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A couple of seconds go by and Aiden sighs. “Alright. We’re good.”

“You up to go get some drinks after work?” Joey asks.

“Nah, I’ve been tired lately. The trial and paperwork really take a toll on me.”

"Yeah, me too, buddy,” I whisper to myself. But that’s not the real reason why he’s tired. My body needs a week-long vacation, at least. Especially after last night. Hardwood floors are not the most comfortable to kneel on.

“Okay, I’ll see if Yirah and Joyce want to come,” Joey says in response.

“I recall Joyce telling me that she was spending tonight resting after work,” Aiden informs him despite the fact that I’m pretty sure I never told him that.

“How do you go from barely standing her, to having her schedule memorized? It seems as though you might be warming up to her,” Joey says.

Aiden lets out a breath and replies sarcastically, “I’m not warming up to her. You can ask her yourself about her schedule. At least I warned you.”

“I will. Let me know if you change your mind, though.” Joey pauses and chuckles. “But if both you and Joyce cannot make it, maybe I can get some alone time with Yirah. I’m surprised I haven’t ran into her before Joyce got here.”

Aiden chuckles. “You like Yirah?”

“I wouldn’t say like her…more like looking at the possibility of what could come from being alone with her,” Joey clarifies.

I roll my eyes. You would think men would be a little different after death but no. They all still think with their dicks.

“Joyce will destroy you if you hurt Yirah. Just think you should know,” Aiden warns him. He’s right. I will find some way to ruin his afterlife. I need to pencil in a friend date with Yirah to debrief her on this. If she’s interested, then we have to play this right. If she’s not, then we have to kick him to the curb.

I hear them briefly do that pat on the back thing that men do as a goodbye. Why wouldn’t Aiden just tell his best friend about us? Yirah knows. I hear the front door close, and I rush back to bed, pulling the covers over me. Aiden walks into the room and slides into the bed, pulling me close to him so that my back is to his front.

I feel his face in my neck and he chuckles in my ear. “I can smell toothpaste, Joy. You also took off your head scarf and have a shirt on. I’m fairly certain I left you here naked.”

Damn it.

I forgot I did that. I stick to ignorance though and refuse to open my eyes. He slowly runs his hand down my arm to my stomach. I try to keep my breathing even, but I am failing miserably. Aiden rubs his fingers in a circular motion on my stomach then he stops. I think he is going to lower his hand, but I am painfully wrong. He chooses this moment to do a sneak attack when I’m at my most vulnerable. His fingers begin to tickle me, and I squirm like crazy, giggling and begging him to let me go.

“Stop!” I screech in between my giggling, but he does not show an ounce of mercy. He climbs on top of me, straddling me, and begins to attack my armpits.

“Aiden! Oh my god!” I try to buck him off me with my hips, but he doesn’t move an inch.

“This is what you get for fake sleeping,” he says with a huge grin on his face.

“You’re so mean,” I pout. “You know I’m extremely ticklish.”

“I know. It’s my new secret weapon to get you to listen to me,” he jokes.

“I heard Joey out there,” I share. I prefer to not hold things in for too long. I might as well rip off the Band-Aid, rather than let it lay there.

“Ah, you were eavesdropping,” he replies to me. He rolls to his back, bringing me with him so that I am now straddling him. I adjust myself on his lap so that I am comfortable.

“No. You both were talking too loudly. I had no option but to hear what was being said,” I explain. If I had closed the door, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hear them.

Aiden arches an eyebrow. “Well, then you heard that he’s going to ask you and Yirah out for drinks.”

I nod. “Yes. I also heard you tell him I was going to be busy.”

“Because you are going to be busy. With me.”

I roll my eyes. “I can’t be with you all the time.”

He tilts his head in confusion and tightens his hold on my hips. “Says who?”