I’ll let you know if I hear anything about a rescue before you do.

  Thanks. Love you.

  I blinked at those last two words after I’d sent them.

  Had I ever told Hallie I loved her before?

  Had I ever told… anyone?

  I’d said the words, sure, but I hadn’t meant it. I couldn’t remember meaning it.

  Was that what Dad meant about not hugging me enough?

  Aiden appeared beside me, chin tucked over my shoulder and cold hands curled around my arm, holding onto me.

  “We’re snowed in, huh?”

  “Looks like,” I said. “Hallie says hi. And that we’re at least not alone.”

  “I think we’ve established that it’s not a good thing not to be alone in situations like this.”

  “Well, it’s good that Dad and Trent are here,” I said. “That way when we draw straws to see who we’re eating first, there’s a seventy-five percent chance it won’t be me.”

  Aiden laughed. “I wouldn’t have eaten you anyway,” he said. “Couldn’t have handled the guilt. Would you eat me?”

  “We’re not gonna be stuck here long enough for it to come to that,” I said.

  “That sounded suspiciously like a yes,” Aiden said, holding onto me a little tighter.

  “It wasn’t supposed to.”

  “And yet, you’re still not saying I’d never eat you, Aiden,” he pointed out.

  I couldn’t stop myself from smirking as the perfect response came to my mind. “Think we established yesterday that I would, though. And I’d enjoy it.”

  Aiden laughed again, the sound chasing away the worst of the sudden cold that’d settled over me as I looked out at the snow.

  “It is pretty,” he said a moment later, breath tickling my skin. “C’mon. Plenty of decorating left to do while we wait for someone to come rescue our asses.”

  “Comfy?” Aiden asked as we settled into the nest of table cloths, coats, and cushions we’d managed to gather up from around the reception venue.

  Rescue was still on its way, but the temperature had dipped and it was late. Sleep seemed like the best option for all of us.

  Dad was already snoring softly in Trent’s arms, the two of them curled up in their own nest, Trent petting Dad’s hair as he kept watch. Not that anyone needed to keep watch—the whole problem was that no one could get in here, and we couldn’t get out.

  Outside, the snow was still coming down like someone was pouring it out of a salt shaker.

  “Comfy,” I agreed, letting myself lean against Aiden’s chest when he tugged me closer. We’d both be warmer and happier the closer we were, and it wasn’t as if anyone was likely to see.

  My eyes fell closed as Aiden’s fingers carded through my hair, tension I hadn’t realized I was carrying slowly seeping out of my muscles as I relaxed into the makeshift bed beneath us.

  Despite everything, this was kind of nice.

  “Can’t believe Hallie does this on purpose,” I murmured, sighing as Aiden rubbed circles into my scalp with his fingertips. He was ridiculously good with his hands.

  “Gets snowed in?” Aiden asked.

  “Goes camping,” I said. “I assume this is what camping is like.”

  “I’m the least outdoorsy person in my family,” Aiden said. “But even I know this isn’t what camping is like.”

  I snorted. “Okay then, Mr. Expert. What’s camping like?”

  “Have you… somehow never been camping?” Aiden asked, shocked.

  “This is the closest I’ve come,” I said. “Hallie always went with a friend. We’re not camping people.”

  “Used to go with my dad,” Aiden said softly.

  I didn’t even want to breathe for fear of interrupting him. Kieran never talked about their dad—none of them did, so much so that my mom genuinely hadn’t known he was dead. Not that it would’ve made what she said okay, but at least that part hadn’t been malicious.

  But Aiden talking about his dad was rare and precious, and I wanted to hear whatever he had to say. I’d been thinking earlier that I trusted him, and I thought maybe this was a sign that he trusted me.

  That was almost more than I could handle, but I’d handle it anyway, because I knew it was a gift. A gift he didn’t offer to just anyone.

  “In the summer,” he continued. “No snow. He tried to teach me to fish a bunch of times, but I don’t remember ever catching anything. We had a boat, on a lake so blue it looked like it was part of the sky. His dad was a fisherman, and his grandpa. Used to tell us all there was salt water in our blood, but fresh’d have to do for now. Always wanted to take me to see the ocean.”

  But he never got the chance.

  Aiden didn’t have to say it for me to hear it, and my heart hurt for him.

  “So the anchor is…”

  “For him, yeah,” Aiden said, sighing into my hair. “You’re the first person to ask. That’s why it is where it is, too. Hurt like hell to get it done.”

  “But it’s beautiful.” I tilted my head to look up at him, wanting him to see how much I meant that. It was beautiful.

  Aiden was beautiful. Everything about him, from the ink on his skin to the depths of his soul.

  He smiled like I hadn’t really seen before, eyes shining with unshed tears.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, voice cracked.

  When he kissed me, it tasted of salt water and felt like a secret he was trusting me to keep.

  “I’m sorry,” Aiden murmured as the kiss broke, our noses still touching, bodies finally starting to warm up under the coats and table cloths.

