Page 19 of Say It Again
“Am I tipsy? I’m trying to decide—oh, Kara! There you are.” Daniel skipped to the front. “Put your number in my phone. We’re going out dancing—don’t argue with me. You can bring your man, or whoever, and I’ll bring this hunk of meat—I know, isn’t he gorgeous? I’m sorry I didn’t learn anything, but I’m sometimes really bad at listening. I think I might talk too much. Anyway. Wait, what was I saying?”
AFTER THE car ride home, the buzz from the evening had begun to wear thin, and Daniel realized something interesting. At the risk of humble bragging, he’d never before been turned down for sex.
He’d been turned down for walks in the park, road trips to the beach, and requests for minimal emotional commitment, but never sex. Was he not as hilarious, or smart, or fun as he thought he was? Heavens. Was he not as cute? No. They’d sailed right past second base in a random bathroom at a party. Surely he was cute. Right?
He shuffled his feet where he stood on his front porch, toying with his keys. “Are you sure you don’t want to come inside? I have wine. I don’t know how old it is, and I hate to admit, it’s in a box. But do you want to come in for a bit?”
“I should be heading home.” Aaron’s smile was all full of grace, like the damn Virgin Mary. “Thank you for the offer.”
“Are you not that into me?” Daniel licked the corner of his mouth. “Is that it? Because you can tell me—”
“That’s laughable.” Aaron chuckled and stretched his jaw. “Please don’t make me laugh anymore. My face hurts from doing it all night.”
Daniel pointed a thumb back at his door. “So, you’re into me, but I’m going inside there, and you’re going home, and we are not going to the farmer’s market tonight.”
“That’s right.”
“Like a couple of normal people living in the same year, and one of them is not a time traveler from the 1800s?”
“One of them is definitely not a time traveler. Just someone who wants to take it slowly.”
“Okay,” Daniel sighed as he crossed his arms. “Okay, I can allow it. Under one condition.”
Aaron’s eyebrows knitted together. “Allow me to leave? You’re tiny. I’m not sure what you think you’re gonna do—”
“And here it is: you have to be telling the truth. The reason you don’t want to come inside is because you’re charmingly old-fashioned. Not because you don’t find me—oh, what’s the word I’m searching for?” He snapped his fingers a few times. “Ahh. Dazzling.”
Aaron’s mouth twitched.
“In fact, I wonder if you shouldn’t go ahead and tell me I’m dazzling,” Daniel struggled to keep a straight face as he scratched the back of his head. “Just to make sure we’re on the same page.”
Aaron snaked an arm around his waist and yanked his body flush, making him whimper all over the place. His words were all breathy and hinted in tart lemony fizz as he said, “You’re dazzling, sweetheart.”
Daniel ached a little at the points where he pressed flush against Aaron’s body. His hips. His lower belly—flush. Flush and tight. Like he could just fuse into him.
“So dazzling that you’re genuinely precious.”
Swoon.
“And I want to take things slowly because I’m excited about you. You and your dazzling preciousness.”
Daniel melted. He swooned again, then totally melted. His voice was a strained mess as he said, “Kiss me. You should kiss me like you did at the party.”
Aaron’s gaze dipped to his mouth. “How did I kiss you at the party?”
“Like you owned the room.” Daniel pressed up to his toes and threaded his arms around Aaron’s shoulders. “Like you owned the air you walked on. Like you owned me.”
Aaron didn’t hesitate. He crashed into him in the most thrilling way. Not delicate, because who had time for that shit, but needy with the way he clawed the skin on Daniel’s back and pressed their lips together, moaning in these sexy little bursts like he was loving it too.
Loving the ownership.
“You’d feel so good,” Daniel whispered into his mouth between rough kisses, “buried deep inside of me.”
“Gah.” Aaron jerked away, adjusting his pants. He half chuckled, half winced as his face contorted in pain. “That is not nice. You’re not nice.”
“Me? No.” Daniel held an innocent hand over his innocent heart. “I’m precious.”
“I have to leave.” Aaron grinned as he pointed a stern finger at him, trudging backward toward his car like he was afraid to turn his back on him. “I’m leaving right now.”