Chapter 209
Aiden
Hale’s office was quiet when Noah and I walked in.
Lexie and Micah were already there.
Micah was bouncing in his seat like a caffeinated chihuahua.
Lexie, despite how terrified she might’ve been, seemed somehow… at ease.
When she saw Noah, she stood, a soft smile lighting her face.
And when I saw her… I finally understood the weight she’d been carrying for us.
“Lexie,” I said quietly. “Thank you. For all of this. I know what it costs you.”
She shook her head. “Noah’s my friend. And… he deserves to be happy. Even if it’s not with me.”
Noah squeezed her hand, and Lexie blinked fast like she wasn’t going to cry in a BDSM club office.
Micah threw his hands up dramatically. “Okay, group hug before I lose emotional stability—”
“No,” everyone said at once.
He pouted. “You’re all heartless.”
Hale cleared his throat, very much the adult in the room. “You said you wanted to discuss something?”
Noah glanced at me once.
“We would like to stay the night,” he said softly. “Together.”
I looked at Hale. “We know it’s asking a lot. But this might be our last chance before the wedding. Before things get… worse.”
For a moment, Hale studied us—the way I still held Noah’s hand, the way Noah leaned against me like he wasn’t letting go ever again.
Then he nodded once. “You’re staying here. Both of you. The club is private, secure, and closed for the night.”
Relief punched out of me so hard I almost swayed.
“But,” Hale added, “someone has to get Lexie safely home.”
Micah’s hand shot up like he was volunteering to fight a dragon.
“I’ll do it! Me. Pick me. Please let me. I get to drive the cool car.”
Lexie rolled her eyes. “Not a chance. Only I drive that car.”
“Ok, you drive. Or we can just snuggle on the passenger seat,” Micah muttered. “Those heated seats alone—”
“MICAH.”
“Fine! My bad.”
Noah looked uneasy. “But—Lexi can’t show up alone. What if someone sees? What if my watchers are still around and they realize I didn’t come back?”
Lexie nodded. “My father’s people always check. If I return alone, or if someone is posted by Noah’s dorm, he’ll know something’s off.”
“My God, this is like a spy movie…” Micah frowned for a second before snapping his fingers. “Got it. I go with her. In your clothes. With your jacket and the scarf way up. Boom. Fake Noah achieved.”
Hale sighed. “Subtle. Very subtle.”
Micah proudly puffed his chest. “Sir, I can act. Watch this.” He put on Noah’s dead-eyed football stare. “Yo.”
Lexie burst out laughing.
Noah groaned. “I don’t say ‘yo.’”
“You give ‘yo’ energy,” Micah fired back.
I rubbed my face. “God help us.”
But it was a good plan. The only plan. After all, Micah had Noah’s height and blonde hair. From far and at night, he would definitely pass as him.
“We’ll drop Micah off at campus,” Lexie said. “He’ll go into your dorm, so if anyone’s watching, they’ll see ‘you’ arrive. Then I’ll go home. My father won’t question anything.”
Micah tossed a glittery wink. “Nice! I’m staying at your dorm? I’m so gonna redecorate it!”
Noah gave him a glare. “Oh, no, you’re not… And leave before the sun comes up.”
“No promises.”
I finally spoke, voice low, steady. “Thank you. All of you. You’ve given us something no one else would.”
Hale inclined his head. “We protect our own.”
Micah sniffled dramatically. “Aiden, stop, I’m gonna cry again. My mascara can only take so much—”
And then his expression shifted—still silly, but softer as he glanced at Lexie beside him. “We can do this, princess.”
She met his eyes and something flickered between them—quiet, unexpected, warm.
Noah noticed.
I did too.
We hugged one another goodbye as if we were old friends. And for a second, despite everything, something like hope threaded the room.
The moment we were back alone, I let out a breath. “I can’t believe it,” I said quietly. “We started this completely alone. And now the very people I thought we were hurting the most are the ones helping us.”
Noah smiled a little. “Yeah. Lexie, Micah… even Hale. And speaking of Micah,” he said slowly, “did you notice the way he looked at her?”
“Mm.” I brushed my thumb along Noah’s knuckles. “They didn’t seem to hate each other.”
“They kind of… clicked,” Noah murmured.
We both knew it wasn’t our business.
But it warmed the room in a way nothing else could.
Then the warmth dimmed, replaced by something heavier.
Noah’s voice softened. “Aiden… after the wedding… things won’t change really.”
I swallowed. “Won’t they?”
“Now that Lexie knows, the pretending is over. We’re going to act for William, but that’s it. There won’t be intimacy. There won’t be… anything real. We agreed on that.”
Pain flickered through me, sharp but expected, but also relief.
I nodded. “And William? When does he sign you to a team?”
“He won’t until after I’m married,” Noah said. “He wants the image locked in before he negotiates. Power couple. Clean reputation. Storybook bullshit.”
“Do you know where he’ll place you?”
“No idea.”
I tightened my grip on his hand. “Tell me what happens then, Noah. What do you want me to do? Stay here? Follow you? Hide and wait until you’re free?”
He looked up at me, eyes aching in the soft light.
“I just know I need you close,” he whispered. “Whatever happens… you can’t disappear on me.”
My chest pulled tight. “I won’t. And, if that’s what you really decide, I’ll go wherever you go. If you get signed across the country, then that’s where I’ll be. Waiting.”
His breath trembled.
For a moment, the future was terrifying, enormous, impossible.
But his fingers in mine made it feel survivable.
“We’ll figure it out,” I murmured. “One step at a time.”
He nodded against me. “Yeah… one step.”
Noah and I walked back to my private quarters, fingers brushing, then tangling together. The moment the door closed behind us, he leaned into me like exhaustion and relief had hit him at the same time.
I pulled him onto the bed, letting him curl against me, his head on my chest, my hand stroking up and down his spine in slow, absent circles.
“Feels unreal,” he murmured.
“What does?”
“All of it. Being here with you. Being… safe.”
He said it so quietly I almost missed it.
I tucked him closer, my nose brushing his hair. “You’re safe with me. Always.”
He let out a breath that sounded like it had been trapped in him for months. Then, after a moment, he whispered, “Tell me something sweet. Something about the future.”
I smiled into his hair. “Alright. Picture this… our place. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere warm. You wake up first, which is annoying, because you always do—”
He shoved my shoulder weakly. “Shut up.”
“—and you’re humming something in the kitchen while you make coffee. And when I walk in, you’re wearing nothing but one of my shirts.”
Noah laughed, soft and shy. “That’s unusual—I’m normally naked.”
“That’s domestic teasing and bliss,” I murmured. “And I want it.”
He shifted a little, his fingers tracing idle shapes on my ribs. “I used to hum as a kid, you know? And sing—” he admitted quietly. “I just don’t do it around people.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “Never felt… confident.”
“Well,” I said softly, “you can be yourself with me. Every part of you.”
He hesitated.
Then—barely above a whisper—he started humming.
I recognized the tune—"A Thousand Years"—and my chest ached. And when he began to sing, his breath vibrated against my chest, and I swear my heart stopped just to listen.
…One step closer
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more
He gave me a small kiss before the next line and that’s when I almost lost it…
Time stands still…
“My God, baby boy…” I whispered, almost unable to contain the emotion because that’s all I could dream of… time standing still… for us… “I didn’t know your voice was like that.”
He flushed against me. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s everything.”
He hummed a little more, and I kept stroking his arm, slow and steady, until his body melted fully into mine. The world outside—the danger, the wedding, the contract, the lies—faded into something distant and unreal.
For tonight, I thought there was only him.
His voice.
His warmth.
His breath mixing with mine.
If only…