Page 85 of Just a Footnote

“My mom loved Tony Bennett,” Liam whispers into his ear. “She loved all the old standards.”

Aiden tangles his fingers in Liam’s hair, kisses his ear. “Tell me about her.”

“She was magic. She would’ve loved you. She had the funniest sense of humor. There was always something to laugh about around her. She would just set me off, and sometimes I’d get jokes in that would crack her up. And her laugh was just the best. When her and my dad got together, they were a riot. I spent so much time blissfully happy as a kid.” Liam stops talking and pulls Aiden in a little tighter against his body. “She didn’t laugh as much when she got sick. I was young. They hid a lot of it from me. But, I just remember she was tired all the time. She still laughed but it sounded like she was putting on a show for me more than anything? I think it broke her heart to leave me.”

“Of course it did. Who would want to leave you?” Aiden whispers softly. He kisses Liam’s face, his eyes, right under his ear on the sensitive part of his neck. “She sounds amazing. I’d trade you if I could.”

“Don’t say that,” Liam admonishes him.

“I would. If I could give you your mom back by sacrificing mine. I would. In a heartbeat.”

The dulcet sounds of the standards, of love songs before their time, plays as they sway in the warmth of the living room beside the fire. Aiden buries his face in Liam’s neck. Liam’s strong hands find a home on the small of Aiden’s back, rubbing circles, holding him close, like he’s something Liam cherishes.

When I Fall in Loveby Nat King Cole comes on and Aiden stills in Liam’s arms. Liam keeps swaying them even as Aiden can no longer move his feet. The words echo around his mind, knocking things loose, reverberating inside him. He loves Liam so much, he aches with it. This feeling is a sickness.

“When I fall in love with you…” Liam croons into his ear just as the song finishes.

When the song comes to a stop, Aiden pulls away to look up into Liam’s eyes. He’s never felt such an overwhelming urge to kiss someone before. He slowly brings their lips together, their eyes staying open the entire time.

Liam’s nostrils flare right before his hands come up to cup Aiden’s face, pulling him in closer, kissing Aiden like he’s never kissed him before. The kiss is like a lightning strike. Liam’s hands tighten on his face, pulling him somehow even closer.

Suddenly, Aiden finds himself pressed against a wall. Liam’s hands move to tangle in his hair as their mouths claim one another. The kiss is savage, he thinks his lips might be bruised tomorrow, but he doesn’t care. He likes it. They collide together like a slow motion car crash. Everything moves slowly, even when Liam breaks away from his mouth to bite at his neck.

He works his hands under Liam’s shirt to feel his stomach muscles under his palms. The hard muscles contract when Liam sucks in a breath at the touch. It’s all too much. Liam under his hands, the taste of Liam in his mouth, Liam’s lips brushing over his pulse point on his neck.

Liam pulls away from him, eyes wild with desire, then drags him by the wrist up to the loft. It’s different from the night before. Last night was reverence and sweetness. Tonight is just a blinding desire. Aiden is so wrecked by it that he’s afraid his vision might go white.

He blinks and they’re tumbling naked onto the bed. Aiden spreads out against the comforter, Liam over him, and Liam takes both of his hands tightly in his own. He raises them above Aiden’s head, panting a little as they move together. The feel of Liam against him is nothing short of magnificent.

He can’t do anything but stare up at Liam. Pure want is etched across his face. The way Liam bites his lip, the way his eyes drink Aiden in, sends a fierce rush of need through Aiden. They rock against each other, only pausing for Liam to lube them up, and they go fast, then slow down when it starts to be too much. Emotions war inside Aiden. He’s in love but he also aches. He aches with the idea someone else will see Liam like this. Someone else will have Liam like this.

Aiden cries out as his release floods through him. Tears spring at his eyes but he blinks them back so that he can watch Liam’s face crumble as he comes too. Liam collapses on top of him, breathing hard. Aiden runs his hands over Liam’s sweaty back to comfort him, to ground himself. He cleans them both off with one of their t-shirts, then kisses Liam with his eyes open so he can watch the small smile spread across Liam’s face like it always does after a good orgasm. Liam falls asleep first and Aiden sneaks away. He showers quickly then tugs on one of Liam’s shirts before he’s even dry.

The first floor is dark. Shadows rise up above them as he tosses himself into a chair by the dwindling flames of the fire. He curls up in the chair, tight as a ball, like he can protect him from his own emotions.

What does Aiden have if he doesn’t have Liam Walsh? He’sso fucked. The man is the love of his life. The sun in his sky on his darkest days. The star in a dark night that leads him home when he’s lost. The taste on his tongue when nothing else holds any flavor. The air in his lungs when he breathes. No doubt their hearts beat perfectly in sync. He wishes he could tell Liam all of that but he never will. If he told Liam the truth of his heart then Liam would pity him, loving him out of some sick version of duty. Which is worse than him not loving Aiden at all.

Liam wakeshim up the next morning with a kiss to his cold nose. Neither of them brings up the previous night. They don’t talk about Aiden sleeping by the fireplace and not in the bed. If Liam is irritated by it at all, he doesn’t show it. Which kind of irritates Aiden a little. He can’t explain why though. Liam tosses a pair of boots in Aiden’s size at him.

“Don’t need you getting frostbite because of your chucks,” Liam tells him as he tugs on his own boots.

Aiden stares down at the boots, momentarily dazed. Liam is so thoughtful. Aiden didn’t even think of that. He dutifully tugs the boots on though.

They spend the morning hiking in the woods by the cabin. The sky is hazy, full of clouds, almost as if it might snow later in the day. A few miles from the cabin is a state park with guided trails. Liam, always prepared, has a map, a backpack, along with enough food and water to keep them alive in case they get lost.

“Are you planning for us to get lost?” Aiden asks halfway through the trail.

Snow crunches under their feet, and Aiden kind of hates it. But Liam is so happy that Aiden doesn’t mind it. Sometimes it’s nice to see Liam so happy, so free, that even if he’s miserable, it doesn’t matter.

“No.” Liam looks at him over his shoulder. “Why?”

“You brought enough food to feed an entire hockey team.”

“Hmmm. Habit, I guess.” Liam shrugs. Aiden watches his shoulders move under his winter jacket. Aiden had to wear two hoodies because all he brought was his leather jacket. It’s okay though, he can warm up later.

The trail ends up covered in too much snow so they can’t make it to the view that Liam wanted so badly for them to see. Needing to comfort Liam, Aiden puts a hand on his neck, squeezes, smiling so that Liam knows it’s not a big deal. A happy smile graces Liam’s face, he ducks down to softly kiss Aiden, before they trudge their way back to the cabin.

“Maybe Bigfoot hibernates,” Aiden ponders when they walk through the door to the cabin.

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