Free Almost Broken by Portia Moore Page B

seem to be in a ‘just got some’ mood today,” he jokes. I frown at him.
    “You make up with Jenna?” he guesses.
    “No, she’s coming home tomorrow though,” I inform him.
    “You’ve been jerking off or something, then?” He laughs. I wave him off.
    “You were late coming down for our run. You’re never late, and you had that just-fucked smile on your face.” He chuckles.
    “You’re an idiot,” I say, sitting down on the ground.
    “Hey, sometimes a man’s hand can be his best friend,” he says, flopping down next to me.
    “I wasn’t jerking off. I was on the phone and lost track of time,” I say to shut him up. He gives me a disbelieving look.
    “I was talking to Lauren,” I say, and a smug grin spreads across his face.
    “How long were you guys on the phone?” he asks mischievously.
    “Not that long,” I shrug. He gives me an incredulous look. “About two hours,” I finally admit.
    “Get the fuck out!” he says, slapping me on the back.
    “Dude, the only reason I stay on the phone with a girl that long is if I haven’t screwed her yet and it’ll better my chances, or she’s a hell of a dirty talker,” he laughs.
    “Two hours isn’t that long.” I shrug.
    “Okay, you’re right. You guys do have a lot to talk about. What did you find out?”
    “Well we didn’t really talk about a lot of important stuff. I figured I’d save that for when she’s here, you know,” I say, pulling out my candy bar and opening it.
    “Wait. So you were on the phone two hours just shooting the shit?” he says knowingly.
    “I wouldn’t exactly call it that,” I explain hesitantly, and he starts to shake his head, chuckling.
    “What?” I say as he stands up.
    “You like her?” he asks, but it’s more like a statement.
    “Yeah, she’s cool, and she has my kid.” I defend.
    “You know what I’m talking about.”
    “It’s not like that. I want to be her friend and friends should have something to talk about.”
    “You and I have been friends our whole lives, and we’ve never talked on the phone like that,” he says as we start to walk back towards the house.
    “Awww, what? Are you jealous”? I kid, and he laughs.
    “How about you and Lisa? You guys talk that long?” he asks, folding his arms, and the only answer I have is one that will strengthen his case.
    “I didn’t plan on talking to her that long,” I admit. As we start to speed up our pace.
    “You better watch yourself, Scott.” He chuckles as he runs ahead of me. We end up running about two miles there, and back. Aidan wins by almost a half a block. I guess they did teach him something in the army.
    “I’m starving,” he says as he catches his breath.
    “Me too,” I reply as walk the rest of the distance between us, inhaling as much air as I can.
    “Let’s go get some burgers,” he says, grabbing a water bottle off my porch and downing it.
    “I want breakfast.”
    “You always want breakfast it’s almost eleven at night,” he says, whining like a four year old.
    “We can grab some burgers, and I can drop you off and get to my next workout plan for the evening,” he says with a wink.
    “I’m going to go fry some bacon,” I say, heading into the house.
    “Screw it. Throw me on some eggs,” he relents, following me.
    “So what’s this one’s name?” I ask as I open the door.
    “Rachel, and the body on th—” he stops mid-sentence as we see Jenna sitting at the kitchen table with her hands folded.
    “Jenna,” I say happily.
    “I figured you’d gone out on your run,” she replies quietly, a barely-there smile on her face.
    “Hey Aidan,” she says, throwing a quick glance his way.
    “What’s up, Jenna?” he responds back dryly. The two have never really warmed up to each other. Jenna thinks he’s a chauvinistic pig. Aidan thinks she’s high-strung and boring so we all never have hung out much. I look and back at Aidan.
    “Rain check on breakfast,” I say, and he nods quickly, heading out