Page 120 of Say It Again

“Original molding too. You need a mirror right there—make it look bigger—and a print on that overhang. Something with color to contrast that wall. Ballet slippers? Or is that too on-the-nose?”

Daniel blinked. “What are you doing here, Aaron?”

“What am I doing here?” he repeated, sucking his lip. “I came here to congratulate you on the studio. I’m so unbelievably proud of you.”

Daniel’s gaze pinged around the walls, but he remained quiet. Quiet and icy.

“And I’m here to say that I never should’ve considered going on that trip.” He exhaled. “I knew you weren’t going to be okay with it, and I shouldn’t have put you through that. I’m sorry.”

There was something so cold about Daniel as he crossed his arms and rubbed his nose, looking anywhere but at Aaron.

“I told Marco I didn’t want to see him anymore.” He stepped a little closer. “I’ll tell all my clients I don’t want to see them. You never have to worry about—”

“I took it off.”

Aaron froze.

“I took the ring off.”

He could suddenly feel the weight of Daniel’s ring in his pocket.

“You said that if I took it off, you would let me walk away. You wouldn’t fight it. That’s what you said.”

“I know. I know what I said, but that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before I quit. I’m quitting.”

Daniel chuckled, sounding a bit delirious. “I can’t ask you to do that for me.”

“No, you can!” Aaron rushed to him. “You have every right. You’re my fiancé. You can ask anything of me—”

“No, I can’t. I never should’ve asked you to do that for me. That doesn’t work.”

“Listen to me, baby.” He started to reach for Daniel’s shoulders but stopped himself. “I want to quit. Not for you—okay, that’s a lie. It’s totally for you, but it’s for me too. I don’t want to do it anymore. I haven’t wanted to do it for a long time. I think I was just scared.”

Daniel squinted. “Scared of what?”

“Scared of failing.” He shook his head and shrugged. “Or maybe of succeeding, I don’t know. Of everything. Of change, of life, of never having enough. Of never being enough.”

Daniel sniffed, his melted caramel eyes all enormous and full of pain. It was almost like his frigid walls were trying to fracture, but he waved his arms around and patched them up. “No. Listen. You’re emotional right now. If you quit for me, you’ll resent me someday.”

“No, I won’t. I swear, I swear, I swear, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will.” Daniel squeezed his eyes shut as he wiped a palm across the forehead. “I know it doesn’t seem like it this second, but you will. That’s how it works.”

“Kid, if I don’t fight for you, I’ll resent myself.”

Daniel startled.

“If I won’t fight for you,” Aaron whispered, “then I never deserved you.”

“Aaron.”

“I have your ring, baby.” He dug into his pocket in a hurry and scooped the ring out. “I have it right here. This is your ring.”

Daniel’s gazed journeyed down to the ring.