Chapter 31
AARON
Despite the late hour, the fireworks kept going off every few minutes. Aaron didn’t mind. It was a nice reminder that no matter where he lived, whether in Philadelphia or Chicago, people would find a way to set off pretty explosives.
Since moving, he hadn’t been homesick—too busy with work and excited for a new adventure—but tonight, a pang of melancholy accompanied each distant boom.
He wouldn’t spend this Fourth of July surrounded by friends.
He wouldn’t get to eat Mark’s charred grilled corn or day drink margaritas in their backyard.
This year, he would have forgotten about the holiday completely if it hadn’t been for Zoe’s company-wide email wishing everyone a safe long weekend and reminding them to spend the holiday with their families instead of logging on.
She even followed it up with a visit to Aaron’s office to make sure he got the message.
He didn’t have any family in the area and no plans to celebrate, but he still welcomed the rare time off. Even if all he did was clean the apartment and organize his closet, it still beat the twelve-hour days that were starting to seem normal.
With the laundry folded into neat stacks, the dishwasher quietly finishing its cycle, and every surface wiped clean, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Unlike Mark, who thrived in constant chaos, Aaron could only handle it in small doses and kept it contained to the bathroom, where his toiletries seemed to multiply whenever he looked away.
But at least the living room and kitchen were presentable again. It took a while to locate every stray napkin and plastic fork, but Aaron had emerged victorious.
He flopped onto the couch, accidentally nudging his work laptop on the coffee table. The screen flickered to life, a cascade of emails appearing with sharp pings accompanying each one. The urge to read through them was hard to shake, but Aaron did his best.
Until David’s name popped up on the screen.
Forgetting all restraint, he lunged forward and clicked the notification. There was no way Aaron was waiting until Tuesday to find out what the elusive CEO had to say.
The message opened, taking up the whole screen. Aaron stared at it, first skimming, then reading each word carefully. With every pass, his smile grew wider.
Aaron,
Apologies again for canceling our check-in.
I wanted to finish your report before we touched base, and honestly, I haven’t had the chance to look at it until tonight.
I have to say, I’m impressed. It’s a solid plan, and you’ve done a great job rolling out the changes so far. You’re a strong addition to our team.
I hope Chicago is treating you well. Enjoy your long weekend.
David
A weight shifted off Aaron’s chest. He’d proven his worth. They would never be best friends, and he could feel the remnants of David’s skepticism between the lines, but the biggest obstacle was behind him.
He no longer had to claw his way into acceptance.
He belonged.
After fishing his phone out of his pocket, he texted Zoe.
AARON: Did you say something to David about me?
She responded right away, surprising Aaron. He assumed she’d be asleep by now.
ZOE: Why? Is it good? If it’s good, then yes, I talked to him. If it’s bad, I’ve never met him in my life.
Aaron laughed out loud. She’d seemed so prim and proper when they’d first met, this dignified head of HR, but it didn’t take long to ferret out the mischievous spirit inside.
AARON: It’s good. Thank you.
ZOE: Anytime. We’re lucky to have you, and David just needed a little encouragement to see that.
ZOE: Wait, you’re not supposed to be reading work emails!
AARON: I’m done now! You’re the best, enjoy your weekend.
He closed their thread and stared at Jay’s name. Even before messaging Zoe, his first instinct had been to tell Jay, but he didn’t want to seem clingy. They’d seen each other just hours ago.
Besides, excitedly sharing a life update at midnight was something reserved for couples, and they weren’t there yet.
They might never be.
With a sigh, he turned off the laptop and unplugged it, then carried it to the bureau. Hiding it would make it less tempting to check his emails or do a little bit of work. Experience showed that “a little bit of work” always stretched into hours.
He slid the top drawer open and tucked everything away, making sure the charger wouldn’t tangle. The resealable baggie of rice with his old phone peeked out from under a pile of pens and markers, and he grabbed it before shutting the drawer.
Aaron didn’t have much hope, but Rachel had sworn by this method.
According to her, she’d rescued multiple wet electronics this way.
It’d been worth a shot. And even though he had a new phone, he wouldn’t mind getting his pictures and contacts off the old one.
Then, eventually, he needed to figure out how to set up cloud backup.
To his amazement, the screen blinked to life.
He rushed into the bedroom to plug it into his computer before it died again.
The monitor flickered on, revealing his browser—still open to fifty tabs of random articles and message-board threads.
He chuckled before closing the whole thing.
One night of playing with Jay had taught him more than weeks of scouring the internet.
Jay was the perfect Dom—forceful and confident, with a hint of ever-present sweetness right below the surface. That sweetness was why Aaron had felt safe trusting him with his most intimate fantasy. Deep inside, down to his bones, he knew Jay would take care of him.
After downloading everything he needed off his old phone, Aaron lay on the bed and scrolled through their texts.
He enjoyed reliving their easy back-and-forth, the silly jokes and the goofy selfies.
It struck him that these exchanges didn’t read like awkward conversations between two people who barely knew each other.
Aaron and Jay had been in sync from the very beginning, slotting together like two puzzle pieces.
Their connection had grown too strong to ignore. Aaron needed to get his head out of his ass and make the first move. Soon. The risk of rejection was nothing compared to the possibility of losing Jay forever because he’d been too afraid to try.
After reaching the top of the conversation, he smiled at the very first message and zoomed in on the photograph from the shibari workshop, impressed by the intricate design of colorful knots weaving around his arms. It was a beautiful sight.
He’d meant to set it as his profile picture on Kink Talk, but it had been forgotten in the chaos of the past few weeks. Still, he felt the urge to show off. To brag about Jay’s skills. To share something with his online friends.
With a few clicks, he uploaded the image and took a moment to admire his new thumbnail.
No matter what happened in the future, he would always have the memory of that night. He would always cherish all the memories of all the perfect times he’d shared with Jay.
It was enough.