Playing With The Devil

Chapter 31

I put my hands up slowly. Defensively. I didn't know where to go with this. Her face was bright red from the anger. Her breathing was off-putting. She needed to calm down, but it was beyond me to tell anyone to do that right now.

"Are you going to believe anything I say?" I asked calmly.

"Fuck no," she growled.

"What if you heard it from Aidan?" I continued.

"What slippery little lies has he been saying?" she yelled. "He's got his hooks in both of you."

"To be fair," I responded. "Aidan did... originally punch him. So, if that's any consolation."

Alyssa relaxed a little at those words. I could have sworn she even stifled laughter. It was pretty amusing to consider someone such as Aidan, smaller and non-violent, having punched someone bigger right across the face.

"And what happened in between the punch and this?" she questioned further. "This isn't okay."

"My father had Jesse come around to mine to finish some safety plans last night," I shrugged. "He stayed over. Nothing... Well, kind of nothing happened. It's a bit of a mess."

"Oh, it bloody is," she replied, as she stared daggers at me.

It was like the first night we'd met. She didn't trust me then. She had slowly grown to trust me now. But after what she just witnessed, unless Aidan can explain well enough for her to believe him; all of that is going down the drain.

"What do you mean 'kind of nothing'? That makes no sense," she continued, shaking her head.

I'd only just realised she'd started stepping toward me. Closer and closer. I could see the anger written all over her face. A little shaky also. I cleared my throat to stop her.

"We... We attempted to do... something. Aidan tried to give us... handjobs," I explained slowly. "Aidan's idea, not mine. Not Jesse's. In fact, Jesse offered to leave, more than once. He didn't want to make Aidan uncomfortable."

Her face dropped. It was like she was calculating the world's hardest maths problem. She couldn't put it all together. Was she thinking about the sex part or the part where Jesse didn't want to upset Aidan? I stood still. My heart thrummed in my chest.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asked suddenly.

"Down there," I gestured behind me. "I can take you. Just give me a moment."

I walked past her and picked up Aidan's whiteboard. Just in case. He may have stood up for himself a moment ago, but it took him time to find the words. If he'd gone nonverbal while in the bath, then he'd need this.

I led her down the hall and to the bathroom. As we reached the door, I noticed it was left half-open. I could hear Jesse's voice but not Aidan's. I stopped Alyssa from going in and glanced inside. Alyssa followed my gaze and watched silently. We couldn't see the bath itself, but the mirror allowed some kind of a view.

Jesse was sitting on the edge of the tub, he mustn't have wanted to join Aidan in there. Or, Aidan may have requested to be alone in there while still being cared for. Either way, they both seemed calm.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked.

A nod from Aidan.

"Are... Are you sure?" he tilted his head.

Another nod.

"You had a board with you yesterday," Jesse said suddenly. "Do- Do you need it?"

Aidan shrugged.

"Do um... Do you go nonverbal sometimes?"

A nod.

"I'll get the board," Jesse said as he stood up from the tub.