Say It Again

Chapter Sixteen

A FEW WEEKS later, Aaron stood in a hotel room with his arms crossed, trying to keep his irritation from bubbling over into a screaming match. He was supposed to have met Daniel at the studio five minutes ago, and his new client—well, new and former client—had turned out to be a nightmare.

“Come on,” the nightmare said. “Just take it and go. It’s a lot of money. A lot .”

“I’m not arguing that it’s not a lot,” Aaron said, cracking his neck. “I’m saying it’s not what we agreed on.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” The guy slung an arm toward the bed, where an envelope stuffed with bills lay. “That’s an insane amount of money. Not to mention, I bought you an entire meal, and this is probably the nicest hotel room in the city.”

No, it wasn’t. Not even close. Usually Aaron got the money up front— always get the money upfront— but he’d failed to do it because sometimes he was human, and sometimes being human meant he leaned too far on the goodwill of others. Plus, this guy had been referred by a solid client, which should’ve had some merit but didn’t.

“The price is the price,” he said, checking the time on his phone. Daniel had made plans to attend an outdoor concert. He was supposed to be meeting Olivia. Aaron was going to disappoint them both. “You don’t like it? You never have to see me again.”

“Look, man.” The guy shrugged, his arms thwacking heavy by his sides. “I don’t have that kind of money right now.”

What a liar. What a cheap and backbiting liar. There was nothing worse than men like this. A couple of hours ago, he’d been stumbling over his words, praising Aaron’s looks, begging just to touch him. Now that their time together had dwindled to an end, suddenly it was an insane amount of money that he just didn’t have. “That’s not my problem. ”

“I don’t know what you want me to do. I’m telling you, I. Don’t. Have. It,” the guy said, punctuating his words with claps. “Please just take what I do have and leave.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Fine.” The guy arched an indignant eyebrow. “Do I need to call security?”

Aaron’s laugh was loud. “Uh-huh, and what’ll you tell them?”

“That you won’t leave!”

“That the escort you hired wants the money you agreed to pay him? You tell them that. Or tell the cops. Whatever.”

The guy’s cheeks ruddled in an angry pink as he crossed his arms and pouted. He mumbled under his breath, “Maybe I’d pay it if it’d been worth it.”

Aaron tossed his gaze at the ceiling and plopped onto the bed. He didn’t have time to squat in a hotel room, waiting for this guy to grow some dignity, but he’d be dammed if he moved another inch without his money. He rechecked his phone, his stomach churning a bit at the time. He shot Daniel a quick I’ll be there soon! “The price is the price.”

“Get out.” The guy thrust a finger toward the door. “Now.”

Aaron propped himself on his elbow and smiled. “Hand me the remote, won’t you?”

“GOOD AFTERNOON, this message is for a Mr. Daniel Greene. Hi, my name is Bill Oren with Missouri Loan Express. I’m sorry to inform you we were unable to approve your small business loan application. Give me a call back with any questions you might have.”

Daniel sucked his lip as he punched his phone into his pocket. It was like the studio was slipping through his fingers. Maybe he’d been na?ve to think he was capable of buying it, let alone running it.

His phone pinged with another text from Aaron:

I’m sorry I’m running late, sweetheart! So excited to see you!

Well, if ever there was a reason to smile. The state of his finances and overall life might have been a flaming trash pile, but at least his love life was sensational. And by sensational, it was sen-fucking-sational .

Aaron had gone out of his way to make sure of it. It was giggly park walks, and scooping Daniel up between classes, taking him back to his apartment for fancy espresso drinks made with love and quickies over the kitchen counter, made with lots of noise. It was browsing shops on the Loop where Aaron bought him little gifts: bags of gummy candy, a new scarf, and a dangly silver earring shaped like a ballet slipper that twinkled in the light.

