Page 62 of Say It Again

Immediately leaving. Daniel smiled. Right this second. “Excuse me,” he whispered and wriggled past them. “I need some air.”

“Okay, let’s get you that.” Aaron followed him toward the stairs. “And maybe some more wine—”

Gauge snagged Aaron’s shoulder and held him back, whispering something in his ear. Then he turned to Daniel. “Hey, you don’t mind if I borrow this guy for a sec, do you?”

Aaron looked a bit shell-shocked, like he didn’t know what to say. “Oh, now’s probably not a good—”

“Just a little chat. It won’t take long. Please?” Gauge grinned sweetly up at Daniel as if it’d help facilitate his approval. Sweet but shameless. “Please? He’ll meet you upstairs.”

Suddenly both of them were staring up at him, awaiting his blessing. Of course you may proposition my boyfriend for sex! How terrific!

“Pfffft, totally.” His tone didn’t match his words, making him sound a little unstable, so he delivered a wimpy thumbs-up to convince them he wasn’t. “By all means, sirs. Good sirs.” Still unwell. “And by that, I mean, take your time.” It wasn’t getting better. He scurried up the stairs.

Once on deck, he heaved a gust of air and started pacing to offset some of the seasickness. What was he doing? Honestly. What the hell did he think he was doing? He didn’t have the neural network necessary to handle open husbands and GQ-escort boyfriends and Nauti Rhonda III—whatever happened to the goddamn first and second! He needed a sedative.

And this wasn’t Aaron’s friend’s boat. This was Aaron’s client’s boat. Aaron probably knew the tweak to get the shower to work, and which towels were for fancy nautical use and which ones were for other purposes. Cleanup purposes.

Queasy and parched, he balled his fingers into fists. He could run away? Swim?

“Hell yeah. I’ll give you a call.” Gauge’s voice carried up the stairs with his footsteps until Aaron shushed him. He asked quieter, “What? What’s wrong—oh, him? Sorry.”

When they arrived at the top, Daniel stood with his hands perched on his hips, smiling way too much.

Gauge shot Aaron a look. One that said, Better luck next time as he hopped onto the dock, whistling as he strolled away.

“Kid,” Aaron sighed. “I am so sorry you had to see that. I wouldn’t have even entertained talking to him, but since it’s his boat, I felt obligated—”

“Can you take me home?” asked Daniel, still a ball of sunshiny smiles. “I’d like to go home.”

Aaron’s forehead crinkled. “Home? But what about dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Because you’re… upset?”

“Upset? Me?” He slapped both hands on his chest and laughed. “No! I’m fiiiiine.”

Aaron swallowed.

“I just wonder,” he said, laughing harder, his heart starting to whirl through beats, “if there shouldn’t be a shared calendar for these things. To eliminate confusion. Do you think Aiden would appreciate a shared calendar? Aiden with all the followers?”

“Daniel—”

“This isn’t going to work out.” Daniel whished his hands around the air. “It’s not going to work out, because I can’t handle it. I can’t even breathe. Oh my God.” He tested his breath, but it was ragged and seizing his chest. “I c-can’t breathe.”

He couldn’t. Or if he could, he definitely wasn’t. He wasn’t breathing.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Aaron’s eyes widened in alarm. “Hey—whoa. Sit for a second.”

“I can’t,” he panted as he scrambled for the dock. “Because I have to go.” Three. Two. One.

“Wait, what? Shit.” Aaron darted for his things. “Hold on.”

He couldn’t hold on. Three. Two. One. He had to leave and be alone so he could panic without Aaron seeing him and then he’d just die alone because to live was to panic and he didn’t want anyone seeing him! He sped down the dock with the opposite of a plan because he had no car either. Three. Two. One. He only had the sound of blood in his ears, pumping loud enough to muffle the sound of Aaron yelling at his back as he staggered through steps, failing to catch his breath.

Then everything got dark. Not because he’d fainted like he originally thought but because he’d been gripped into a hug. A strong hug with strong arms as Aaron crushed him into his chest. It was almost enough to steal what breath he did have, but it didn’t. For some reason, it started to steady him.

“In,” Aaron whispered with his lips pressed against his ear, his chest slowly expanding with air. “Out.”