His girlfriend, Marissa, was so ticked when she found out, she’d given him a bloody lip in the middle of homeroom! It was quite a scene—swearing, punching, and groin kicking.
Sheesh. Peter would freak if he knew how Marissa had found out about his cheating. So far, none of the guys knew SOS existed—our clients were great at keeping the secret. Even better, nobody outside of the Smitten Kittens knew our true identities. And we planned to keep it that way.
My sneaker fit perfectly in between the slots of the wooden grid as I climbed. My pulse was racing. Heights weren’t my thing. Well, not unless I had a good solid base beneath me, and this latticework was nowhere near as dependable as my girls. They would never drop me.
Aiden’s window was half open, and I smiled. I figured it would be, since I snuck in to see him about twice per week. It would have been quite an inconvenience if I had to pick the lock every time. I pushed the cold glass up all the way before crawling in.
“Hey,” I whispered as I slid my legs over the sill. Aiden’s bedroom was lined with trophies and ribbons dating back to elementary school. My sweetie had even earned a merit badge from Boy Scouts for knot tying. But what I loved most was that his room smelled like him: athletic, sexy, and comforting. His sheets rustled as he shifted in the bed.
“Baby?” He sounded sleepy. Aiden sat up and clicked on his side table lamp, lighting up the room. I noticed that the tracksuit he’d been wearing earlier was tossed on the wood floor. It made me wonder what exactly he was wearing under his sheets. I licked my lips.
Aiden rubbed at his face and grinned at me. “What are you doing here?” His question brought me back to my Kitten senses.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Sit with me,” he said, moving over and holding open his plaid comforter for me. He was wearing the boxers I’d given him for Christmas, the ones with little reindeers on them. He’d been thinking of me! That was awfully sweet of him.
I walked over and sat down, almost ready to forget everything, but then Kira’s sobbing voice popped in my head, sniffles and all.
“What’s wrong?” Aiden asked. “I don’t like to see you frown.” He used his finger to trace my downturned mouth. He really didn’t like to see me sad. Luckily, I rarely was—it wasn’t the Smitten Kitten way.
“It’s Darren,” I said. “He cheated on Kira.”
“What?” Aiden furrowed his brow and glanced around the room, then looked back at me. “Are you f**king serious?”
I glared at him. He rolled his eyes. “Sorry. Are you effing serious?” Aiden raked his fingers through his hair, looking confused.
“I’m seriously serious.”
He paused, shaking his head. Then he straightened up. “Wait. Was it with Charlie?”
My stomach flipped. “You knew?”
“No! Of course not. It’s just … I saw him talking to her after school. I thought it was weird, but it wasn’t anything to call him on.”
“Maybe you should have.”
“Tessa.”
“Now you have to, Aiden! Your boys have been out of control lately. Do you realize that every member of the starting five, except you, has cheated on their girlfriend? Do you think that’s okay?” I felt shaky. I didn’t like having to point out something he should have already known. And besides, it was so negative.
“No, I don’t. But—”
“Well, then, you need to tell them that. You should be leading them.”
Aiden chuckled. He moved over, wrapping me up and putting his chin on my shoulder. “Baby,” he said. “They’re my friends. And I lead them in basketball, not in life.”
“Maybe a life coach is exactly what they need.”
“I can’t do that.”
“I lead the Smitten Kittens! They listen to me. You don’t see any of us running around behind our boyfriends’ backs.” Well, that wasn’t entirely true. But at least we weren’t cheating.
Oh, butterscotch. I was starting to get choked up. Poor Kira. She’d really liked Darren. They’d been together for close to a month. It was her longest relationship.
“Besides,” I said, sniffling. “I should have known.”
“Tessa.” Aiden pulled back and turned me to him, holding my face in his palms. “There’s no way you could have known. It’s not your responsibility. You’re a Sex Kitten, not the morality police.”
I closed my eyes. “It’s Smitten.” Aiden didn’t know about SOS. He had no idea that on the side, the Smitten Kittens were more than the morality police. We were full-on double agents. Like in a James Bond movie—only with twice the sex.
“Lie down with me?” he asked.
I nodded, letting him pull me in between the flannel sheets as disappointment washed over me. I’d let Kira down, and I continued to do something I despised: lie.
Aiden deserved to know what I did with the Smitten Kittens; he’d understand. But I couldn’t tell him because then he’d know I’d kept something from him for the last two years. I twitched my nose and snuggled closer to him, feeling his heat and trying to block out the negativity.
“I love you, baby,” Aiden breathed into my hair as he hugged me.
“I love you too.” I closed my eyes.
SOS CHEATER INCIDENT REPORT
CASE: 043
CLIENT: Caitlyn March
SUBJECT: Michael Garnett
FINDINGS: At approximately 1:00 a.m. on January 30, Mr. Garnett was observed talking online with an unnamed female accomplice. The conversation was not recorded, but judging by Mr. Garnett’s actions, we can safely say it was of a sexual nature.
After a thorough phone record search, it was also discovered that Mr. Garnett had been texting obscene messages to a Lisa Belgium. He’d also set up a false MySpace account in order to schedule their meetings. Once retrieved, all the correspondence was sorted. You’ll find the transcripts included with this letter.
Note the encounter scheduled on page four. At that meeting, Mr. Garnett and Ms. Belgium were photographed kissing in front of the Seattle’s Best coffeehouse. Those photos are included, as well as pictures of Mr. Garnett in front of his computer. Some with boxers, some without.
We trust that this report will remain confidential as some of the information contained within could compromise our top-secret status.
SOS is sorry for your loss, and we offer our deepest sympathies. We hope that we will not have to assist you again in the future, but please keep us in mind for referrals.