They’d avoided speaking about the Thing, and Aaron artfully directed their conversations if it ever got too close. He also made sure to be very available on a whim as if to say, Look, dating me is so normal. Isn’t dating me normal? No. And yes. It might have been the most normally abnormal thing he’d ever done, and so far, his anxiety had taken a back seat to allow it.

“Where’s your fancy boyfriend?” Olivia asked, stepping from the back room, hauling on a pair of knee-high black boots. “Isn’t he supposed to be here? The concert’s already started.”

“He’s running late, but he’ll be—” Daniel had started to stuff his phone in his pocket when it dinged again. “Oh, wait.”

You guys go ahead and walk down! I’ll meet you there soon! Promise!

They’d had this night planned for a week. It didn’t feel like Aaron to miss an opportunity to meet Olivia and do something so quaint and Midwestern, like attending an outdoor concert on the Arch’s riverbank. He was all about quaint and Midwestern.

Is everything okay?

Of course!! Can’t wait to see you!!

So many exclamation points. About four too many for a text from Aaron to seem like everything was okay. Daniel’s stomach twisted, but he ignored it, because his anxiety was doing the back-seat thing and sitting in the back seat was good for his anxiety.

Twenty minutes later, he and Olivia arrived at the Arch’s riverbank, where families with little ones huddled around brightly lit funnel cake booths, and cackling men, punished red by the sun, guzzled beer under a white tent. They pushed their way toward the stage, settling on a place to stand next to a pod of glow-stick-jewelry people, who he tried to telepathically message to offer him a bracelet.

After a half an hour or so, he texted Aaron:

Still coming ?

To which Aaron responded:

Absolutely!!

Another forty-five minutes and Aaron wrote:

What time does the concert end?

Daniel hated to jam Olivia’s groove as she was dancing with her whole heart in a way that looked like she might be turned on and also swatting mosquitoes, but something was not right. It wasn’t even about Aaron being late. It was why Aaron was late.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea.” Olivia twirled around a few times. “You should put me on your shoulders.”

“Look at me.” He wafted a hand down his body and started to type out a response. “What about this frangible mien says airlifting to you? We would both need hospitalization.”

Another text from Aaron:

Sorry to do this. I’ll meet you guys at your house a little later.

It was why Aaron now wasn’t coming at all. That was the sticky part, of course, because of the answer: he was with someone else.

The image of the person Daniel’s brain supplied happened to be handsome, rich, and impossibly eligible. They also had a fancy electric car and even fancier tech company CEO title, and Aaron couldn’t help but be into them.

Daniel bit his teeth together while his anxiety did a full sweep of his body. How could it manifest? A touch of queasiness? Check. Intrusive thoughts? Check. Elevated heart rate? Not quite, but the night was young.

“What is wrong with you?” Olivia asked. “Why aren’t you dancing? Dance.”

He showed her the text trail from Aaron.

“Oh.” She tongued the corner of her mouth. “Well, that’s a bummer. He didn’t say why?”

“It’s a Saturday night, and the man’s a sex worker. He’s probably at his grandma’s house, right?”

“Well, let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“That is not something I’ve done. Just because he’s with a Swedish billionaire named Sven who’s currently flying him to the moon on the literal rocket he owns doesn’t mean I’ve jumped anywhere conclusion-wise.”

She rubbed his arm. “It feels a little specific not to be a conclusion. ”

“Ugh.” He dropped his head back and groaned. “Let’s just go home.”

“No, hey. We’re not going home. We never go out, and the night is young. We’re young. Let’s do something crazy! Sow our wild oats.”

“All my oats are too tired for sowing. I’d rather go to sleep.” He slumped his shoulders and pooched his lower lip. “So I can not think about him for eight hours.”

“Screw that! Hey, look at me.” Olivia gripped his shoulders and forced his eye contact. “You know what we should do tonight?”

“Cry on the linoleum.”

“We should do psilocybin.”

He studied her face for a long time, then squinted. “Am I supposed to know what that is?”