  “What for?”

  “Saddling you with that,” he said, licking his lips. “Not your problem.”

  I reached out, swiping at a tear track with the pad of my thumb, drying it as gently as I could without the handkerchief I’d already given him.

  Aiden didn’t cry. I’d seen him cry twice now, but I knew he didn’t do this. Not around just anyone.

  I was special.

  If he and Kieran had swapped ages, my life would’ve been very different.

  Aiden would’ve been the best friend I’d grown up with, and we would’ve done everything together, and…

  And there would’ve been cuddles like this, and half a dozen secret kisses that were just to see if we liked it.

  And I would’ve liked it, and I would’ve spent my whole life in love with my best friend.

  “I don’t mind,” I said, drying the last of his tears with the tips of my fingers, turning that thought over in my head.

  I knew I would have been in love with Aiden when we were kids.

  Because I’d fallen in love with him now.

  The thought was sudden and terrifying and half of me wished I could un-think it, but it was also true, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

  I loved him.


  I didn’t want to be thrown back in the dating pool. I didn’t want to go back to reality at all. What I wanted was to stay here, just like this, snuggled up close to him, warm and happy even though the world outside was harsh and cold, even though we’d both been hurt, even though this should’ve been impossible.

  Aiden’s breath hitched as I kissed him again, fingers buried deep in his hair, cradling his skull as gently as I could. Silently promising him that I was here, and I wanted him to feel like he could say these things to me, that I’d always listen and that I cared.

  “Aiden,” I said, barely louder than a breath as I pulled back, his pretty eyes glinting at me, still sparkling like jewels in the twinkling lights we’d left on overhead so any would-be rescuers could see if they got in here while we were asleep.

  “I…”

  Tell him.

  I wanted to. I wanted this to be the first time I’d ever told someone I loved them and meant it, meant that I wanted them body and soul for as long as they’d have me.

  “My dad is your dad, okay?” I said instead, taking the coward’s way out at the last moment.

  I’d used up all my bravery for the year telling Mom that I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus because she didn’t like him.

  Should’ve realized then that I’d end up here, wanting to offer my heart to a man who’d have to be stupid to accept it.

  Aiden smiled again, soft and content, and I wondered how the hell I could cope without seeing that smile on a daily basis. Aiden’s smiles were addictive, and the withdrawal was already starting to hurt.

  “Okay,” he said. “I like him. He’s cool.”

  I settled down next to Aiden again, letting my head rest on his shoulder and my eyes fall closed as he stroked my hair.

  We weren’t going home just yet. I could enjoy this while it lasted.

  22

  Aiden

  I woke to Carter’s mom staring down at me, which was about the worst way to wake up I could imagine.

  Carter was still asleep, lying comfortably in my arms, more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him.

  I tightened my grip on him, prepping for a fight.

  Mrs. K looked down at me, lips pursed, eyes cold in the morning light streaming through the open, cleared doorway.

  Let her talk first. Don’t start anything.

  My brain was probably giving me good advice. Advice I definitely should’ve followed.

  “Five more minutes,” I said, rolling over to burrow under the pile of coats and tablecloths Carter and I had made ourselves comfortable under last night, pulling them up over both of our heads.

  Since when had I followed my own good advice?

  Carter stirred beside me, an unhappy grunt and wrinkled nose signaling that he was regaining consciousness. I barely stopped myself from darting in to kiss the tip of his adorable nose, and only managed it because I didn’t want him involved in the ongoing feud between me and his mother.

  “We’ve been rescued,” I whispered. “Your mom’s standing over us.”

  Another unhappy grunt.

  Couldn’t blame him. I was perfectly happy here, even though I knew every muscle I had would hate me the moment I got up.

  “Five more minutes,” he said, half-awake. Maybe he heard me, maybe that was just one more way we were alike.

  A flash of lazy Sunday mornings spent in bed with him hit me hard. I could picture it all, the sunlight streaming through the curtains, the smell of fresh coffee I’d gotten up to make before slipping back into bed beside him, Carter’s hair sleep-tousled and his eyelids heavy, a tired smile turning up his pretty lips.

  Bedclothes rustling as we slipped back under them, hands taking shortcuts, so used to each other’s bodies that we knew exactly where to touch, and how, and a few minutes of gasping, sighing, and moaning later and we’d be curled up together, satisfied without breaking a sweat and happy to nap for another hour before we got up and did it all again in the shower.

  It was so easy to imagine just being like this.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty!” Carter’s dad called from maybe a few feet away. “Come on, someone’s gotta iron these tablecloths again.”

  Carter blinked, pulling the covers down and peering up at his mom and dad standing over us.

  His dad nudged my foot, grinning down at me.

  “You’re as bad as he is,” Mr. K said. “Made for each other. You’d sleep through an earthquake.”

  “Have slept through an earthquake,” I mumbled, forcing myself to sit up and missing Carter’s warmth the second I moved away from it. “Only woke up because of the yelling.”

