Page 70 of Falling With You

“No one asked you,” I snapped.

“Listen to the kid,” Beckham said as he dropped off a plate of nachos that I did not make but still looked really good. “Seems like the only one of you who knows what he’s doing when it comes to women, or at least talking about them.” He winked and then went off to go do whatever the fuck he was doing.

“I hate him,” I muttered.

“No, you don’t. Now, why don’t you tell us what’s wrong with Sienna? Or what you did to make things wrong with Sienna,” Dillon corrected.

“Fuck all y’all.” I sighed and then told them exactly what had happened. Brendon and Cameron just kept shaking their heads, and Dillon gave me such a disappointed look that I felt like I needed to cower in my seat.

“What?”

“She was working, Aiden.”

“I know. And I realize it was stupid. I just didn’t realize it at the time. I thought she could take a break. Like I do.”

“But she doesn’t walk back to your kitchen and talk to you. She waits ‘til you come out here. Plus, the whole food thing.”

I shook my head. “Okay, that was wrong. I just... I can’t... I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Start with that,” Dillon said, tapping his fingers on the table. “Tell her you don’t know what you’re doing. That way, you can actually figure out what you need to do together. Relationships are hard.”

“I still don’t know where you’re getting all this information,” Cameron said, tossing his hands up into the air. “How and why do you know things like this?”

“Like I said, I read romance novels. I watch TV. I listen to women.”

“What women?”

“Your women,” Dillon said, rolling his eyes.

“If you actually listen to what they’re saying, sometimes, you can figure out what you need to do. Or if you don’t know, you ask.”

“Seriously?” I asked as I shook my head and then pointed at Dillon. “I don’t know what I’m going to do about Sienna, but one day, you are going to meet the woman of your dreams, and you’re going to freak out and try not to fuck it up. And then you’re going to come to us not knowing what you’re supposed to do, and we’re going to just throw back all of your advice to you. So, it’d better work.”

“Oh, it will work. But I’m not coming to you for advice.”

I just glared. “Really? We’re your big brothers. Who are you supposed to go to?”

“I’m going to your women,” Dillon said, like it was the most rational thing in the world. It didn’t mean that itwasn’tthe most rational thing in the world, but still. “They’re better at this than you guys are.”

“He is not wrong there,” Brendon said, nodding.

“I hate all of you.”

They just gave me a sad look, and I nodded, knowing I had been in the wrong. But that didn’t mean I knew what I needed to do next. As soon as the door opened and I looked up, I knew my time for mulling it over and trying to figure out what to say and do was over.

Sienna stood there, her face set in straight lines, and her chin raised.

The time of my reckoning was here.

I just hoped I didn’t fuck it up.

Chapter Sixteen

Don’t forget to say what you mean and don’t back down

-Sienna, age 19 in a conversation with Violet about her grades.

Sienna