Epilogue
TWO YEARS LATER
AARON
“Well?” Mark’s tinny voice blared through the cell phone speaker, but Aaron couldn’t be bothered to turn down the volume. He hovered over the simmering stew with a watchful eye, wielding a wooden spoon like a weapon.
“It smells good. I got the recipe from his mom,” Aaron replied, squashing the desire to start stirring just to keep his hands busy. He glared at the kitchen timer and forced himself to step away. “I got everything ready.”
“Wish I could be there.” Mark sounded almost wistful, and Aaron shuddered at the thought.
“I don’t. We’ll get enough of you when we see you next month.”
“I can’t wait! Rachel has so many plans for you.”
“You do remember that I lived there for most of my life, right? I’m fully capable of showing Jay around without the two of you. When we visited last year, you barely let us out of your sight.”
Aaron sensed Mark’s pout without having to see it. Time apart had not dulled his senses when it came to his ex-husband, but it had also given him the ability to set firm boundaries. The silence dragged on until Mark sighed dramatically.
“Fine, but we still get the weekend. Rachel made reservations at some fancy restaurant. And I bought tickets for a battle reenactment.”
Aaron groaned, about to tell Mark where he could shove his reenactment tickets, when the front door opened.
“I gotta go—he’s home. No reenactments!” He hung up before Mark had a chance to argue and skipped into the living room.
“You’re home early!” Jay’s face lit up. He dropped his bag on the couch and closed the distance between them, enveloping Aaron in a full-body hug. Aaron melted into Jay, all the worries of the day quickly disappearing, replaced with the warm glow of their all-consuming love.
Living together was amazing. Aaron had moved in a year ago, abandoning the high-rise apartment in favor of Jay’s cozy house.
The furniture they’d picked out together on one of their first dates fit neatly into the household, just like the rest of Aaron’s possessions.
Jay’s house was the place he was meant to be, somewhere he truly belonged.
“Why are you home early?” Jay asked after they emerged from their embrace.
Both of them were already breathing hard, feeling the pull of desire.
Aaron had to fight to keep his hands from delving under Jay’s clothing.
He had a plan for tonight, and that plan didn’t involve fucking Jay before dinner, so he cleared his throat and stepped away from temptation.
“I took the day off to run some errands.” He flashed a quick smile at Jay before hurrying back to the kitchen. “Hang out, relax. I’ll have dinner out soon.”
“Do you want help?” Jay asked, even though Aaron had already retreated. Poking his head back into the living room, he narrowed his eyes until Jay raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’ll relax. I’ll go jump in the shower.”
Aaron blew him a kiss and sauntered back into the kitchen, picking up his pace as soon as he was out of eyesight.
He turned off the stove and waited for the shower upstairs to turn on before rushing to the guest bathroom, where he’d stashed his clothes.
It didn’t take long to slip into his outfit and apply the eyeliner and mascara with a trembling hand.
He’d just put on some strawberry-flavored lip balm when the water turned off, and it was time to head back for the finishing touches.
The rich aroma of turmeric and lime permeated the small kitchen as he filled the plates and carried them out into the dining room, setting them on the large table.
They’d never used the dining table for its intended purpose, usually eating their dinners at the coffee table, and it had taken Aaron a few hours to put away the random paperwork and stacks of books littering the surface to set it up for a romantic meal. The outcome was well worth it.
After drawing the curtains and dimming the lights, he stepped back to admire the fruits of his labor.
Mismatched candles in the middle of the table provided most of the illumination.
Their flickering flames cast dancing shadows on every surface of the room, adding to the cozy atmosphere.
Perfectly folded cloth napkins and meticulously arranged silverware spoke to Aaron’s nervous energy from earlier in the day, but even they didn’t detract from the intimate setting.
Jay’s footsteps through the kitchen snapped Aaron out of his reverie. He turned around just in time. Jay’s gaze moved around the room, taking in the little details, before coming back to Aaron. He sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening in recognition.
