10. Gemma
TEN
GEMMA
Three years ago
“I understand, sir.” Aaron’s voice is muted, calmer than usual, not giving anything away, while I practically piss myself, dancing with anticipation as I make dramatic hand gestures to try to get him to elaborate on what he’s being told.
The longer he has his game face on, the more I worry he didn’t get the role. I pace the kitchen, back and forth in front of his many, many cabinets, as I mentally prepare myself for how to cheer him up for losing this role. It’s not like we were counting on it, per se. It was a long shot to land one of the leads in Rough and Tumble . He was up against some stiff competition for the younger male lead. Starring with top-tier, established A-list celebrity talent will do wonders for whoever lands it and their career. It’s the dream role of a generation, and the chances were slim it was going to him. But still. Both of us hoped. Against all odds, we still hoped.
I get ready to console him, as he continues nodding, listening intently to whatever studio exec is on the other end of the line. My checklist is ready to go, the second he hangs up.
Drinks
Video games
So much pizza (don’t tell his trainer)
Marvel movie marathon
Some choice dirty jokes
He raises his body up off the prep island, where he’s been leaning, and ends the call, placing his phone face down on the marble surface, and turns to look at me. The instant our eyes connect, I know. He doesn’t have to say the words, but he does anyway.
“I got it, Gem. I fucking got it.” There’s never been so much joy in two sentences before, and I see it overflowing, liquid starting to spill over the rims of his eyes.
An ear-piercing scream comes out of me, and I start to jump up and down. He laughs, sliding down to the floor, wrapping his arms around his legs, shaking with laughter.
I fall to the floor next to him, punching his shoulder repeatedly, still screaming God-knows-what in his ear. Wrapping him in a hug of congratulations, he awkwardly readjusts so that he can pull me into the hug even harder than I’m holding him, so I land in his lap. His head is buried in my shoulder, and I don’t know which of our bodies is shaking harder from crying, laughing, sheer elation.
Not only is this his biggest paycheck to date, the exposure, the experience this will be for him is so far beyond anything he’s done to date that he’ll have no choice but to shoot to the top of his field. Imagine when Miles Teller landed Top Gun: Maverick . This is Aaron’s Top Gun: Maverick .
Eventually, we pull back from one another and stand up. Once I’ve wiped my eyes, I try to recover some semblance of dignity. This might be the biggest thing to happen to us since he got his first break, but I don’t need to add to this kid’s ego.
Standing in front of him now, I decide to bring him back down to earth for a second. “I can’t believe they cast you as Jericho.”
He mock scoffs. “What? You don’t think I fit the bill?”
“Your scrawny ass?” I banter back. “I thought the brief on this character was supposed to be some sort of manly, buff ladies’ man? Not a scrawny, nerdy homebody.”
“You should know by now I can pull off any look, Gem.”
I decide to test him on that theory, call him out on it—because I’m sure I could find something he can’t pull off—but get distracted.
Aaron walks forward, toward me, one slow step at a time. As he places each foot in front of the other, I’m forced to move backward, into the countertop directly behind me, and I gulp. Once he’s got my lower body fully pressed against the cabinets, my ass back against the counter and my arms gripping anywhere they can for purchase, he leans in even closer to me. His arms brace me, on either side of my body, and he pulls his right hand up to land on the side of my stomach, where his fingers trace my skin, even through the loose tee I’m wearing, that thumb tracking back and forth. A shiver rolls through me, my stomach drops and my core clenches. I always need this man’s presence close to me, but this level of need is something more intense than I usually let myself give into.
“You don’t think I can be sexy?” he whispers, his face inches from mine, his breath dancing across the delicate skin of my lips.
My eyes widen, running down what I can see of his chest and arms, and I gulp again.
SOS. Mayday. Abort, abort. That mechanical voice sounding in my head is absolutely freaking at me now, and I know I need to act fast.
I bring my arms up and slap his thin biceps. “Maybe if you had some more meat on these things.” My eyes trail down his body to his hips and below. “Or didn’t have chicken legs.”
I smirk at him, the disbelief on his face at me calling him out like that when we both know he’s far from skin and bones. Until his eyes darken, something devilish appearing in them before he speaks again, his lips practically touching my ear.
“Trust me, baby. I’ve got plenty of what you’d like on my body.”
I can’t help the next wave of shivers that roll across my frame, and it’s his turn to smirk.
Aaron steps back and runs his gaze up and down my body, how my thighs have widened, my legs parted for him, my mouth hanging slightly open, my pulse probably visibly quickened at his words, that tone he used on me.
He shoots me a single wink and takes another step back, before casting me one final glance and turning away, but not before calling out his parting words.
“Thanks for believing in me, Gem. You’re the only one who always does.”
And this is the precise moment I realize all this chemistry I’ve felt between us, hiding in the ether all these years, is very, very real. And I’ll never stop believing in him.