Page 74 of Say It Again

Aaron’s gaze danced between the two of them for a long several seconds. Then he softened into a sigh as he swiped a palm over his face. “This has been the worst night, and I was afraid it was about to get even worse, but it won’t. Because you two are….” He trailed off, erupting into chuckles. “God, thank you. I needed this.”

DANIEL LAID his head on one of Aaron’s thighs while Olivia lay across the other. The drugs had worn thin, but they were both still giddy as could be. It was probably because Aaron was running his fingers through their hair, which was a glorious sensation. Almost as glorious as the smile he wore as he did it.

“Oh, granite-unicorn-spermy-Aaron.” Olivia sighed. “You are the best.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that,” Aaron said. “But thank you again.”

“We just like you,” Daniel said. “We really like you, and you smell good.”

“Again, thank you.” Aaron was so serene. A beautiful anesthesiologist with a couple of blitzed-out patients. “I like you guys too.”

“Do we smell good?”

“You guys smell fantastic.”

For the second time, Aaron explained to Olivia the reasons why he couldn’t let her pierce his ear while Daniel watched. Well, while he watched Aaron. He was so graceful with the way he spoke. So kind. He carefully reached up and touched Aaron’s lower lip with his fingertips while he spoke, sparking Fiji-ocean eyes to lock with his.

Look at you. Daniel could feel his woozy smile growing even more. Everything. You are everything to me.

That was the first time he’d had such a definitive thought, and it felt final in a way. Did Aaron know? Did he know just how marvelously everything he was? Oh, someone should tell him. Someone should just say, Aaron, you’re everything to me. Daniel would do it, but he was far too chicken to say something like that.

Aaron lightly kissed his fingertips, causing a coil of nerves to blaze hot at the base of his spine. He bounced a little. He should really say something. Like, now. What was wrong with now? Nothing. Now was great. Aaron deserved to know, so he should say something. Now. Nownownownow.

A grin teased one corner of Aaron’s mouth.

Now! Daniel chewed his lower lip. He could say that. Aaron, you’re everything to me. Only a chicken wouldn’t be able to say something so simple, and he wasn’t a chicken. He wasn’t a stupid fucking clucking chicken.

Aaron silently worded, You’re precious.

“But I don’t want to be a chicken!”

The room fell silent.

Aaron blinked at him for a beat, his face a combination of concerned and amused. “Like a rotisserie chicken? Or one that lays eggs? I don’t want that for you either, baby.”

“Daniel.” Olivia rolled over to scowl at him. “I don’t know everything there is to know about mushrooms, but they for sure cannot turn you into a chicken.”

“I—dammit. Firstly, you don’t know anything about mushrooms, Olivia, and secondly—” He pushed himself up to a seat, drank in a gasp of air, and pulled Aaron close until their foreheads touched. “I need you to listen to me, sir. I really, really like you.”

Aaron pursed his lips, but his grin persisted. “Uh-huh, you feelin’ good, sweetheart? You’re on drugs. Let’s lie back down.”

“No.”

“No, you’re not on drugs? Or no, you don’t wanna lie down?”

“I do want to lie down, and you should join me, as that sounds delightful. But I need to explain something first.”

“All right.” Aaron calmly nodded. “Explain.”

“If I may just request a moment of silence from you both.” Daniel leaned back and nibbled his nail, scanning the room for any visual guide that might help him explain it better, when he spotted the two root beer bottles on the corner of the coffee table. “Oh, here we go. See, this is me. And this one—isn’t it cute that we match, by the way?—is you.” He pushed the bottles together until they clinked. “And here we are together.”

Aaron’s brow pinched as he nodded. “Hmph. Tell me more.”

“Well, so, not only are we cuter together—so cute—but as you can clearly see, we’re better together. Aaron. We are so better together.”

That was about as genius and triumphant as an explanation could get, so imagine his shock when Aaron had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep his laughter somewhat contained. Daniel scratched his head as he blinked down at the root beer bottles. Wait. Was he forgetting something?

“Oh, this is so great. Did I already say thank you for being on mushrooms? Thank you, thank you. And you’re right, sweetheart. Two root beers are way better than one root beer. Swell job on the visual aid too.” He gave a thumbs-up. “That really brought it home.”

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