  “I’d never yell,” Carter murmured beside me. “Just, y’know, for the record.”

  Mandi appeared at Mrs. K’s side, looking between the two of us. “You sleep like the dead,” she said. “It’s actually kinda eerie.”

  I shrugged. “I think it’s nice.”

  Carter’s mom being oddly silent—not yelling, barely even huffing over my presence—was definitely weird, but I decided that if she was giving the two of us a break, I’d take it. Last night had been hard enough without waking up and starting right into another fight.

  “Time is it?” Carter asked, yawning widely.

  “Little after ten. Wedding’s in an hour. You two need to get your asses dressed,” Carter’s dad said. “And so do Trent and I.”

  Mrs. K’s face changed instantly. “Excuse me?”

  Even I flinched at the sound of her voice, and I felt Carter tense up next to me.

  Mr. K looked her right in the eyes. “It’s Hallie’s wedding,” he said. “Not yours. And one day it’ll be Carter’s wedding, not yours. And if he’ll have me, it’ll be my wedding, too, and I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t looking forward to doing one of these without you micromanaging every hair on my goddamn head.”

  Wow.

  Wow.

  I’d lived next to Mr. K since I was thirteen and I’d never heard him talk back to Mrs. K. Not even once. Not before now.

  Tension hung like the smell of the air before a storm, a crackle of lightning between them.

  “Did you just ask me to marry you?” Trent interrupted, voice pitching up at the end, like he couldn’t quite believe it.

  Hell, I couldn’t quite believe it. I’d never thought of Mr. K as someone I could be proud of before, but I was so proud of him.

  He should have done this years ago.

  “Uh,” he turned to Trent, ignoring Carter’s mom like she wasn’t even there, which probably served her about right.

  “Well, umm…” Carter’s dad rubbed the back of his neck. “The… I… yes?” he squeaked, looking up to meet Trent’s eyes. “It wasn’t meant to come out like that.”

  Trent swooped, tackling Mr. K into a bear hug and laughing the whole time, picking him up and twirling him around like he was a dainty princess instead of six feet and two hundred pounds of lean muscle.

  Nurses were hardcore.

  “Is this a yes?” Mr. K asked as Trent put him back down, blushing bright red all the way to his hairline.

  Under the tablecloth, Carter’s hand slipped into mine. I squeezed his fingers, then linked them with my own for good measure.

  This was a happy moment, but it was also big. He didn’t need to cope with it alone.

  I was here.

  If he’d just ask me to stay, I’d always be here.

  “It’s a yes!” Trent said, holding onto Carter’s dad by his forearms, fingers tensing around them. “I don’t wanna cry in public,” he added, but I could already see tears shining in his eyes.

  Carter squeezed my hand back, pushing the tablecloth away and grabbing the wall to drag us both to our feet.

  As predicted, every muscle I had hated me for lying on the hard, cold floor all night.

  “Cry all you want,” Mr. K said, his voice impossibly soft. “I mean it. I wanna be with you.”

  “They’re so cute,” I whispered to Carter, grinning so hard my face hurt. This was the best th
ing I’d ever seen.

  “Dad told me that Trent told him it didn’t matter that it took them this long to find each other,” Carter said. “As long as they found each other eventually. Because he was worth waiting for.”

  I swallowed past a lump in my throat.

  I’d had a similar thought about Carter. That it was good that he hadn’t looked twice at me in high school, because that would’ve been weird. That this was how it was meant to be. I’d seen him, and I’d known he was…

  The one?

  Maybe?

  Shit, that was a huge thought. Too big to think all at once.

  But I could handle the little corner of it that went this feels right. Because it did feel right. Everything about it, right down to Carter’s warm fingers curled into my hand, the pad of his thumb stroking my knuckles.

  I was glad things had gone the way they had. Whatever happened next, I was glad I’d had him, even for a little while, right now. When he needed me most.

  Fate had never really been the kind of thing I thought about, and I wasn’t sure it was real anyway, but the universe had a funny way of working things out.

  “Are you trying to ruin your own daughter’s wedding?” Carter’s mom spat, wiping the ecstatic glow right off his dad’s face.

  She had a talent for that.

  He turned to look at her while Carter sidled a little closer to me. Part of me wanted to slip away while her attention was elsewhere, but the rest of me didn’t want to abandon his dad while he was vulnerable.

  “Did you ever think to ask her what she wants?” Mr. K asked quietly. I was glad he wasn’t raising his voice, since I wasn’t sure I could take shouting this soon after waking up.

  Carter, I supposed, was used to it. That urge to bundle him up in a blanket and tell him he was good and worthy and didn’t deserve any of this welled up again, my stomach hurting at the thought of him going through it all alone.

  “She wants to be princess for a day!” Carter’s mom said. “Like every girl wants.”

  “Actually, Mrs. Kowalski,” Mandi spoke up.

  She’d been so quiet I’d forgotten she was here, but everyone’s attention turned to her instantly.