ŷ������

Matt backed off, with this sour look on his face like Aidan had just crushed his wildest dreams. “What’s the point of you dating this chick if you don’t bring in the highest quality of baked good every day?��
Aidan set the bagels and his messenger bag down on his desk, then adjusted his glasses and leveled Matt with a serious stare. “Are you out there dating women just for free food? Are ya, buddy?��
“You say it like that’s a bad idea. The girl likes you. The girl likes to bake. And I personally think I should benefit from these truths in your budding relationship.��
“How about you enjoy the bagels I’m not going to ask you to pay me back for and we never again talk about any woman I’m dating in terms of how they might benefit you.��
“You’re going to get me banned from Sweet Creams if I don’t stop talking about this, aren’t you?�� Matt said, his face going slack.
“Hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it...��

Being dumped on Christmas Eve wasn’t something Aidan had experienced before and it was not something he would recommend. It had been a long time since he’d cried real tears, and even though no tears actually leaked out, he felt them stinging the backs of his eyes the whole drive back to his place. He did not want things to end with Shae.
When he got back to his apartment, he did his best not to get too down on himself before he went to bed. Purposely skipping over the bottles of booze lining the top of his fridge, he queued up episodes of a new cartoon on Netflix to keep his mind off the fact that he was now alone and pretty heartbroken. Shae didn’t need space. She need to not be with him. It wasn’t hard to get that message.
He understood. He really did. She’d been in a rough relationship and it had ended badly, but Aidan also knew what she wasn’t saying. He knew what the problem really was. He had fallen for Shae, hard, and he didn’t think she missed the effort he was putting in to make her happy and comfortable. He was pretty sure that’s what sent her heading for the hills. He’d come on too strong, made himself too comfortable with her friends and family. They hadn’t even discussed any relationship terms and he was in full boyfriend mode.
He knew it was a big deal to introduce someone new to the people closest to you and Aidan should have asked Shae how she wanted to handle it before he was all hands on at the party. He was drawn to Shae. He loved being near her, he loved touching her, but like his sister said, two people need to be happy in a relationship. Shae had been tense all night and instead of checking with her early on, he waited until the last second to see if she was okay. He got it. He’d fucked up. Shae wasn’t ready to go where he wanted to take the relationship and he needed to accept that. It still fucking sucked. He was missing her already.