Page 106 of Say It Again
Aaron swallowed, barely nodding. In the dim room, scarcely lit from the city, it almost looked like his eyes were beginning to glisten. Which was impossible. Daniel had never seen Aaron cry. Not even close.
“You deserve to hear it,” Aaron whispered, his voice wobbly. “You deserve so much more—”
“No, no, no, no, it’s okay. Shh, it’s okay.” He tugged Aaron into him, where he cradled him against his chest, rocking them gently back and forth. “You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”
From the beginning, he’d leaned into Aaron’s guidance. What they would do. How they’d amend whatever was wrong. But for once, Aaron seemed as lost as him, so he continued to hold him. Like Aaron had held him dozens of times.
“Let’s get some sleep, okay?” he said, brushing his fingers through chocolate brown hair. “We’ll deal with tonight some other day.”
Aaron nodded against his chest.
“It’s okay, I can fix it.” He kissed Aaron’s forehead. “I’ll fix it. I’ll be better. I can be better.”
He didn’t know how. He didn’t know how he was going to fix it or how he was going to alter his entire nervous system so that he might suddenly become someone who was unaffected and nonburdensome. But he also couldn’t handle losing Aaron. That’d be like losing a piece of his soul. Losing his mister. His tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. That’d be like losing his everything.
“I’ll learn how to deal with it. I promise. You get some sleep.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
IT WAS four days later, and Aaron was so nervous that it felt like he’d swallowed a colony of bees as he sat across the table from Daniel in the best restaurant he could book on somewhat short notice.
They hadn’t spoken much about the night. The one where they almost annihilated their relationship and then their bodies with ruthless words and some of the best sex of his life, which had been… confusing. It wasn’t even that his sweet, nervy boyfriend had transformed into a hissing baby badger, but it was like that night had unearthed a pivotal truth he’d somehow managed to deny.
Daniel wasn’t happy. Daniel needed more.
“Aaron.” Daniel snapped his fingers, then twirled a palm around. “What is going on with you? Why are you being so weird?”
That was an excellent question. It’d been business as usual after the night, barring the eggshells Daniel seemed to be walking on around him. He’d been extra affectionate and smiley and hadn’t even given him the side-eye when he had to stay one of those nights with Marco.
“Weird?” he asked, wiping his palms on his pants. “How am I weird?”
“Well, for one, it’s 5:22 and we’re at dinner.” Daniel shrugged a delicate shoulder, spreading his palms around the restaurant. “What in the geriatric buffet are we doing here so early?”
Making them come to the restaurant so early might have been a detail he’d overlooked, but in his defense, Daniel wasn’t happy. Daniel needed more. The sooner he could give him more, the sooner he’d be happy. Aaron had come so close to losing him. He needed to cement their relationship with a promise.
“Is it because of what I said last night?” Daniel asked.
“What’d you say last night?” He took a sip of his champagne, scanning the restaurant for the waiter, who should’ve been here by now.
“When I told you to come inside of me deep enough to get me pregnant.”
Aaron spat his champagne back into his glass. Goddammit. He hunched over the table, champagne dribbling down his chin. “The stuff that comes out of your mouth sometimes? You need a muzzle.”
“And you need to put a baby inside me.” Daniel was grinning too ridiculously for it to not be contagious as a waiter approached the table.
No. Not just any waiter. The waiter.
“It’s one little baby, Aaron,” Daniel said, his voice sexy. “Don’t be so selfish—”
He kicked Daniel’s shin under the table.
“You ordered dessert, sir?” the waiter asked Daniel, standing over him with one hand positioned behind his back and a white cloth napkin draped over one arm.
“No, I did not,” Daniel said, his smile scrunching his nose as he peered up at the guy. “But I should. Looks yummy.”
“I think you did order that dessert,” Aaron said, the colony of bees at full buzz as the waiter placed the plate in front of them.
“No, I really didn’t.” Daniel twisted around to flag the guy, but he’d vanished. As planned. “Where’d he go? And when would I have ordered dessert? I swear, this isn’t mine.”