Beyond Reason (21 page)

Brandy and Gabby started laughing, and I realized I was completely missing some inside joke thanks to a day with Austin.

“Let’s eat,” Ayden said, clapping his hands so loudly I jumped. “Little nervous?”

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the chair closest to me as Jason, Mason, and Aaron carried in the rest of the food. Brandy followed behind holding two bottles of wine and placed them on the table while everyone took their seat.

“I think hot dogs sound like the perfect appetizer,” I said, grinning at Sammie. Ayden sat next to her, which was only logical, but watching the care he took with her took me by surprise, and I looked away quickly. It felt like I was intruding.

“So did we scare Austin away?” Jason laughed, hopping back up from his seat. “I forgot the garlic bread. Be right back.”

“Nope. He had some vendor meeting tonight.” I scooped up a big spoonful of ziti and plopped it on my plate and grabbed a hot dog. Never too old to try new things, I guess.

“That’s too bad,” Mason replied, grinning. “I was kind of hoping he could be our entertainment for the evening.”

“You’re as bad as your brother,” I laughed.

“No. I’m way worse,” he laughed, and I glanced at Ayden who was talking quietly with Sammie.

“Thank god he had a meeting then.” I scowled lovingly at Mason.

“We heard there was some female with you guys?” Gabby asked, obviously unimpressed.

“Female?” I laughed. “Yeah. There was an extra
female
. And you heard that from Ayden, I assume.”

“Nope. Sammie filled us in,” Brandy replied.

“What’d I do?” Sammie asked, breaking away from her conversation with Ayden.

“You told us about the SWF hanging around Austin and Lily,” Brandy replied.

“That I did, but I don’t think I used Craigslist terminology,” Sammie said, decorating her hotdog.

“That seems really rude,” Brandy replied, looking at Gabby for backing.

“It does. We didn’t haul you down here to be mistreated.”

“Guys, I wasn’t mistreated. She’s just some friend of Austin’s who happened to be grabbing lunch at the same time as us so she took a seat,” I assured them.

“If it was no big deal, then why were you ready to bolt?” Ayden smirked and I wanted to punch him. He really could see right through me.

“Okay, well. She wasn’t a very friendly friend. And she seems to feel she’s got ownership rights on Austin once his lease is up, but—”

“You’re making excuses for a guy that…” Ayden started.

“Sshh.” Sammie motioned for Ayden to calm down. “Love is a complex emotion.”

“I’m not in love with him,” I spurted out. “He’s just a friend.”

Surprised by my own reaction, my cheeks warmed as Ayden’s gaze met mine. A flicker of intensity shot through his eyes as he watched me, and a slight smile tucked behind his lips. I felt that charge of electricity run between us and immediately became flooded with guilt. My eyes broke from his, and I glanced at Sammie. Whatever feelings were churning up inside of me were completely inappropriate and uncalled for. I was sure I was misreading Ayden’s expression.

“You guys make a really cute couple,” I said, hoping to switch the topic away from me.

Deflection time
!

“Oh, we aren’t a couple,” Sammie said, her eyes wide as she stared back at me. “We’re just friends.”

“I thought you guys dated?” I asked.

Ayden scooted back from the table. “Anyone want some more water? I’m gonna go grab some.”

Everyone shook their heads as we all stared at Sammie, except for Mason. Mason just continued to shovel food in his mouth with a big dopey smile.

“Been there, done that. Won’t be doing it again,” she laughed. “Don’t get me wrong. He’s a great guy…”

“What?” I asked, unable to hide my surprise.

“Completely platonic,” she said, giving me a quick wink.

My mouth betrayed me by plastering a smile on my lips. “Well, never say never,” I offered.

“Oh, I don’t think my soon-to-be baby’s daddy would be all too thrilled with that kind of surprise.”

My eyes fell to her flat stomach, and her empty ring finger before rising quickly back to her gaze.

“You are…” I replied. “But you don’t…”

Sammie smiled. “Three months along. This was my last time to snowboard before it became unsafe so I thought it would be a fun trip. Plus, it would keep my mind off the fact that I miss my guy, Mario. My fiancé is over in Italy settling some affairs before he comes over and we start nesting.”

“Wow. You look amazing.”

“It’s the hotdogs. They do wonders for the complexion. All the preservatives. But I haven’t been able to wear my engagement ring since my fingers bloated up last week. I don’t know if they’ll deflate or not,” she said, glancing down at her manicured hand.

Ayden came in with a freshly-filled glass of water and slid back onto his chair.

“So when did you tell Ayden the good news?” I asked. My brow arched at Ayden as he stiffened in his chair. Mason started laughing. Twins could be so annoying.

“That party you hired me for, actually,” she said, patting his shoulder. “And thanks by the way. That was kind of my last hoorah before the baby.”

“You were perfect for it. It was my last hoorah at the firm too,” I laughed.

“Oh, yeah. Ayden mentioned that,” she said, her gaze shifting playfully to Ayden.

“So, how did Ayden and you meet?” Jason asked, completely amused with the situation.

“Oh, you don’t want to hear about that,” Ayden said, as he grabbed a slice of lasagna and placed it on his plate.

“Oh, but I think we do,” Brandy agreed.

“I’ll second that,” Gabby laughed.

“Well, the table has spoken,” Sammie laughed. “Sorry, buddy.”

I looked down at my plate and felt a pulse of excitement and jubilation course through my veins. For what in particular, I wasn’t sure.

“We really don’t have to go into details,” Ayden replied, staring at Sammie. His lips were pressed together, and he turned in his chair to plead with her. But he was going to lose. Sammie had already made up her mind. I really liked her!

