Chapter 3
AARON
The surge of excitement at seeing Jay was quickly replaced by trepidation as Aaron approached the couch. Jay’s abrupt exit had been playing on loop in his head for the past week, and he had no interest in repeating the experience.
On the other hand, Jay was sprawled out in the same spot as the last time instead of mingling. It had to mean something.
Before his critical thinking caught up to his bravery, Aaron sat next to Jay, trying to sound flirty and nonchalant. “Hey, stranger.”
Jay’s head shot up, his eyes widening and fixating on Aaron’s face. The world fell away as Aaron lost himself in the abyss of Jay’s dark, mesmerizing gaze. Electronic music floated up from the basement, becoming the beat of Aaron’s heart.
Silence stretched. Doubt crept in, a sliver of worry that joining Jay was a mistake, that Jay was using silence as a weapon.
Except Jay’s expression betrayed no hint of annoyance or displeasure, but rather a growing awareness of someone waking up from a deep sleep, caught halfway between fading dreams and encroaching reality.
Jay’s lips slowly spread into a dazzling smile, more suited to winning the lottery than having a near stranger sit next to him.
It made Aaron feel like the grand prize.
“You’re here,” Jay said with far more reverence than it deserved.
“Yes, I’ve located the secret meeting spot,” Aaron quipped, relief flooding his chest.
Jay held his gaze, making it impossible to look away. The younger man was as gorgeous as Aaron remembered, though more tired, lacking the bright energy of their first meeting. Still, even the bags under his eyes didn’t detract from his captivating presence.
“I’m sorry about last time,” Jay said. “I was really hoping to run into you again so I could explain.”
The tension of the past week escaped Aaron all at once, and he let his body melt into the couch.
“Here I am.” He spread his hands and smirked.
“Tell me all your secrets. Did you hear a supersonic signal that called to your superhero alter ego? Or is it something boring, like you remembered you left the stove on?”
“More boring than that. I felt a migraine aura, and when that happens, I usually don’t have a lot of time to get home before I become a useless puddle of goo.”
Aaron gasped in horror, all traces of his mischievous attitude forgotten. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”
Jay waved away Aaron’s apology. “It wasn’t anything you did. They happen randomly.”
“No, I mean, I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you. I assumed it was something horrible, like you were late getting home to your wife.”
“That’s quite a dramatic conclusion to jump to.” Jay shook his head with a smile that quickly faltered. “Ugh. When I get migraines, I can’t really think or talk, so I just focus on getting home while I still can. I should have explained before I left.”
Jay’s sincerity was obvious in every word, and Aaron hated the remorseful tone. He had an inexplicable urge to put the fading smile back on Jay’s face.
“Hey.” He gently elbowed Jay’s side. “You have nothing to apologize for. You took care of yourself, and it was the right thing to do. I’m glad you didn’t make it worse by trying to stick around. And now that I know, you have my explicit permission to peace out as abruptly as possible.”
Jay studied Aaron’s face as if trying to discern if Aaron was being earnest. One by one, his features softened, and his eyes gleamed with emotion. The weight of the moment hung in the air between them, making Aaron wonder if Jay had anyone in his life to remind him to put himself first.
As the heavy silence stretched, he resorted to his favorite strategy for when things got too serious—making jokes. “Don’t abuse it though! I’ll notice if you happen to get a migraine every time I talk about Star Trek.”
Jay let out a surprised chuckle. “Not a chance. If anything, you might feel one coming on after my thorough and lengthy breakdown of which captain was best.”
“I would love to hear this thorough breakdown and present an equally thorough rebuttal.”
Jay shook his head with a smile, then fixed Aaron with a searching look. “I appreciate you being so cool about this, and I won’t bring it up again, but I have to ask something first.”
Aaron braced himself, not sure what to expect. Jay cleared his throat and swept his gaze across the club. “I’ve been coming to the club every night for the past week, hoping to run into you.”
Jay fidgeted with his hands as he talked, and Aaron wanted nothing more than to reach over and cover them with his own. He had to remind himself that despite his instant attraction to Jay, they barely knew each other. Holding Jay’s hand wasn’t on the menu.
He shook the urge off and focused on what Jay was saying.
