Chapter 13 Nick
thirteen
Nick
I wake in the morning to the sound of a phone ringing and reach my hand to where my nightstand should be. I’m confused because I can’t find it, but my mind doesn’t catch up to where I actually am until I hear Aaron answer the call.
“Hey, mom, what’s up?” he says as I roll over to face him.
Even though we haven’t known each other for long, I hear the wariness in Aaron’s voice. From what he’s told me, any time his parents call it’s to talk about Zack, or how the investigation into his murder is going nowhere. They want him to do something, but there’s nothing to do.
“You’re kidding?” Aaron says, and I watch his expression change from guarded to hopeful. “That’s amazing. Have they been able to get any prints?”
I can literally feel the way Aaron’s body hums with excitement as the conversation continues.
Obviously, it’s good news, like a break in the case at last. Wanting to give Aaron privacy, I roll over intending to get out of bed, find my clothes, and head home.
I’ve got work that needs to get done, and a meeting to prepare for this afternoon with the head of my department about our upcoming system update.
My feet have just touched the floor when Aaron puts his hand on my shoulder.
I turn to look at him, and he shakes his head, mouths the word “stay.” I raise my eyebrows asking if he’s sure, and he nods.
So, I get back under the covers and snuggle up next to him.
He puts his arm around me, and I slide mine across his waist.
I have never done something like this before.
Never cuddled with a sex partner except in the afterglow of a good orgasm, never had a partner ask me to be part of such an intimate moment of their life.
It feels nice that Aaron asked me to stay, and I relax against him, my fingers gently stroking his stomach and playing with his treasure trail.
As I listen to Aaron speak to his mom, feeling the rumble of his voice in his chest, I realize it’s not so much that I’ve never done this before, it’s also that I’ve never wanted to.
I’ve wanted my relationships to remain simple and unencumbered, kept boundaries on how much time I spend with my partners, got bored and twitchy whenever they asked for more.
That’s the primary reason I gravitated almost exclusively to hookups after the disaster with Lauren. They were just easier.
And then I met Aaron.
Maybe this thing between us grew organically because I wasn’t sizing him up as a potential partner when we met.
Maybe that gave me time to get to know Aaron before I realized I was attracted to him.
I’m not sure. Because I did notice how attractive he was the moment I walked into the coffee shop to tell him I’d been with Zack the night he was killed, but I was still reeling from my failure with Zack and not looking for anyone at that point.
“Okay,” Aaron says, and I pick my head up. “Yeah. That sounds great. I’ll see you then.”
Aaron ends the call and tosses his phone onto the nightstand then turns to me and wraps me in his arms.
“Good news?” I ask.
“Finally.” Aaron’s smile is brilliant. “They found Zack’s phone and wallet.”
“That’s amazing,” I say.
“It is. And the best part is that they got a partial print off the wallet.” He rests his forehead against mine and closes his eyes. “We might get justice after all.”
“I’m really happy for you. That must be such a relief after all this time.”
He nods. “Like you wouldn’t believe. My mom wants everyone over at the house tonight for dinner.”
“That’s great,” I say, feeling strangely disappointed that I won’t be able to see Aaron later that night.
“Hey. Why don’t you come with me? I’d love to introduce you to my family. I mean, you’re part of the reason the police were able to find the wallet and phone.”
“I am?”
“They were behind a dumpster down the street from your place. Without knowing where Zack had been, the police wouldn’t have known where to look. And that’s all thanks to you.”
Aaron kisses me, and I feel all my reasons for saying no to his invitation crumbling to dust.
“Okay,” I say even as my stomach clenches with anxiety. But then I see how happy Aaron is that I’ve said yes, and I figure my discomfort is a small price to pay for seeing his incredible smile.
Aaron’s parents live on the Peninsula about half an hour—without traffic—south of San Francisco in Millbrae, which means Aaron arrives at my place around six to pick me up.
I’m waiting in front of my building and only a little surprised to see the passenger side door open and a disgruntled Kit emerge.
He bows to me and motions for me to get into the car.
“I guess I know who the favored child is,” Kit pouts as he opens the back door and gets in.
“I can sit in the back,” I say.
“You’re fine, he’s just being a brat,” Aaron tells me and looks over his shoulder where Kit is making a show of putting on his seatbelt. “Do you need a timeout or something?”