“Mushrooms.”

“Mushrooms?”

“Mushrooms.” Her spirit fingers said it all. “The magical edition.”

He stopped blinking to gawk at her. “Are you absolutely out of your mind?”

“Not yet.” She winked. “But I could be.” Another wink with an added conspiring whisper: “Psilocybin.”

“I don’t… what? No. No, that’s ludicrous.”

“That’s exactly why we should do it!” She held his shoulders again. “I mean, no offense, but your boyfriend is with Rocket Sven and this music has me feeling awfully saucy. What’s holding us back?”

“Well, for one, they’re illegal contraband. And for two, where would we even find them?”

“Where?” She scoffed. “Oh, please. Don’t make me laugh. I know a dude. A mushroom dude.”

His mouth twitched at the confidence. Like a Guido with new hair gel. “Oh, you know a dude, huh?”

“That’s right.” So much winking happening. “A mushroom dude.”

Daniel eyed her for a long moment. He started to speak but hesitated. Barring a few hits from a joint in college that made his heart feel like it had been relocated to his head, he’d never done a drug. “You’re serious right now? Well. What are they like?”

“The mushroom dude?” Olivia shrugged. “He’s nice. He has a porn star goatee that I personally think he’d look better without, but other than that— ”

“No, what are the mushrooms like? I mean, are they… safe?”

“Oh, are they safe.” Olivia nodded, a slicked-up Guido. “Probably.”

DANIEL STARED down at his coffee table, where shriveled, illegal contraband had been poured out and scattered around like they were garden-variety risotto ingredients and not highly hallucinogenic.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“You know, I second that,” Olivia responded. “I also can’t believe you’re doing it.”

“So, what do we do?” He ferociously chewed a thumbnail. “Does one cut them up? Like, with scissors?”

Olivia tipped her head back and forth but said nothing.

“Does one brew a tea with them?”

No response from Olivia.

“Does one answer me while I’m talking?”

She shrugged all puny. Her confidence had diminished terribly. “I feel like we should just eat them whole.”

“Wait.” He gripped her arm. “Have you never done the mushrooms before?”

She gave him the strangest look, kind of like a person who had never done the mushrooms before.

“Olivia!” He widened his eyes. “This cannot be happening. You led me to believe you were the magic mushroom expert.”

“Okay, but in my defense, you probably wouldn’t have agreed if you didn’t think I was the magic mushroom expert. If it helps, I’ve always wanted to be a mushroom expert.”

His eyes rounded more. “Why would that help?”

“I’ll get us some water.” She pointed back on her way to the kitchen. “When I come back, we’ll meet the mushrooms. We’ll greet them. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry about a thing.”

He bounced his knees as he stared down at them. “Girl, I don’t know about this—”

“Picture it like a belly dance, Daniel. A belly dance for your brain.”

“Oh, a belly dance?” His dipped his head. “Well, I do love that.”

“See?” she asked from the kitchen, filling two glasses of water. “And wouldn’t your brain love to take a belly dance break from all your worries? From Aaron? And Sven? ”

The studio came crashing into the forefront of his mind, followed closely by Sven and his literal (and figurative) rocket. “Yeah, it would.”

Olivia beamed as she offered him a water and a mushroom. “Cheers. To belly dancing.”

AT SOME point, Daniel and Olivia had reassembled on the floor. It wasn’t that the couch was bad. Nothing was bad , but the floor had room to spare, and just because it was scattered with dust and random unpopped kernels of popcorn didn’t mean it wasn’t a lovely place to belly dance. Which he did with flourish from where he lay on his back beneath the coffee table with his shirt rolled up to his chest because it was making Olivia giggle.

“You’re so good at that,” she said, her eyes wide with awe. “You are the best belly dancer on this floor.”

“And you are really beautiful,” he said, rolling over to face her. “You’re the best friend on this floor.”