“Aaron, you look…” He walked up and fluttered his fingers down Aaron’s arms, barely brushing his fingertips against the mesh. Aaron shivered from the light touch and stepped closer.
“You like it?” Aaron gave Jay a cheeky smile and rolled his hips, grinding his groin against Jay’s rapidly swelling erection. It was the only answer he needed.
When he was planning for tonight, there’d been no question about what to wear. While he’d worn both the skirt and the mesh shirt separately on several occasions, he’d never recreated the outfit from their first night together.
Until now.
A soft groan escaped Jay’s lips as he rubbed his stubble against Aaron’s face and down his neck, peppering the flushed skin with kisses. “I love it. I love you. Fuck, you look so good.”
Aaron barely found the willpower to tear himself away. He stepped back and smoothed his skirt before gesturing to the table. “Dinner’s ready. We can pick up where we left off after we eat.”
Jay made an unhappy noise and trailed his palms down Aaron’s torso before letting go, then walked up to the table and tilted his head in confusion.
“Is that ghormeh sabzi? You made it for me?” He turned toward Aaron, and a horrified expression crossed his face. “Did I forget our anniversary?”
“You did not.” Aaron laughed. “We celebrated our anniversary a few months ago. Did you forget already?”
“No. I mean, maybe? What’s the occasion for all this?” Jay raised an eyebrow with a puzzled look. After realizing Aaron wouldn’t volunteer any information, he shrugged. “I don’t know what’s happening, but I like it, so I’m just going to roll with it.”
“Perfect.” Aaron pulled out Jay’s chair and gave him a light shove. “I just want to have a romantic dinner with my gorgeous boyfriend. No occasion necessary.”
He filled their wineglasses before sitting down to eat. Jay kept giving him curious glances throughout the meal but didn’t ask any more questions. As the dinner progressed, he seemed more relaxed, pausing often to praise Aaron’s cooking.
“Is it time for dessert yet?” Jay asked after finishing the last of his food. He swiveled on his chair, about to get up.
“Yes! Stay here, I have cheesecake in the fridge.” Aaron hopped up to go into the kitchen, but Jay’s hand on his hip kept him from moving.
“That’s not what I meant.” Jay’s low, gravelly voice sent a jolt of arousal through Aaron. Jay smirked and pulled him forward until Aaron was straddling his lap. The thong under the skirt didn’t provide any coverage, and Jay’s thin sweatpants were the only barrier between their erections.
For a moment, he considered giving in and taking Jay upstairs, but he didn’t want to postpone his plan, which meant he had to delay the satisfaction of having Jay writhe underneath him. He leaned down to brush his lips against Jay’s in a chaste kiss and climbed off.
Jay huffed but didn’t argue. They enjoyed the cheesecake, and as Aaron neared the end of his second slice, he knew he had to act soon, before Jay had a chance to tempt him again. He took a sip of wine and faced Jay, who was staring at him with a mixture of curiosity and love.
“I knew you were special the first night I met you.” Aaron swallowed past the lump in his throat and continued.
“Every time we saw each other, every time you gave me one of those brilliant smiles or said something unbearably sweet, I fell for you a little more. But I knew you were perfect for me after that first scene. It was impulsive and spontaneous, and you had no way of knowing what I liked or didn’t like, yet you were perfect.
You read my body better than anyone else ever had, and you gave me exactly what I needed.
” Moisture gathered in his eyes, and Aaron blinked away a tear.
Jay placed a gentle hand on his thigh and opened his mouth to say something, but Aaron hurried to keep talking.
He had more to say.
“In all the time we’ve spent together since, you’ve continued to be perfect. You’ve given me exactly what I need, not just in bed, but in every aspect of my life. You make my life better. You make me better. And I hope I make your life better in return.”
Jay’s hand tensed. Understanding dawned across his face.
Aaron slid off the chair onto one knee, not breaking eye contact. After reaching under the table for the small box he’d hidden earlier in the day, he flipped it open. Jay didn’t even look at it, his gaze shimmering in the candlelight as he focused on Aaron.
