Page 8 of Say It Again

“So I’m near-death pale. Does it look like I care?” he asked in an aggressive, mock-British accent. “Yellow Jacket—ha! At least I’m not an asshole. Well.” He cut his eyes to the side. “At least I’m not always an asshole. God, what’s he doing with that guy? He could do so much better. Like me. Me who is not always an asshole—”

“Can I come in?” a voice asked from outside the door.

Daniel froze.

“I just need a second of your time.”

He recognized that voice. It was Aaron’s.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Aaron continued. “Can you let me in, please?”

Daniel stood motionless, stuck in a game of Simon Says where a sadistic Simon had told him to freeze and not let the fetching matador into the bathroom.

“Pleazzz?” There it was again—a soft, sensual, coaxing way of saying that word that cradled around his earlobe like a warm little hug.

Daniel defrosted, checked his hair once more, and opened the door.

Aaron peeked around the hallway, then stepped inside. His lips curled into a smirk as he leaned back against the door. “Hi.”

Dear heavens alive. Icy blue, dark chocolate, and amber honey—it was all so… appetizing. “Hi.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time,” Aaron said.

“Oh, are you dying? Or do you just have to get back to the future?”

“I have to leave the party, smart-ass,” Aaron chuckled as he dug his phone from his pocket. “Can I have your number? I’d like to take you out on a date.”

Daniel gasped as he slapped his hands to his heart. “You want to take me out?”

Aaron nodded down at his phone, swiping it open. “Here, put your number in.”

“You want my number?” Daniel’s voice had gotten ridiculously high-pitched. He bounced on his heels a bit. “To take me out on a date?”

The way Aaron stared, it was as if that answer were obvious. “Yes.”

“Yes! Or, no.” Sorrow instantly washed over him. “God, I would love to. I would genuinely love to go on a date with you, what with you looking like a literal matador and all.”

Confusion twitched Aaron’s features, but he recovered with a soft smile. “Thank you?”

“But I have a boyfriend.” It came out sounding way more disappointed than it probably should have. It was, in part, that term. They probably shouldn’t have had that “boyfriend” discussion while Daniel was high on wisdom-tooth premedication, but live and let live. “And you. You clearly have a—” He struggled to summon the right word. “—spirited British person.”

Aaron grinned, the sexy one from earlier when he shared a kiss with his spirited British person. “Fuck your boyfriend. Or is that part not very enjoyable?”

Daniel erupted in an accidental laugh, then slapped a hand over his mouth. Is it that obvious? “That information is confidential.”

“What’s his name?” Aaron asked. “Chester?”

“You’re going with Chester as your first guess?”

“Give me your number. Chester will get over it. He’s seen this coming for a long time.”

Daniel couldn’t help his belly flipping like a two-timing floozy. He chewed his thumbnail. “Chest—er, Nate would, well, yes. He’d get over it. But it would make him sad.”

“Aw, sad ol’ Nort.”

“Nate.”

Aaron prowled nearer. “One date is all I’m asking.”

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