“Daniel, that is so sweet.” She pressed a hand to her heart and puckered her face. “Let me know if you want to make out a little later.”

“Will do.” He rolled to his back and flicked the underside of the coffee table a few times to make sure it was sturdy. It was. “You know who else is beautiful?”

“Mm-hmm. Nutella.”

He melted into a longing smile. “Aaron. Aaron is so beautiful.”

“Oh sweet butter sculpture of Jesus,” she groaned, fanning herself. “That man. I’ve only seen that one picture of him, but he looks like he was handcrafted by the gods from granite and unicorn sperm.”

“Unicorn….” He squinted. “Sperm.”

“And Nutella.”

“Ahh, okay. Now that I think about it, yep. I could see that,” said Daniel, who definitely couldn’t.

“I told you to give him a chance, and look at you now. God, I adore being right. Now you guys are all You’re the wind beneath my wings. Let’s have babies together. ”

“The condoms protect us from an unwanted pregnancy.”

“I better be the maid of honor. Don’t deny me that.”

“Okay, but if I make you maid of honor”—he rotated to face her again, pointing sternly—“you have to promise not to bang the best man.”

“Who’s the best man? ”

“Probably Aaron’s brother.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to bang Aaron’s….” She trailed off, a frown pouting her lips. “Why not?”

“Okay, fine. But you have to give me all the slutty details.” He began ticking off fingers. “I’ll need the size of things, the quality, and how quickly things get sturdy when those things are excited.”

“Slutty details are part of my responsibility as maid of honor. I take it seriously. Speaking of Aaron.” She jumping-jacked her arms and legs a few times as if she were trying to make a snow angel on the area rug. “How are you dealing with the whole escort thing?”

He poked the tip of a popcorn kernel with his finger. “Phenomenally.”

“Really?”

“No! Have you ever met me?”

“A lot.”

“I am so into him.” He curled into himself and moaned. “I want to crawl inside his skin and live there.”

“Sounds murder-y.”

“You want to know a secret?”

“Is it detailed and slutty?”

“He doesn’t know this—” He swiped his tongue over his teeth to make sure they were still there. They were, which was how he was able to say, “But my long-term goal is to just wait it out. He can’t do what he does forever, right? Eventually he’ll have to quit.”

Olivia pressed her lips together and popped them loudly, over and over. Daniel tried to join but couldn’t get his as loud.

“Why?” she asked between pops. “Why would he have to quit?”

“Because he’ll get too old. I’m pretty sure you can’t escort once you turn thirty. Isn’t that the rule?”

“What? First of all, that’s ageism. And second of all, I don’t think you could be wronger. There’s probably fifty-year-old escorts out there making a killing.”

“Oh, I would so bang a fifty-year-old Aaron. God, think about the salt-and-pepper hair and the un-ironic use of the phrases Vacation home on Lake Tahoe , or Let’s get up early and go hiking , or We’re considering boarding school for the labradoodle .” He narrowed his eyes to a squint. “But would I pay to bang a fifty-year-old Aaron?”

“Yes?”

“Yes. ”

“Let’s do it.”

“Let’s. But first, and hear me out, what if I give him an ultimatum someday? People do that in the movies all the time. Like, it’s either those jive turkeys, or it’s me.”

“Daniel.” Olivia’s tone lowered, and her eyes widened. “What turkeys?”

“I like your attitude.” He nodded his approval. “ What turkeys is right—”

A knock sounded at the front door. They both scrambled to their feet in a process that hurt as they each thwacked different body parts on the coffee table, then stood wild-eyed in his living room like a couple of busted burglars.

“Someone’s already in here!” he shouted and then slapped a hand over his mouth.

They screeched in laughter until the knock sounded again, making them startle.

“Hello?” Another gentle knock. “Daniel, it’s me.”

“Who the hell is me ?” Olivia whispered.

“Yeah.” Daniel deepened his voice and puffed his chest at the door. “Who the hell is you ?”