“I hope you’ll let me make your life better for the rest of our lives together. I hope you’ll let me take care of you and love you forever. Jay, will you marry me? Will you be my husband?”
Aaron held his breath as he waited for a response. Each second spent in silence felt like an eternity. He was getting lost in Jay’s eyes, drowning in those dark, bottomless pools, helpless and completely at Jay’s mercy.
Jay grabbed his wrists and lifted him to his feet, attacking his lips with a wild frenzy.
Warm arms circled Aaron’s waist, pulling him closer, pressing their chests together until there wasn’t a sliver of space between them.
When they stopped for a breath, Jay pressed his cheek to Aaron’s forehead and made a soft sound of satisfaction.
“Yes. Fuck yes, Aaron, I’ll marry you. I would marry you tomorrow.”
Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and lifted up the box. “I have a ring.”
“I have a ring for you too,” Jay whispered, his voice filled with tenderness as he nuzzled into Aaron’s neck. “I was going to propose in Philadelphia.”
“Really?” Aaron drew back to look into Jay’s eyes, seeing nothing but devotion.
“Really. Let’s go get it,” Jay said, licking a stripe up his neck and nipping at his jawline, already distracted. Aaron disentangled himself and stepped back.
“Okay, let’s go. I don’t want the first time I fuck my fiancé to be on the dinner table.”
Jay reached under the skirt to grab Aaron’s bare ass and lifted him up.
Aaron wrapped his legs around Jay’s waist and clung on for the ride.
When they reached the bedroom, Jay tossed him on the bed, and Aaron scrambled onto his knees to be level with him.
The bedside lamp was on, casting a hazy, golden light across the room.
“Can I put your ring on you?” Aaron asked with a quiver in his voice. He’d imagined this moment so many times that he couldn’t wait to make it a reality.
Jay offered his trembling left hand, and Aaron took it in both of his, placing reverent kisses along Jay’s knuckles before slipping the ring on. A perfect fit.
Jay took in a sharp breath when he finally looked at it. “It’s leather.”
“Tank’s custom work. I thought it was appropriate for us.”
“It’s perfect.” Jay couldn’t take his eyes off the black band on his finger. Aaron had inspected it enough times to know that despite its stark, minimalistic look, it was supple and soft to the touch. Just like Jay.
“Our initials are embossed on the inside.” Aaron watched Jay take it off and run his fingertip along the inside edge. While Jay was distracted, he crawled across the bed to the nightstand and rifled through the top drawer.
“All the way at the bottom under the soccer magazines,” Jay said, his eyes still glued to the ring in his hand.
“Sneaky,” Aaron giggled as he found the small velvet box. He crawled back toward Jay and tossed it in front of him. “Put it on me?”
Jay slipped his ring back on before flipping the box open to reveal a gleaming silver band. Slowly, with careful determination, he took Aaron’s hand in his own and looked into his eyes. Their earlier laughter faded, replaced by something charged and breathless.
“Aaron, will you marry me?” Jay whispered.
“Of course.” Aaron nodded and watched Jay slide the ring on his finger.
Time stretched, the enormity of the moment settling between them. Jay was the first to break the spell, a sly smirk appearing on his face seconds before he lunged onto the bed and captured Aaron’s mouth with his own, pinning him with the weight of his body.
They’d spent the past two years exploring their desires with each other.
The club remained their primary weekend destination, and they never tired of playing together.
But outside of their scenes, they found that they enjoyed traditional sex just as much, arriving at a healthy balance between the two.
Despite Aaron’s outfit and the memories it carried, tonight would be a night for slow, sensuous lovemaking.
They both felt the mood shift, their passionate kisses becoming tender, their desperate movements turning into a languid exploration of each other’s bodies.
A surge of emotion overwhelmed Aaron every time he caught sight of the thin silver band on his hand, and he pressed himself closer to the man that he loved.
He finally found his home, his family. His Jay.