“You haven’t been here. At least I haven’t seen you. Have you…been avoiding coming to the club because of me?”
“Oh, Jay.” Aaron couldn’t help it—he reached out to trail his hand along Jay’s shoulder and down his arm, ending with a reassuring squeeze on the wrist. “You’re so sweet to worry about a random stranger’s feelings.
I promise, it had nothing to do with you.
I was out of town most of the week, and then I was catching up at work. ”
Jay looked relieved, and a twinge of tenderness clenched Aaron’s chest. This sweet, confident guy with a perpetual smile on his face was turning out to be deceptively deep.
Aaron felt a strange desire to protect Jay from the world, to keep him safe from taking on a pile of emotional burdens that weren’t his to bear.
He reluctantly let go of Jay’s wrist. Jay watched the movement before responding. “I’m glad it wasn’t me. Did you go on vacation?”
“Not quite.” This conversation was coming up a lot quicker than expected, but it was Aaron’s fault for volunteering the information. Might as well lay it all out there. “I went back to Philadelphia to help my ex-husband finalize the sale of our house and grab the last of my boxes.”
A look of shock washed over Jay’s face, his eyebrows shooting up.
“Yeah,” Aaron admitted with a self-deprecating shrug.
“I just got divorced. Right before I moved here, actually.” When Jay didn’t respond, Aaron went on.
“We’re still really good friends, so I spent some time with him and his girlfriend.
We went out to dinner to celebrate the sale, although that might have been an excuse to eat fancy sushi. ”
Jay’s strange reaction puzzled him. Sure, divorce wasn’t great, but what were the chances of a young guy at a BDSM club being particularly judgmental about it?
Thankfully, Jay snapped out of it at the mention of sushi. “Oh, sushi’s amazing! There’s this place right next to my office, and I’ve been obsessing over their deep-fried spicy tuna roll for the past month.”
If Jay wanted to skip over the divorce thing, Aaron was happy to oblige.
“I will accept your deep-fried roll and raise you the double-deep-fried monstrosity I had in Louisiana. They deep-fried sweet potatoes, wrapped them in rice, and fried the whole thing again. Absolute heaven.” Aaron laughed at Jay’s horrified expression.
Bantering with him felt natural, as if they were old friends rather than two strangers who’d barely spent an hour together.
He didn’t know why, but being around Jay felt comfortable and safe.
The evening drifted by in a warm haze of their easy back-and-forth.
Their couch was a bubble, isolated from the shifting tide of bodies filling the club.
Aaron forgot he was there to watch and learn, instead pressing into Jay’s side as they shared personal tidbits, pop culture opinions, and favorite food memories.
They tried to outdo each other when it came to telling stories.
Aaron delivered a passionate monologue about being a pescetarian in a city obsessed with cheesesteaks, which Jay followed up with a dramatic retelling of his thought process during a month-long juice cleanse, which, in his case, only lasted six days.
At some point during their animated discussion, they discovered they had the same favorite TV shows, and spent fifteen minutes blurting out quotes in between fits of giggles.
A few people nearby cast lingering glances their way, eyebrows lifting with curiosity.
It had to be an unusual sight—two fully clothed men grinning at each other in a dark corner, paying no mind to the enticing debauchery that surrounded them.
Several regulars approached them throughout the night, greeting Jay and giving Aaron coy smiles before moving on. He didn’t know what Jay usually did at the club, but he had an inkling that whatever was happening between the two of them was out of the ordinary.
Not that he was going to question his good luck. Aaron hadn’t had this much fun in a long time, and he wished the night would never end. The conversation flowed smoothly, seamlessly jumping from one topic to the next, silly moments of laughter balancing out the stretches of genuine discussion.
The subject eventually turned to downtown Chicago.
By a strange coincidence, it turned out that Aaron’s job was just down the street from Jay’s.
Always up for a leisurely walk, Aaron quizzed him about the parks in the area, but despite growing up in Chicago, Jay’s knowledge of parks left much to be desired.
Aaron teased him about it until Jay admitted to living in the suburbs and avoiding downtown as much as possible.
When Aaron checked his watch, it was well past midnight. They’d spent the entire night with each other.
He couldn’t wait for more.