“It’s Aaron.”

Oh. Oh, Aaron was here. Of course he was here. He’d said he was coming over—no big deal.

“Kid,” Aaron said, his voice closer to the door, “I tried calling. I know you’re probably upset with me. If I were you, I’d be upset with me too.”

So why did his being here feel so… enormous?

“I am so sorry. I get that you’re mad, but can you please open the door? Please?”

Daniel’s heart was going to fracture his rib cage, it was suddenly beating so intensely. He tried to smooth his outfit, and hopefully the way he probably looked like a frazzled mad scientist with a bona fide Igor, but Olivia’s hair refused to comply with any grooming. It also didn’t help that the door creaked like an eerie castle as Daniel opened it.

“There you are. Sweetheart, I am so sorry. My night has been….” Aaron’s concerned expression gradually transformed into confusion as his gaze zipped back and forth between them. He licked his lips, his eyes narrowing to a squint. “Are you guys okay? ”

“We’re belly dancing,” Daniel said, and because that probably made no sense, he followed up with, “Not with our bellies.”

“You are a lot of man,” Olivia said, her eyes all pupil as she scanned Aaron from top to bottom. “A lot. Maybe more than I can handle right now.”

“Are we… high?” Aaron cocked his head. “Is that what’s going on? We’re high right now?”

“Yes,” Daniel said. “It’s technically called psilo-something. But on the streets, we refer to them as—”

“Mushrooms?” Aaron’s eyebrows shot up. “You two are on magic mushrooms?”

Daniel tossed his hands up. “Well, how does everyone know what that is but me?”

“So, Aaron.” Olivia grinned as she gently squeezed one of Aaron’s biceps. “Daniel mentioned your brother might be the best man in the wedding?”

Aaron’s gaze danced between the two of them for a long several seconds. Then he softened into a sigh as he swiped a palm over his face. “This has been the worst night, and I was afraid it was about to get even worse, but it won’t. Because you two are….” He trailed off, erupting into chuckles. “God, thank you. I needed this.”

DANIEL LAID his head on one of Aaron’s thighs while Olivia lay across the other. The drugs had worn thin, but they were both still giddy as could be. It was probably because Aaron was running his fingers through their hair, which was a glorious sensation. Almost as glorious as the smile he wore as he did it.

“Oh, granite-unicorn-spermy-Aaron.” Olivia sighed. “You are the best.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that,” Aaron said. “But thank you again.”

“We just like you,” Daniel said. “We really like you, and you smell good.”

“Again, thank you.” Aaron was so serene. A beautiful anesthesiologist with a couple of blitzed-out patients. “I like you guys too.”

“Do we smell good?”

“You guys smell fantastic. ”

For the second time, Aaron explained to Olivia the reasons why he couldn’t let her pierce his ear while Daniel watched. Well, while he watched Aaron. He was so graceful with the way he spoke. So kind. He carefully reached up and touched Aaron’s lower lip with his fingertips while he spoke, sparking Fiji-ocean eyes to lock with his.

Look at you. Daniel could feel his woozy smile growing even more. Everything. You are everything to me.

That was the first time he’d had such a definitive thought, and it felt final in a way. Did Aaron know? Did he know just how marvelously everything he was? Oh, someone should tell him. Someone should just say, Aaron, you’re everything to me . Daniel would do it, but he was far too chicken to say something like that.

Aaron lightly kissed his fingertips, causing a coil of nerves to blaze hot at the base of his spine. He bounced a little. He should really say something. Like, now. What was wrong with now? Nothing. Now was great. Aaron deserved to know, so he should say something. Now. Nownownownow.

A grin teased one corner of Aaron’s mouth.

Now! Daniel chewed his lower lip. He could say that. Aaron, you’re everything to me. Only a chicken wouldn’t be able to say something so simple, and he wasn’t a chicken. He wasn’t a stupid fucking clucking chicken.

