Role Playing(27)

“Were you planning on opening an auction or something?” Aiden hissed.

Deb laughed. “You’re like me,” she said to Riley, with an approving grin. “Proactive.”

“He does need a date, though,” Riley continued.

“Throat punching you,” Aiden growled under his breath, which only made his friend laugh.

“Who needs a date?” Patience said, rushing back, her face the picture of curiosity.

“Aiden,” Deb said, looking very intent, her face both friendly and encouraging. “Which I can completely agree with.”

Now Aiden was taken aback. “You can?”

“Your mom has said to our church group, many times, that you’re just too alone,” Deb said, with a nod.

“I was busy,” Aiden felt compelled to point out.

“Oh, I know,” Deb said, and now he felt really, really uncomfortable. “Taking care of your father! And helping your mom . . . I get the feeling she probably doesn’t thank you much for it, I know how independent she is . . .”

That is for damned sure, he thought.

“. . . but still, you need to take time for you. And I’ll bet finding the right person would make her feel happier too. She’s worried that you’re shutting yourself off, just burying yourself in your computer and away from people.”

“I connect with people,” he protested. “Just . . . online.”

For a second, it seemed like everybody in the small circle looked at each other with a note of pity, a sort of group bless your heart. He forced himself not to bristle.

“Well, yes, that’s nice, to have friends that you have things in common with,” Deb reassured him. “But it’s not the same as flesh-and-blood people. The connection’s just not the same.”

Aiden gritted his teeth.

You need a date. You don’t have to see them again after Jason’s wedding. If you go off, you are going to ruin it.

“I suppose you’re right,” he finally said, when he was sure he could say it without sounding strangled. “And I’m here, aren’t I?”

Deb beamed. “Exactly! Hopefully, we’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”

He looked around. “Maybe I should see how we’re doing,” he said, nodding at the TV. “Been a while since I watched football.”

Not that he had any interest in this particular game. He’d largely stopped watching football on a college level when he’d moved to the west side. Still, he needed a chance to regroup and see what his prospects were. He got the feeling asking anyone his mother knew to the wedding might be an issue, especially if she’d been lobbying for someone to take him off her hands, for God’s sake. He was fifty years old, and his mother was trying to set him up like getting married was a playdate?

“But what about the wedding?” Riley said, stopping him before he could take a step.

Goddamn it, Riley.

“What wedding?” Patience asked, and Deb frowned.

“It’s no big deal,” Aiden said, at the same time Riley added, “Jason’s wedding.”

“Oh! Jason, your cousin, right?” Deb asked. Patience was still staring, although the conversation seemed to be boring her.

“Right.”

“And Sheryl’s gonna be there,” Riley said. “So of course Aiden needs to be there with a date.”

They all went silent: Aiden in frustrated irritation, the rest in quiet shock as a result of Riley’s revelation. The group in the living room cheered at something happening in the football game, oblivious to the social faux pas that had detonated in the kitchen.

“Of course,” Deb finally said. “If your brother’s going to be there . . .”

“Oh my God, you’re that guy?” Patience yelped. “The one whose brother married his fiancée? Like, immediately after they broke up?”

Kill me now.

Aiden tried to get ahold of the conversation. “That was years ago,” he said, although no matter how many times he pointed this out, no one seemed to get it. “And trust me, we’re all past it.”

Well, Sheryl wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to admit that.

“If you’re past it, why haven’t you dated, then?” Patience probed. “And why do you need a date now?”

“Patience!” Deb snapped.

“What? I’m just asking what everybody’s thinking!”

Aiden was really, really starting to dislike this woman.

“Like I said, I’ve been busy the past two years. And I just haven’t met anyone I felt like I could connect with. I don’t want to be with anyone just to be with someone, you know?”

Deb stared at him, hearts in her eyes. “That is the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” she cooed. “Especially from a man.”

“Hmm.” Patience, on the other hand, had one dark eyebrow quirked, and she was studying him with suspicion. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard that from a man.”

He shrugged, unsure what to say.

“At least,” Patience continued with a flirtatious grin, “not one that wasn’t trying to sleep with me, anyway.”

Aiden winced. “Trust me, I would never.”

They all fell silent for a second, and he realized that might’ve sounded really bad. To his surprise, Deb actually burst out laughing, and Patience flushed an unattractive color, glaring at him.