Kit sticks his tongue out at Aaron, then becomes absorbed in his phone.
I settle into the seat beside Aaron and immediately lean towards him to kiss him but then hesitate.
With an amused smile, Aaron closes the distance between us and kisses me. “Hi,” he says.
“Hi,” I say, unreasonably breathless as a grin breaks across my face.
“O.M.G.,” Kit intones dramatically from the backseat. “It’s like watching my grandparents kiss. Ew.”
“Aren’t I younger than you?” I ask.
Kit fixes me with a glare. “Youth is a state of mind.”
Both Aaron and I roll our eyes, and Aaron mouths a silent apology at me.
“I saw that,” Kit says, though it’s highly unlikely because he’s back to staring at his phone.
The drive south passes without further comment from Kit beyond the clicking of his fingers on his screen.
Gradually, Aaron and I start talking about how we spent the rest of our day.
It’s nothing exciting—I worked, he cleaned and did laundry—but I get a warm feeling in my chest hearing these small details of Aaron’s life.
We get off the freeway at the Millbrae exit, and Aaron wends his way through suburban side streets named for trees until he pulls up in front of a sand-colored Spanish colonial house with a small but beautifully landscaped yard.
“I cannot believe this is where we grew up,” Kit grumbles as he exits the car, reminding me that he and Zack have been friends since kindergarten.
“Which was your house?” I ask.
He points across the street at a house that is nearly identical to Aaron’s except that it’s painted a rich terracotta. “My parents sold when the market was at its peak and moved to the Oregon coast,” he says and stalks his way up the front path.
“What’s going on with him?” I ask Aaron.
Shrugging, Aaron says, “I don’t know. I keep thinking it’s Zack’s death, but now I’m starting to think there’s something else. He’s not usually this…”
“Bitchy?” I suggest.
“Yeah. I was trying to find a nicer way to say it, though.” He takes hold of my hand and entwines our fingers. “Let’s go see my parents.”
I raise our joined hands. “Are they going to be okay with this when you tell them who I am?”
“I don’t know.” Aaron lifts our hands to his mouth and kisses the back of mine. “But they’re going to find out eventually, so it might as well be today when we’ve got good news.”
“Okay.”
I let Aaron lead the way, following Kit’s path from the street to the house and then inside where I immediately hear the sound of several voices.
Aaron’s family. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous.
There haven’t been too many opportunities to meet parents in my history, so this is new territory for me, not to mention the added issue of being some random guy Zack hooked up with the day he died who is now dating Zack’s older brother.
As if sensing my growing nerves, Aaron squeezes my hand as he leads me through a living room immaculately decorated in shades of white and beige accented with olive green.
“As soon as Zack and I moved out, Mom went nuts with redecorating the house,” he says. “While we were growing up, it was a lot less…”
“Stark?” I ask.
He laughs. “Yeah. Zack had a ton of friends who were always over here, and it showed, especially downstairs where our rooms were.”
“Am I gonna get to see your childhood bedroom, Aaron?” I tease and grin when he turns to give me a sly smile.
“Maybe,” he says with a wink.
We follow a hallway to the back of the house and cross through a doorway into a gathering of about half a dozen people.
There are two older couples, but since one has already corralled Kit, I make a guess that the other couple is Aaron’s parents.
It helps that Aaron looks a lot like his dad.
There’s also a woman who looks like she’s around the same age as Aaron, and I assume that’s his sister.
She’s standing next to a guy who’s got his arm around her.
So I’m guessing that’s her husband. There’s also a couple of younger guys standing next to Kit.
They all give me a once-over as soon as we step into the space, which leads me to believe Kit has filled them in on who I am and that these are Zack’s friends.
The woman I surmised is Aaron’s mother sees him and cries out then rushes to wrap him up in her arms. I stand to the side while they embrace, not sure whether I should introduce myself or wait until Aaron can do it, but the older man steps forward and holds out his hand.
“I’m Robert, Aaron’s father.”
I shake his hand. “Nick,” I say. “It’s nice to meet you.” Before I can figure out what to add to that, Kit snorts loudly. The sound gets Aaron’s attention, and he looks over at me and his dad.
“Nick’s the reason the police knew where to search in Hayes Valley,” he says.
“He’s also the reason Zack was in Hayes Valley in the first place,” Kit says.