Chapter 13 #3
Tender warmth stirred in Jay’s chest. Aaron had left work, something time-sensitive and important, just to be with him.
It had been a long time since Jay felt like anyone’s first priority, and the realization hit harder than expected.
He swallowed the urge to get emotional, keeping his voice even.
“I’m glad you had a chance to escape for a bit. I’ll drive you back.”
“Can you stop somewhere for food? I’m sick of the places that deliver to our building.”
“Sure. How about Thai fusion? Spicy Lotus is a few blocks away, and they don’t deliver, so you wouldn’t have tried them yet.”
Aaron clapped his hands in excitement and rushed to the car. “Yes, please!” Jay followed, glad he could make Aaron smile.
Rush hour traffic slowed them to a crawl.
After a few minutes of barely moving, Aaron pulled out his phone and excused himself to check emails.
Jay turned the radio volume down and gave him some space, patiently following the car in front of them until Aaron groaned and threw his head back in frustration.
“I don’t understand why people don’t read emails and then ask questions they’d already know the answer to if they would just read the email.”
“I’ve met a few of those,” Jay commiserated, checking to make sure Aaron was off his phone before asking something that weighed on his mind. “Your job seems really involved. You’re always working early mornings, late nights, weekends… Is it worth it?”
“Not gonna lie, it’s awful right now,” Aaron admitted. “I’m the biggest proponent of work-life balance you’ll ever meet, so this schedule is completely off-brand for me.”
“So why are you doing it?”
“I joined right in the middle of a major reorg, so there were a ton of moving pieces to manage. Every department was restructuring, vision statement and goals were completely overhauled, IT was implementing new technology platforms. The whole thing was a complete mess. I got a hell of a signing bonus to jump straight into the chaos.”
“Sounds intense,” Jay said, taking advantage of the stoplight to look at Aaron.
“I keep forgetting to ask you—when we had lunch, you told me about the whole thing with getting people to take you seriously. How’s that going at this new job?
Is everyone completely charmed by you yet, or are you still working on it? ”
“The jury’s still out.” Aaron scrunched up his face.
“Kelly, the COO, loves me, but she’s the one who offered me the job after we met at a conference.
The other executives say they like the direction I’m taking, but David, our CEO, is really hard to read.
I have a feeling he doesn’t think my position is necessary. ”
“He’s an idiot if he doesn’t see how amazing you are.”
Heat crept up Jay’s neck as soon as the words were out of his mouth, and he concentrated on the road to avoid eye contact. Could his crush on Aaron be any more obvious?
“Thank you,” Aaron said softly, his voice low and sincere.
The conversation petered out, and they listened to the radio until Jay pulled up in front of the restaurant.
Aaron reached for the door handle, then seemingly changed his mind and turned to Jay with an unguarded expression. “I’ll see you at the club tomorrow?”
Jay frowned. The idea of missing Aaron’s debut in that skirt was physically painful, but he couldn’t cancel his plans.
“I can’t. I promised my sister I’d babysit my nephews so she can have a date night with her husband.”
“Aww, you’re such a good brother. How old are your nephews?”
“Seven and eight. Adorable and terrifying.”
Aaron hummed in noncommittal agreement. He’d mentioned being an only child, so he probably didn’t have any frame of reference for how amazing and awful children could be at that age. Would Aaron think them charming or annoying when he met them?
If he met them.
Because why would he?
An insane idea crashed into him, coming out of his mouth before Jay even had a chance to process it. “I have a soccer game tomorrow afternoon, and my sister’s dropping off my nephews there. You could come meet them and watch me play?”
In the following silence, Jay’s brain finally caught up to what he’d just said.
Did he invite Aaron to watch him play amateur soccer and meet his family?
This was sure to send him running for the hills.
Any second now, Aaron would say a polite goodbye and flee.
Jay had to find a way to backpedal hard.
Turn it into a joke. Pretend he had a mini-blackout.
Sleeptalking and sleepdriving were also still in play.
“I’d love to.” Aaron said, putting a stop to Jay’s silent panicking. “Do I have to know anything about soccer? Most of my knowledge comes from British sitcoms.”
“It’s just for fun,” Jay said, trying to bridge the gap between the chaos in his mind and the calm conversation they were somehow having. “I would temper your expectations. It’s mainly an excuse for us to run around and goof off. Kicking the ball is secondary to having fun.”
“I think I can manage to follow that.” Aaron chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Jay watched him disappear behind the heavy, ornate door of the restaurant, not sure whether to be terrified or excited about this new development. It’s like his entire world was tilting off its axis.
Or, maybe, it was finally tilting into place.