Page 61 of Say It Again

“No, I-I swear. His name’s Justin. Justin Whittemore.”

Muscle man’s eyebrows kneaded. “How do you know Justin?”

“Through, um, work.”

“That’s my husband.”

“Oh shit,” Aaron said, like they were about to get pulverized.

“Oh shit,” Daniel said, certain they were about to get pulverized.

Then Aaron turned to him with the saddest expression possible and whispered, “Forgive me.”

Daniel couldn’t get more confused. “What?”

“Gauge, right?” Aaron asked, spinning back around.

“Yeah,” Gauge answered with a skeptical squint. “Who’s asking?”

“Aaron Silva.”

Suddenly Gauge softened. He even smiled a little. “You’re Justin’s Aaron?”

Justin’s Aaron? Daniel wrung his fingers. He might be getting seasick.

“You’re married?” the younger guy asked, wiggling his hand free from Gauge’s.

Gauge whipped around to the other guy, alarm hazing his expression. “Uh. I was gonna tell you.”

“When?”

“Tonight. I was gonna tell you tonight. We have an open kind of thing.”

“An open kind of thing?” The guy’s skin splotched in red as he whirled for the stairs. “Son of a—again! Again with this shit.”

Gauge grabbed at his hand. “Aiden, hold on—”

Aiden slapped Gauge’s bare arm hard enough for everyone to flinch. “Forget my face, asshole, and lose my number.” He stomped up the stairs.

A stilted silence clung to the air like an old odor.

“Oh, and go all the way to hell,” Aiden yelled down.

More silence.

“Oh, and take your husband with you!”

Is he actually gonna leave, or…?

“Dammit,” Gauge whispered, shoving his hands in his pockets and stamping his foot. “I’ve been working on that dude all night. God, I probably spent a hundred bucks on drinks. And he’s all ‘Are you trying to get me drunk?’ No, not at all. Why would I want to speed things along when I could sit here all night long, listening to you talk about how many fucking followers you have?”

“I am so sorry about this,” Aaron said, ushering Daniel forward. “We’ll leave right now.”

“No, stay.” Gauge’s chuckle was morose as he extended his hand. “It’s not like I’ll need the damn boat tonight. Nice to meet you, Aaron. Never quite understood why Justin needed to pay for it, but that’s been made crystal clear. You look like a GQ cover.”

Aaron shot Daniel a tense glance over his shoulder as he took Gauge’s hand.

“And you are?” Gauge asked, reaching his hand toward him next.

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