Chance Of A Lifetime

Foot-In-Mouth Disease

September 2021, Miami:

      "Finally get her settled in?" Ashley questioned as Bobby reached the bottom of the staircase and walked into the living room.

      "Yeah, she's in bed, with a wastebasket right next to her, so she won't have to get up if she feels sick," the older man responded. "She said all she wants is quiet, so I think I'm gonna go check on a couple of things at the restaurant. You're welcome to come with, if you want, we can even grab some lunch while we're there. That way we don't have to worry about the smell of food making her feel worse than she already does."

      "Usually the best plan when she gets a migraine," Ashley agreed. "When do you wanna head out?"

      "As soon as I text Zach and Zoe to let 'em know to be quiet if either of them get home from work before we make it back. So if you want to change or anything, you might wanna get to it."

      Ashley jogged to the guest room he was bunking in to take his phone from the charger, then hurried back downstairs and followed his host to the garage, climbing into the passenger seat of Bobby's steel-gray Chevy Tahoe. But what he wasn't aware of was that Bobby had a reason other than giving Aerin some peace and quiet to sleep off her headache for taking him out of the house - a reason that Aerin herself had given him.

      She had been thrilled, perhaps even more so than Ashley, when he had been invited to appear at an independent music festival in Miami over the Labor Day holiday, as it offered her an opportunity to see Bobby. The older man had been happy to offer Ashley one of his guest rooms, and, along with Aerin, Zach, and Zoe, had even come to watch his set the previous evening. And although the younger man had shown enough common sense not to attempt to bring one of his numerous female fans back to the house, it hadn't stopped him from flirting relentlessly with nearly every one of them that he encountered. Bobby had noticed that this appeared to annoy his girlfriend, which struck him as rather odd, so he had questioned her about it later as they were getting ready for bed, and learned that her hopes for getting Ashley and Aidan together had apparently hit a dead end. 

      "I swear, I don't know what the hell to do about him," Aerin had grumbled. "You know that I've tried everything I can think of, short of locking the two of them in a closet together, but he still hasn't made a move! Even when I leave 'em alone together for two days, he does squat!"

      Bobby had chuckled as he remembered her request that he call her at the tail end of Aidan's most recent visit to Nashville and claim some sort of "emergency" that required her to come to Florida, leaving her friend alone with Ashley for the last two days of her stay. Aerin had hoped that this would prompt him to make some sort of a move, but it appeared that he hadn't even considered the idea, and she was more than willing to share her frustrations with Bobby.

      "Maybe they're just not attracted to each other," he had reasoned. "I mean, I know they're your friends, and you want 'em to be happy, but just because you think they'd make a good couple doesn't mean that they agree."

      "Love, I've known Aidan for almost two years now, in one way or another, and I know damn good and well that she finds him attractive," she retorted. "Goddess knows we had plenty of conversations on the topic of hot guys before I ever even met him, and she was very clear on her opinion. And after her trip down back in February, he kinda slipped up and made a comment about her having, and I quote, 'a damn fine set of legs'. He tried to convince me that I misunderstood him, but I know what I heard!"

      She had paused after this statement, her features settling into an expression of dismay, then queried, "You don't think he's ignoring her because he thinks I'd be mad at him for hitting on my friend, do you? I know I've never come right out and said, 'Dude, you need to get together with Aidan, you'd be good for each other', but you'd think he'd be smart enough to pick up on all the hints I've given him. Right?"