Page 47 of Broken Chorus

Aaron just shrugged and poured Liam a drink after Hawk watched him check to make sure it wasn’t caffeinated. “I wasn’t exactly feelin’ it.”

“Then you aren’t trying hard enough,” Hawk growled, pleased when Aaron left it at that before they wound up in an argument at the table.

The promise of sprinkles meant Dani was focused on her food, so Hawk soon lost himself in his meal and a somewhat normal day out with other adults, at least until he noticed that Aaron had only taken a small spoon full of potato salad and a couple wings. Kelly raised an eyebrow at him when their eyes met and Hawk shook his head, because this would be the worst moment in the world to bring it up. It was a running joke that Aaron woke up extra early on family day to eat breakfast, then went back to bed for a few more hours, skipping lunch and showing up ravenous by the time supper rolled around, so to see him snag a mini-cob and a single biscuit was a shock to say the least.

Still, they knew better than to address it with him when Aaron was already uncomfortable. He hadn’t looked up from his plate and Hawk could see the ridged tension in his shoulders and how the only ones he glanced at was Dani, to make sure she was still eating his food and Cade, who was directly across from him. In fact, the longer he watched the more he started to notice the way Aaron’s eyes lingered on him when Cade wasn’t looking, and how he cocked his head to the side from time to time, like he was trying to unravel some mystery about him.

“Since we’ll have a captive and much too stuffed to move audience by the end of the evening, I propose we unveil a few of the new songs for everyone,” Kelly said when they were roughly halfway through the meal.

Being able to observe the band and the family they’d chosen to bring gave Hawk a better understanding of what Kelly had been talking about when he’d said that everything was still fractured. Kelly and Declan conversed. Kelly and Micah conversed. Micah and Declan gave each other shit from time to time, while Cade gave everyone shit, including Aaron who he actually managedto get a smile out of moments before Aaron flipped him off for mentioning something about Aaron’s lack of grace on and off the pool table.

The fuck was that all about?

A surge of jealousy shot through Hawk with a swiftness that caught him completely off guard. Never in their crazy, on again off again relationship, had Hawk ever had a moment of worry about someone replacing him. Even when they were supposedly broken up, they couldn’t keep their hands off one another, angry fucking instead of talking their way through too many situations.

Because Aaron was his.

Deep down, he knew he never fully relinquished that claim on him even when they were apart, but lately he’d been feeling the aching sting of the distance he’d imposed, one of several reasons he’d hopped on a plane with three kids. Aaron needed to know that he was still Hawk’s, even while there was still shit to work out, because he’d seen the fuckin’ video of Aaron and Kazzy making out against a pillar in Shenanigans. That shit wasn’t about to happen again, nor was he going to be able to handle seeing a new video popping up somewhere of Aaron tongue-fucking Cade the way he was eye-fucking him across the table.

“Hey,” Micah piped up. “How are we supposed to play for everyone when I don’t have a handle on the delivery for most of the songs yet?” Micah protested after he’d washed down a mouthful of food. “Like I told you on day one, I’d sing for as long as you needed me to, but we really need to find someone permanent before we take a gig.”

“Hell, we haven’t even worked out the kinks in most of beats,” Declan added. “They’re far from performance ready.”

“Which is exactly why we need more ears on them,” Kelly insisted “To get some feedback and make sure we’re going in the right direction. Better to do that in a small, intimate setting, then up on stage where the jackals can pick us apart.”

“Aaron can sing,” Hawk offered, staring at the man as his head jerked up and he glared past the kids at Hawk and shot him the bird.

Hawk raised an eyebrow at him in response, eye darting to the kids and back to Aaron, a silent reminder that if one of them picked up what he’d just done and did it in playgroup, Aaron was going to be the one to pay.

“Please sing, Unky Aaron, I like when you sing,” Dani pleaded, which pretty much sealed the deal right there.

Hawk knew Arron would never back out and risk disappointing the kid but the gleam in his eye promised vengeance, and not of the pleasant kind.

“Checkmate,” Declan chuckled.

Hawk saw Aaron’s hand twitch, like he wanted to flip him off too, only he picked up a wing instead and spent far too much time dunking it in sauces before taking a bit out of it. Anyone else and he hadn’t hesitated. Hawk was sure Declan noticed it too. He caught the briefest flash of disappointment in his eyes before Declan returned his attention to his plate. Cade was glaring daggers at Aaron, who looked to just be pushing the food around in between bites. The whole vibe felt off, like someone had just dropped a bomb of a secret and nobody knew how to respond to it.

“I umm, forgot my phone downstairs,” Aaron said abruptly, sounding lame as hell as he stood up.

“You don’t need it,” Kelly replied, shooting him a stern look.

Glaring, Aaron did fliphimoff. “You don’t know that.”

“He might not, but I do,” Hawk said in the tone he reserved for when he wasn’t in the mood to have Aaron try to argue with him. “It, and whatever green, leafy substance you were planning on playing with before you returned, can stay exactly where they are until the end of the night.”

Aaron ducked his head and poked at a piece of corn, getting it stuck on a fork tine and dragging it all over his plate before finally eating it.

Yup, busted!

“Unky Hawk, you said no playing with food,” Dani said sweetly. “How come Unky Aaron gets to play with vegetables?”

Hawk glanced over to see Aaron about to spear another piece of corn.

And busted again!

“I’m not playing,” Aaron said, voice too cheerful and clearly forced.

Had he forgotten that there was nothing he could sneak past Hawk, especially when it had a ring of dishonesty to it. His face was too expressive when he was trying to conceal something.

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