Page 5 of Hacker Christmas

Aaron sat his beer down and glowered at me. “Don’t start that shit. She needs both of us, and you know it. Hell, I think you and I need each other, so stop. This relationship is a team, and we will fight for her together. Something set her off. Also, I still want to know more about this guy who drew blood from our sub. You have an evil grin. What did you do?”

“I took care of him. His name is Fredrick Carson. We shouldn’t have anything to worry about again.”

Aaron motioned for me to continue.

I stirred the pasta. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I looked into him before I did anything. He abused his ex-wife for years, and when she tried to leave him, he put her in the hospital and took full custody of their kid. Fredrick made up a bullshit story about how she was an unfit mother, but he doesn’t even spend time with the kid. Fredrick did it for payback because she wanted to leave him. So I might’ve taken a video of the idiot beating his ex-wife off his phone and sent it to her. I also felt she needed money, so I drained one of his offshore accounts into hers. She should have enough money to fight the case now.”

“God, I’m glad you’re on my side. Thank you for taking care of him. On another note, Christmas is next week. Have you thought about what we should get Daisy? I think I’ll wait until Christmas to tell her I’m moving in with you guys.”

Last week, Aaron called and asked how I felt about him moving in with us. I had wanted it for a while, and I felt it was something Daisy needed. The only problem was that I had feelings for Aaron that he didn’t know about. With him living here, I knew it would be harder to fake how I felt. If wewanted to make it work with Daisy, I needed to bury my feelings for Aaron. I drained the water off the pasta. “I thought you could propose.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. “You need to stop putting yourself on the outside of our relationship. I wantedusto ask her to marryus.”

Growing up, I was a burden to my mother. Over the years, I tried to position myself so no one would hurt me. Aaron was right—I needed to be a part of the relationship instead of hovering on the outside, waiting for it to fail. The penthouse had started to seem more like a home since Daisy moved in almost a year before. She slowly worked to add color to the bachelor pad, and I knew Aaron didn’t think he could stay here if she wasn’t with him. A vase of pink daisies sat on the counter. Each week, he had new daisies delivered because he knew how much she enjoyed them.

I grabbed my phone off the counter and sent Daisy a text telling her that Brock would pick her up.

I grated the cheese as a distraction before answering Aaron. “It’s hard for me to think that either of you would want to keep me.” I didn’t look up from the cheese as I spoke. “I feel like a timer is ticking on our relationship. I don’t know what I would do if I lost either of you.” It was the deepest feeling I had expressed to anyone in a very long time.

Aaron folded his arms across his chest. “I’ve never felt more complete than when I’m with you and Daisy. We need to build a bond between the three of us. I think you and I have sidestepped our feelings, as well.”

My mouth went dry at Aaron’s words. I thought I had hidden my feelings for him well. I didn’t want him to leave Daisy and me. If he ever knew I had feelings for him… I dropped the cheese and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, which gave me time to think about how to respond without wrecking everything around us. I chugged half the beer, and it felt good. “I won’t overstep my bounds, Aaron. I know where I stand.”

Aaron cocked his head to the side before he stood and walked toward me. Finally, he was so close that I could feel his body heat. After his shower, Aaron had come into the kitchen without a shirt, and his sweatpants hung low. The moment I saw him, I decided to cook dinner as a distraction. “And where might that be?” he asked.

I wanted to reach out and run my hands down his body. In all my years, I had never let another man or woman top me. But something about Aaron drew my submission. “We each have a relationship with Daisy.”

“Why can’t you and I be in a relationship?”

My mind had a hard time with the words Aaron spoke. He was so close that my body leaned into him. “Because you like women.”

Aaron reached forward, ran his hands through my hair, and pulled me in. His lips crushed against mine. He dominated the kiss, and my body was on fire. I felt his tongue demand entrance, and my body turned into putty under his touch. I was so lost in the kiss that I didn’t hear the door open. Aaron pulled back, and a second later, I heard Daisy’s heels on the tile floor.

He stepped back. “We’re not done, but we need to talk to Daisy first.”

Aaron had returned to the stool by the time Daisy walked around the corner. I peeled my eyes from the man who kissed me senseless and looked at the woman who held my heart. Her eyes were black with smeared makeup. She looked like she didn’t think she was welcome.

* * *

Aaron

I had waited months to show Neal how I felt. I liked to have my hands on him. I wanted to dominate him. I hadn’t only wanted Daisy the day I saw her in my parents’ backyard. I remembered the second my eyes landed on her. She was an up-and-coming makeup artist to the Hollywood elite. One day, she disappeared, and I hadn’t seen her for fifteen years until that day I came to my parents’ house.

Over the years, I had seen Neal at Club Sanctorum. I had kept my feelings for him under wraps because of the Hollywood stigma against queer men, but I no longer cared by the time they were both in my parents’ backyard—I had feelings for both of them. It took three months for me to worm my way into their hearts. I wouldn’t let what I’d dreamed of for years fall apart. We needed to figure out what had upset Daisy then explain how the relationship would change. I knew she would be open to Neal and me. Daisy and I needed to figure out how to prove to Neal that he would always be a part of our lives.

I followed Neal’s eyes to the woman who held my heart. When Neal called me in California, I felt helpless. It made the decision to move to Ft. Lauderdale so much easier.

Daisy stood there in her black yoga pants and white blouse. Her presence lit up the room. She had her dark hair piled on her head, and her gray eyes didn’t have the sparkle they normally held. Neal walked over and wrapped her in his arms. She broke down, crying. I gave them a second before I walked over and pulled them both into my arms.

“Daisy’s sorry,” she sobbed.

“Let’s eat first. Then we can talk about last night.” One thing I knew I would change when I moved in was to make sure Daisy ate enough. The way she picked at her food had me wondering if hercaptor used to make comments about her weight. Every so often, I would catch her skipping something she wanted.

Neal and I led her to the kitchen bar, and Neal plated our food. I loved having the three of us together for dinner. It felt like family.

“Daisy wants to talk about last night.”

“I want your full attention when we talk about last night, and we’ll get to why you scened with Fredrick. But he isn’t the only point we need to talk about.” I gave Neal a pointed look. “First, tell me your favorite part of Christmas.”

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