Aaron silently worded, You’re precious.

“But I don’t want to be a chicken!”

The room fell silent.

Aaron blinked at him for a beat, his face a combination of concerned and amused. “Like a rotisserie chicken? Or one that lays eggs? I don’t want that for you either, baby.”

“Daniel.” Olivia rolled over to scowl at him. “I don’t know everything there is to know about mushrooms, but they for sure cannot turn you into a chicken.”

“I—dammit. Firstly, you don’t know anything about mushrooms, Olivia, and secondly—” He pushed himself up to a seat, drank in a gasp of air, and pulled Aaron close until their foreheads touched. “I need you to listen to me, sir. I really, really like you.”

Aaron pursed his lips, but his grin persisted. “Uh-huh, you feelin’ good, sweetheart? You’re on drugs. Let’s lie back down.”

“No. ”

“No, you’re not on drugs? Or no, you don’t wanna lie down?”

“I do want to lie down, and you should join me, as that sounds delightful. But I need to explain something first.”

“All right.” Aaron calmly nodded. “Explain.”

“If I may just request a moment of silence from you both.” Daniel leaned back and nibbled his nail, scanning the room for any visual guide that might help him explain it better, when he spotted the two root beer bottles on the corner of the coffee table. “Oh, here we go. See, this is me. And this one—isn’t it cute that we match, by the way?—is you.” He pushed the bottles together until they clinked. “And here we are together.”

Aaron’s brow pinched as he nodded. “Hmph. Tell me more.”

“Well, so, not only are we cuter together—so cute—but as you can clearly see, we’re better together. Aaron. We are so better together.”

That was about as genius and triumphant as an explanation could get, so imagine his shock when Aaron had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep his laughter somewhat contained. Daniel scratched his head as he blinked down at the root beer bottles. Wait. Was he forgetting something?

“Oh, this is so great. Did I already say thank you for being on mushrooms? Thank you, thank you. And you’re right, sweetheart. Two root beers are way better than one root beer. Swell job on the visual aid too.” He gave a thumbs-up. “That really brought it home.”

“What I’m trying to say.” Daniel’s mouth suddenly itched as he scooted in closer toward Aaron, his heart river dancing into his throat. “Okay. What I’m trying to say is—sorry. Give me a minute.”

Aaron chuckled, swabbing a hand over his face. “Uh-huh?”

“Nothing. I mean, it is something. But.” He drummed on his lips to cue the tiny dancer to knock it off. “Nothing.”

Aaron gave in to a yawn. “Is it nothing? Or is it something?”

“It’s just—”

“It’s just what, kid?”

“I’m in love with you.”

Aaron’s eyebrows rose, and his mouth dropped open. Olivia huffed in a breath and shot up to mirror him.

“I think I’m, like, in love , in love with you. Like bananas in love with you. ”

Aaron blinked in response. No words. No facial clues as to what he was thinking. Then, without moving a muscle, he said, “Oh. Shit.”

Olivia gasped. “Oh shit.”

Daniel gulped. Oh shit.

Other than that brief delivery, Aaron was frozen in time. An eternity passed as Daniel sat there, tapping his fingertips together. It was definitely long enough for the sun to swallow the earth, but that didn’t happen like he’d hoped. He parted his lips to speak with no clear summary of what might roll out.

“Shh, for a second.” Aaron held up a hand. His forehead wrinkled. “Is this the mushrooms talking?”

“Yes. I mean, no! Okay, yes, I said it just now because of the mushrooms, maybe, but there is this gravitational tugging of you and me together, and you are this robust presence in my life that I’ve never had before and don’t want to have with anyone else, because there’s no way it could be as good as you and me and us, and you are quite honestly everything—you’re everything to me.” He gasped his first breath in a minute. “And I thought you should know.”

