Still, Aiden didn’t need quite this much eagerness.
“Riley . . . ,” Aiden warned, and Riley rolled his eyes.
“Don’t tell me: you want a relationship,” Riley said, with a note of amusement. “You almost got married to someone you’d been with for years and years, so I get it. But I can help there too. I mean, I don’t want to be in a relationship, but I’ve dated plenty of women who wanted more than I was interested in. I can think of at least five women off the top of my head who would love exclusivity . . .”
“No. I am not interested in a relationship!” The words popped out, more vehemently than he’d intended, and Aiden winced when Riley’s eyes widened.
“No shit,” Riley breathed. “You’re finally going the casual-sex route?”
“Jesus, Riley.” Aiden rubbed his hands over his face, suddenly uninterested in his biscuits and gravy.
“You are so west side,” Riley teased with a chuckle. Ever since Aiden had moved away from Fool’s Falls and Eastern Washington, Riley had been on him about turning into a “Seattle hipster” full of social justice, wokeness, and pretension. “There’s no shame in my game, man. We’re in our prime. I still get plenty of women, believe me.”
Before Riley could regale him with any conquest stories, Aiden quickly jumped in. “I’m just looking for a date for Jason’s wedding, okay? It’s kind of important.”
Riley actually recoiled. “Dude, no. If you’re trying not to be in a relationship, then taking a woman to a wedding is the fucking third rail. You can’t do that. That’s, like, romantic and important and shit.”
Aiden sighed, looking over at his mother, who was smirking at something one of the other women was saying. “If I just tell them up front, that’d probably work, though? That I’m not looking for a relationship, that I just need a date?”
Riley was still shaking his head before Aiden finished the sentence. “I have told women point blank that I wasn’t interested in anything beyond sex, and I swear, a lot of ’em look at it as a challenge. Like I don’t mean it, or I just haven’t met the right woman—meaning them—yet. And it sucks, especially since they get this hurt look . . .” He shuddered. “That’s why I don’t stay all night. That way, they just kind of look surprised, and maybe a little pissed. You stay overnight, it’s even worse.”
Aiden stared, aghast. “That’s kind of gross, isn’t it?”
Riley shrugged. “I want sex, and I don’t want to get remarried,” he said. “I am perfectly honest up front. I’m not gonna live like a fucking monk just because women want something else and think they can get it out of me despite what I am telling them point blank.”
Aiden squirmed.
“If a woman wanted to just have sex and didn’t want a relationship, would you say shit about her? No. Because that’s . . . what, slut-shaming.” Riley looked triumphant. “That’s a double standard!”
Aiden wasn’t going to touch that one. Riley had always had a super-high sex drive, going through women like they were potato chips. Aiden wasn’t judging （or was trying not to）， but the thing was, it never seemed like Riley was really happy with all the sex. It was more like he had something to prove. It was kind of unsettling.
“Like I said, I just need a date for this. I won’t even sleep with her.” Aiden held up a hand, stopping Riley midprotest. “Don’t start.”
“Speaking of living like a monk,” Riley said under his breath.
“Not the point, and shut up.”
“So what’s the big deal?” Riley tucked into his Denver omelet. “Why do you need a date for the wedding?”
“Long story short, if I get a date, Mom finally sits down and gets some of that medical and legal stuff handled.” He glanced over at her again, then lowered his voice. “She is being such a pain in the ass about this, and she knows she’s got me over a barrel. She doesn’t think I’m going to go through with it.”
“What does she care . . . oh.” Riley’s eyes widened as he figured it out. “Sheryl’s gonna be there, isn’t she? With Davy.”
Aiden nodded, with a weary sigh.
“Shit. Well, yeah, you should totally bring someone,” Riley agreed. “Somebody hot. Show them you don’t give a damn that your little bro married the woman you were engaged to.”
“Not the point,” Aiden said with a groan. “I don’t care who she is, I just need a live body at this point.”
“Do you have any women friends?” Riley finally said, when he was finished chewing. “Somebody you can lay it all out to? Who won’t have any expectations?”
“Not here in the Falls,” Aiden admitted. “Hell, I don’t have many friends, period.”
“Um, hello?” Riley glared.
“Besides you,” he amended. “Also, how many women friends do you have?”
Riley thought for a second. “Other than my daughter? I mean, I’m friendly-ish with Cassidy, but I guess that doesn’t count.”
Considering their divorce hadn’t gone smoothly, even though Riley was a decent coparent, he wasn’t shocked. “Don’t suppose Cassidy would go with me to the wedding?”
Riley scowled. “Not cool, man. First, it’s against bro code to take a guy’s ex on a date, much less a wedding . . . especially a wedding including your own ex.”
“You know I’m not looking for anything!”
“Second,” Riley continued, “I’m going to Jason’s wedding. We’re friends, too, remember? And I was planning on hooking up with a bridesmaid or something. Weddings make girls horny. The last thing I need is my ex-wife there cockblocking me.”
“Good looking out,” Aiden said with a scowl. “Thanks for being absolutely no help.”
Riley smirked. “I try.”
“Well, if you can think of anybody, let me know, okay?”
“You know what? You should go to Deb LaFevre’s football party on Saturday,” Riley said. “Those parties are always fun. There’ll be a lot of women there, too, I’m sure. You could probably find somebody there.”
Aiden sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was go to a party. Still, this was important.
“If she won’t mind me being there?”
“Are you kidding? From the looks she’s been shooting over here, I think she’d fucking love it.”
Aiden startled, glancing over at the table where his mother was. He saw a woman with brown hair looking intently at the two of them, then blushing and looking away, making a big show of talking to someone next to her.
“Are you sure she isn’t looking at you?” Not that he cared, but he was honest: compared to Riley’s dark good looks, Aiden looked like a goofy ginger lumberjack: stocky, bearded, his russet hair more unruly than it had been in years.
“Nah. She’s the type who wants to settle down, and the women at the church know that’s not me. She got divorced almost a year ago, so you should be careful, though.”
“What? Why?”