“You’re only making us want to know the story even more now,” I hushed Ayden.

“So when I was still in college, some guy propositioned me to try out modeling,” she began. “It wasn’t really modeling but whatever.”

Please tell me that wasn’t Ayden. This sounded far too creepy.

“I was on campus and apparently there was some underground fighting club that needed girls.”

“To hold up the cards,” Mason interjected.

I glanced over at him and he shrunk into his seat and laughed. “Not that I’d know.”

“Like Fight Club?” I asked.

Sammie laughed. “Not quite. But you’d have to ask Ayden the behind-the-scene specifics.”

My stomach knotted, but I couldn’t pelt all the questions I had at Sammie because she kept going.

“Anyway, the first night I showed up to some secret location and was given a skimpy bikini to wear. It was so awful with its hot pink glittery sequins sewn all over it. Completely classy. The guy that found me explained that all I had to do was walk through the makeshift ring between rounds, holding up the poster. The money was amazing, and I just gave up a couple hours once a week. They were really paying me for my silence, but I didn’t figure that out right away.”

“So that’s where we met,” Ayden interrupted, pouring some wine into his glass.

“I don’t buy it,” Aaron replied. “There’s definitely more to the story.”

“Oh, there is,” Sammie assured us, grinning.

Ayden looked completely uncomfortable, and I almost felt sorry for him, but I was far too nosey to let my sympathy get in the way. I didn’t want to stop this train!

“It was my second week on the job, and when the fighters were announced, I glanced over and saw Ayden. He didn’t look like any of the other fighters I’d seen, and his smile was so endearing.”

“Wait what?” Brandy and I both shot back.

I glanced at Ayden, and his lips were pressed together, his arms folded in front of him as if he was bracing himself.

“You were a fighter?” Brandy asked, her voice a click higher than normal.

Ayden’s eyes bounced to mine, and then met his sister’s as he nodded.

“Did you know about this?” Brandy demanded, staring at Mason who also gave her a slight nod.

Somehow this admission stirred something completely carnal inside of me. As if I wasn’t having a hard enough time keeping Ayden in the friend zone, this latest revelation made it almost impossible. I wanted to find out more about this side of Ayden.

“How come you don’t have any scars?” I asked.

“I’m good,” he replied flatly, his jaw tense.

“Anyway, I didn’t think much of it. I’d seen how girls completely threw themselves at the fighters, and I thought it was kind of gross, but Ayden didn’t seem to be into any of that. He just showed up, did his job, and left,” Sammie continued. “It was like the fourth or fifth time I worked the event, and some guy was hassling me. I had just changed into my outfit, and this really creepy guy followed me down the long, empty hall to the restroom. When I came back out of the bathroom, my heart raced once I saw that the guy was still there. The guy pushed me up against the concrete wall and wouldn’t let me go. Before I knew it, Ayden came out of nowhere and stepped in to end it. And boy did he end it.”

“What did Ayden do to the guy?” I asked Sammie, completely avoiding Ayden’s gaze on me. I was completely enthralled.

“Let’s just say the guy was in need of extensive dental work. That was my last night working the fights. I didn’t want to be a part of the scene any longer, but it got me thinking about modeling.”

“God. That’s horrible,” Gabby replied, shaking her head.

“It actually turned into a good thing. I decided to try out the modeling thing in a legit way and I got lucky. I was able to finish college without loans and put enough away for, well, this little bundle. Things always happen for a reason,” Sammie said, patting her non-existent belly. “Needless to say, Ayden and I started to see one another, but we both realized we were better friends than anything else.”

“Really?” Gabby asked.

“Turns out I’m into dark haired men and as you can see, Ayden’s a complete blonde. Just doesn’t work for me,” she teased.

“There’s nothing wrong with blondes,” Mason spoke up, laughing.

“No, there’s not,” I laughed, turning my attention to Ayden. “So how long did you fight?”

He shrugged. “Too long.”

“Do mom and dad know?” Brandy asked, still obviously pissed about being in the dark.

Ayden bit his lip and glanced over at her. “No, and I’d appreciate you not saying anything.”

Brandy nodded and her gaze shifted to Sammie. “Well, that was quite enlightening.”

“I know. I want to hear more about these fights,” I said, taking a sip of wine. “You know, having hot dogs and ziti isn’t so bad.”

“I don’t know about that,” Sammie chuckled. “I’d say one or the other, but that’s just me.”

“Oh, this girl can eat,” Ayden said, laughing. “Anyone who finally can make her settle down will be in for a really big grocery bill.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad,” I argued.

“YES, you are,” Brandy and Gabby echoed in unison.

“You’re just jealous,” I teased, rubbing my hands along my side in a pinup pose.

“Actually, we are,” Gabby agreed.

I felt Ayden’s gaze on me, and I glanced over, feeling a pool of warmth take over my body. I looked around the table, wondering if anyone noticed, but everyone was too busy chatting about our mystery man at the table.

I glanced back at Ayden, and his scarless face as he flashed me a lopsided grin, his words settling over me,
I’m good
. His proclamation wasn’t
I was good.

Was he still fighting?

I narrowed my eyes on Ayden. His lips parted as if he was going to answer my silent question, but instead he turned to Sammie and whispered something before taking off from the table.

I followed him out of the dining room and grabbed for his hand as he glided down the hall toward the entry.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Just out,” he replied, his gaze dipping to the floor.

My hand latched onto Ayden’s, trying to stop him from leaving. My stomach fluttered with his touch, but I felt his hand shake mine away.

“I thought you brought her as a date…” my voice trailed off.

He shrugged and walked out the door, leaving me to wonder what just happened.