Aaron gripped him by the waist and hauled him onto his lap. Not gentle and controlled but fumbling and raw. He straddled Daniel’s knees around him and jolted their bodies close and tight. “Say it again.”

He tried to hide the fact that he was out of breath and disoriented. He studied Aaron’s face for clarification, but it looked just as thunderstruck. “Say….? All of that again?”

Aaron shook his head. “The first part.”

“Oh.” He swallowed. “Say I love you?”

Aaron nodded. Something behind his eyes was so intense, it was almost punishing to stare at. “Again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“I love you.”

Aaron sucked a breath through his teeth as he touched Daniel’s face all over. He swept his fingertips down his temples, then cheekbones. He thumbed his chin and rubbed his neck. It was almost like he had to do it. “I wish you could see the way your mouth moves. I wish you could see how you look when you say it. Say it. ”

Daniel’s eyes stung because of course they did, but he stayed present, gripping Aaron’s face, smiling against his lips. He whispered, “I’m in love with you.”

“You should not stop.” Aaron’s fingers twisted his shirt, clawing until it was inching up his back. His voice was a deep hook. “Don’t stop.”

“You like it?”

“Daniel.” Aaron nodded. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

He winced when Aaron thrust them even tighter, tight enough to hurt, but God, bring it on. Give him this man’s skin against his. If his nervous system was going to go down in a wonder of flames because he was wholeheartedly in love with a sex worker, then he might as well pour the champagne and eat the damn cake.

“I love you,” Daniel said in between these wild, wild kisses, breathing only when he had to. Let Aaron’s mouth be a journey where no corner was left untasted. “Aaron Silva. I love you.”

Aaron was suddenly growling, pushing up into him all rock-hard, and Daniel was panting, struggling to unbutton dumb buttons. He was seconds away from destroying this gorgeous shirt, ripping it open with his teeth, when—

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” Olivia whispered from where she sat curled against the arm of the sofa.

“ Geez !” Aaron leaped all the way out of his skin, half scrambling up the back of the couch as Daniel whipped his head around.

“Would it be cool with you guys,” Olivia asked with her phone angled toward them, “if I recorded a little of this?”

Daniel erupted into laughter while Aaron kneaded his temples and whispered, “I forgot she was here.”

“That’s exactly right.” Olivia grinned to herself as she nestled into her seat and presumably pressed Record. “I’m not even here.”

“Okay, no one’s recording shit. You, phone down. And you.” Aaron pointed up at Daniel, leveling him with a smirky look. “You’re a minx, and I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I feel like I’m on drugs. You need to get off my lap before you make things worse.”

Daniel giggled and rolled off him while Aaron adjusted his jeans, muttering a jumble of disputes under his breath.

“I think it’s time we get you two dummies to bed. Go get ready. I’ll take the couch.”

He and Olivia exchanged pouts. “But— ”

“It’s 2:00 a.m.” Aaron had an effective parental side-eye. “Bed. Go.”

“Well, yes sir, mister, sir,” Daniel said with a wink as he pulled Olivia from the couch. “Can’t argue with that.”

“Yeah, meow to the authority, Aaron,” Olivia said as Daniel guided her toward the bedroom. “Would you say your brother is very authoritative, or…?”

“Good night, Olivia,” Aaron chuckled. “I can see why you two are friends.”

Daniel held Aaron’s gaze, walking backward on his way to the room just to keep him in view for a bit longer. His boyfriend. His beautiful boyfriend who he loved, who he was in love with . Like, bananas. He waited for Olivia to collapse into the bed, then poked his head out of his room and whispered, “Hey, good night, mister. I just wanted you to know that I meant what I said. Every word.”

Aaron looked a bit frayed, his smile almost forced. He cleared his throat. “I know, yeah. Good night, kid. Get some sleep.”

Oh. Daniel tried not to let his expression teeter as he waved a little wave and crawled into the bed. Blame it on the mushrooms, but he hadn’t noticed until just then.

Aaron never said it back.