Page 57 of Say It Again
“Oh, of course you can, sweetheart. Of course, you just….” Aaron trailed off as his gaze started to scan the house. “Not in every way. Do you mind if I take a peek at the bedroom?”
“The bedroom?” He trailed behind as Aaron darted toward the bedroom. “Why?”
“Hmm? No reason,” Aaron said, prying open the door and flicking on the light. “Oh Jesus.”
Daniel examined the room. “What?”
“Oh Jesus God on earth.” Aaron spun in a delirious circle, whisper-repeating under his breath, “Worse. Worse than I expected.”
“Well, I told you my plan. Get you to like me, then reveal the messy.”
“You precious little thing, look at me.” Aaron cupped his face and pulled him close enough for their noses to nearly touch. “This is not messy. This is how most horror movies start.”
Daniel chuckled.
“I’m going to clean it.” Aaron zoomed toward the kitchen. “It’ll just take me a sec—”
“Are you insane?” Daniel hooked his fingers into Aaron’s jeans and pulled him back. “I’d literally rather watch it all burn than spend tonight cleaning it.”
“That….” Aaron trailed off again as he cut his eyes to the side, slowly twisting back around. “Might be your only option.”
“I want to spend time with you, mister. How am I supposed to do that if you’re off fairy-godmothering my room?”
“I want to spend time with you too, kid. But if you don’t let me clean your house, I am going to lose my entire mind. My entire mind. Do you understand?”
Sort of. Not about cleaning—how charming. But about other stuff. Normal stuff, like dancing or eating. Or that one time when all he wanted to do was drive that person’s golf cart, and they insisted he was “too excited to not be trying to steal it.”
He reluctantly nodded, and sometime later, Aaron had moved mountains with what little supplies he’d been given. He’d scrubbed dishes, filled trash bags, and assigned homes for things like books, charging cables, and body butters. He’d angled furniture toward focal points and rearranged shelves. They’d even gotten past their first mild disagreement, which was about separating light clothes from dark—the urban legend of laundry—only to land in another gently heated discussion about furniture polish. Aaron couldn’t understand why Daniel didn’t own any, and when he tried to explain how it was because he would never buy something so ludicrous, Aaron made it. Made it from olive oil and lemon essential oil.
The whole thing was very demigod-turns-domestic and beyond sexy, and if he wasn’t so exhausted, he’d properly thank him. But he was exhausted, so he flopped atop his fresh bedsheets and rolled himself up like a piglet in a blanket.
Aaron blew out a candle he had lit, transforming the room from lemony heaven to a birthday wish come true. “Sorry, it’s so late. I’m going to take off, okay? Let you get some sleep.”
“Oh no.” He pawed at Aaron’s arm, half-delirious. “You don’t have to leave.”
Aaron grinned as he sat on the corner of the bed. “Aww. Exhausting watching me do all that work, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, you wouldn’t think it would be.”
“Because you didn’t do anything?”
“Because I didn’t do anything—” He interrupted himself with a yawn and wiped his watery eyes. “But here we are.”
Aaron snorted and twirled one of his curls around his finger. “Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? I’d love to take you out. Something low-key and relaxing. Just us.”
Daniel hummed as he snuggled into the covers. Was this what it was like having someone take care of him? Not only was it physical—the house; his body—but it was like Aaron was meeting him where he was emotionally. “I’m hanging out with my boyfriend. Just us.”
Aaron took a breath. When he spoke again, his tone was a bit different. Almost tense. “I’m glad you texted. I was worried…. I’m just glad you texted.”
He shook his head and patted Aaron’s chest. He couldn’t even reach for the fury he’d felt a week ago. The well of anger had bled dry, replaced with hope. “Olivia said I should stop dating my dad.”
Aaron’s head twitched to the side.
“Err, no.” He scrunched his face and swabbed a hand over it. “What I meant was, uh, you’re not my dad. You’re better and I shouldn’t keep dating my dad because he’s horrible.”
“Yeah, how about you get some rest, sweetheart.” Aaron kissed his forehead. “We’ll unpack that later when you have more energy.”
“Sounds super,” Daniel said, his eyes drifting closed and his thoughts swirling together. “But you should kiss me before you go.”