Page 6 of Say It Again

Daniel’s heart did a little squiggle.

“I don’t give a shit if it was made with holy water. It’s not your job to stand here drinking it. Come on.”

Aaron’s eyes sharpened on the other guy’s. He suddenly looked a touch threatening as he stood taller, peering down at him.

“Um. Apologies, kitten.” Yellow Jacket’s smile had quickly turned contrite. “People are excited to see you, is all. Can you blame them?”

Daniel could. Daniel could totally blame them all day and night.

“I, for one, still get excited to see you.” Yellow Jacket closed his eyes and puckered his lips toward Aaron, a cartoon princess waiting for a smooch.

Aaron looked to Daniel. Daniel looked to Aaron. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t what happened next.

Without breaking their eye contact and wearing a sexy, sexy half-grin, Aaron leaned in and pressed his lips to the other man’s.

Daniel couldn’t help but stare while his scalp, suddenly impossibly hot, started to itch. But watching two people kiss was creepy, so he skirted his gaze to the ground. He chanced a peek after a few moments, when any normal kiss would’ve stopped being a thing, to find Aaron was still staring. And still kissing.

“Uhh,” he said to the ground, smiling politely. “If you’ll excuse me? I’ll just—I’ll be right back.” He slid off his apron and scanned the patio for signs of authority that would probably prefer he didn’t take a break. When no one looked in-charge enough, he rushed inside, around a corner, and into the chest of a topless dude with a bowl of popcorn.

“Gugh,” the guy shrieked as it clanged to the floor. “Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“Oh no.” Daniel dropped to his hands and knees and scrambled to gather the pieces, but they’d scattered everywhere. “I am so sorry.”

The guy bounced a little like he was trying to refrain from yelling.

“I can make you some more,” he offered. “Just, er—if you show me where it is.”

“We worked on this, Stevie,” Stevie said to himself in a meditative voice as he exhaled, long and slow. “You’re not angry. You’re just hungry.”

Yikes. Daniel crawled to retrieve kernels from under a table. “I really am sorry.”

“Okay, my bad.” Stevie lowered to the floor. “I didn’t mean to yell or whatever. I’m ravenous I’m so hungry. Do you have any gum?”

“What’s that? Gum?” Daniel tapped his pockets. “No, but I saw some mints over there on the counter.”

“I can’t have mints. I’m fasting.”

“Ahh, I do that too. Not on purpose.” Daniel collected the last of the popcorn. “I’m just poor.”

The guy nodded, but his attention had been captivated by his phone. His thumbs tapped at warp speed over the screen. “That must suck.”

“It really does. So hey, can I ask you a question? See that guy over there?” He tried to nonchalantly point to Aaron with his entire hand, which looked like a strange dance move. “What’s his deal?”

Stevie didn’t look up. “Which one?”

“The one that looks like the statue of David. But Greekier.”

He squinted at the group of men surrounding Aaron. “Who?”

“Right there.” He tried to point with his head, which ended up looking like an even sillier dance move. “The foxy one in the blue V-neck.”

Back to the phone. “If he’s wearing a shirt, he’s an attorney and an asshole.”

Daniel frowned as he gazed at Aaron. “Really?”

“Yes. They’re all attorneys.” The guy inspected his hair with his phone’s camera. “And they’re all assholes.”

“He seemed nice.”

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