Page 79 of Say It Again
“Because the least you could do is admit you’d be fantastic at it. You could admit you’d wholeheartedly love it.”
“No offense”—he swirled a finger in front of Daniel’s face—“but do you know what this is?”
“Manipulation?” Daniel smacked his finger away. “Duh, Aaron. Why do you think I’m doing it?”
“It’s a false sense of hope. I’m not going into interior design. Like I said, there is nothing I can do to make what I make now.”
“Would that be the end of the world?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Why? He shrugged, searching the walls for a way to explain it. The bigger question was why were they so not on the same page? Wasn’t it obvious why? Wasn’t it a universal experience? If he didn’t have money, he’d have zero control. If he didn’t have money, what would he have to offer?
“It just is.”
Daniel folded his arms. “But you’re making assumptions. You’re assuming you won’t make as much. What if you did—?”
“False.” He covered Daniel’s mouth with his palm. “False sense of hope.”
Daniel’s eyes got all squinty, fiery even as he peeled Aaron’s hand away from his mouth to start sucking on one of his fingers. Which… yes. It took all of three seconds for Aaron’s dick to twitch alive.
That was until Daniel bit it.
“Gah!” Aaron ripped his hand away and shook it out. His first reaction was to haul Daniel over his lap and spank him. “Get over here, you little—”
“My little what, Aaron?” Daniel wriggled from his grip. “My little desire to see you doing something you’d love?”
He held up the bitten finger. It also happened to be the middle one. “Apologize to me. I accept oral apologies.”
“Oh, I’m not sorry.” Daniel snagged the other heel from the box, plopped into an armchair, and strapped it up. “I’m not sorry for wanting you to have your dream job, but if you don’t want to talk about how wonderful your future could be? That’s fine. Let’s talk about other stuff.”
When Daniel stood, Aaron stood, and for some reason, they stared each other down like two cowboys in a spaghetti western.
Daniel tipped his head. “Like how I’ve never noticed how short you are.”
Aaron tried not to smile. He plunged his gaze down Daniel’s body. “Yeah, you know you’re still shorter than me—”
“Itty bitty.” Daniel strolled around him in a slinky, sultry circle, clicking the heels on the wood. “I almost didn’t even see you there.”
Aaron couldn’t keep his mouth from flinching as he rolled his eyes. “You know you wearing heels doesn’t suddenly change my height?”
“Should I probably drive tonight?” Daniel dragged a single fingernail around Aaron’s midline, scratching the fabric of his shirt. “Can you even see over the steering wheel?”
“That’s a genuinely ridiculous thing to say.”
“What’s the weather like down there?”
“Wouldn’t know, sweetheart. Because I’m six-fucking-two—”
“Cloudy with a chance of Napoleon Syndrome?”
Aaron tried to snatch Daniel’s waist, but he swiveled away like a sexy Gumby ninja.
“How do I put this nicely? I prefer top-shelf guys.” Daniel pressed their backs flush and slowly descended with his spine arched, dragging his body down Aaron’s. “Sorry but must be this tall to ride.”
Daniel yelped when Aaron seized him and flung his little body onto the couch. What a troublemaker. He was all long lines of slender muscle and blue veins under ivory skin with this pouty, fuckable, pillow-perfect mouth that just begged to be roughed up. It was everything about him. The looks. The sass. The delicate frame. It brought out the animal in Aaron.