Page 94 of Say It Again

“You do some freelance copyediting, but mostly you stay at home and take care of the house. You’re very good at gardening. You want us to get chickens, but the HOA is being a pain about it.”

Aaron chuckled. Easy. So easy. “Which is unfair. We deserve chickens.”

“If it works out, you’ll need to bring an overnight bag.” Marco’s attention had been stolen by the other phone. “For appearances.”

His smile wavered a touch. “Oh, I don’t stay the night. That is a service I don’t offer.”

“Yes, you’ll need to stay the night,” Marco said in this definite, matter-of-fact tone as he responded to a notification. “I won’t risk my colleagues seeing my partner leave at some odd hour. Trustworthy and loyal, remember? Not sketchy and sneaking off in the middle of the night.”

Aaron hadn’t spent the night with a client since he was very young. He had to draw the line somewhere, and staying the night, sleeping in the same bed only to wake up feeling like some contrived couple, it was a bit too intimate for his comfort level. Not to mention, how was he to explain that to his actual live-in boyfriend?

He tongued his cheek as he stared down at the check. If it was just a few nights, he could make an exception. Especially if there was no sex involved. No sex. Just money.

“No problem.” He slapped on a smile. “Now, tell me how I can make sure we align.”

IT WAS the next day, and Daniel sat on the couch perfecting a PowerPoint presentation about interior design, his legs draped over Aaron, who was barking at the television. Things like “Oh come on.” And “Pass it. Pass it, man!”

Why? was the Universal question. Why were they watching basketball? They never watched basketball. “So why are we watching this again?”

“You don’t have to watch it.” Aaron scratched the back of his head. “I need to stay current.”

“I think my issue,” Daniel said, pointing a vague finger toward the screen, “is I don’t understand why everyone’s so upset.”

Aaron massaged one of his legs. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone looks mad. Like that man, for example. That man is legitimately livid.”

“That guy? Well, yeah, baby. That’s the coach. He’s livid because they’re losing.”

“Well, it’s unfortunate not a single soul is smiling at them.”

“At whom?”

“The sexy basketball players.” Daniel shimmied his shoulders and flashed a grin at Aaron. “They’re all ginormous and shiny. If I were there, I’d be smiling at them.”

Aaron snorted. “Oh, would you now? What would you say to them as you smiled?”

“I’d say, ‘I’m sorry everyone’s mad at you, sexy ginormous basketball player. I’m sorry you missed the basket and your chance to load the bases or whatever. I’m also sorry—’”

“The what?” Aaron swiveled his head to him, his expression brightening in curiosity. “What’d you just say?”

Daniel cut his eyes to the side. Did he not have that right? It didn’t sound right. Damn sports-balls. “Oh. Nothing.”

A slow smile curled Aaron’s lips. “Oh, you mean the bases, bases. Sorry, I thought you were talking about something else. Yeah, he missed his chance to load those. The basketball bases.”

“Okay, whew.” He chuckled as he swatted a hand. “The way you were looking at me, I thought I had that wrong.”

“Precious. God, don’t change. Never change.”

“Hey,” he yelled when Aaron yanked the laptop from beneath his typing fingertips. “Excuse me? I was working on something—”

“Come here.” Aaron patted his lap, holding the laptop out of reach. “You can sit right here and work.”

“No, I cannot sit on your lap and work. Give it.”

“Nuh-uh.” Aaron held it higher. “Finders keepers, Daniel.”

“More like pilfering larceny, Aaron.”

---