Page 49 of Broken Chorus

Yeah, he looked entirely too thrilled about that.

Hawk shoved his chair back from the table. “You three be good for Uncle Kelly, I’m going to go with Uncle Aaron and make sure he doesn’t get lost.”

“How’s he gonna get lost goin’ downstairs?” Ella wanted to know.

“You’d be surprised,” Hawk and Kelly mumbled at almost the exact same time.

Of course, Dani perked up at that and she started bouncing in her seat. “Ohhh I like surprisees! I go too? Pretty pweese!”

“Not this time kiddo, not even with sugar and cherries on top,” Hark replied, standing as Aaron glared.

Hawk knew that scowl and had a good idea of what names Aaron was mentally calling him, too.

“Awe….” Dani grumbled, but she stayed in her chair as they walked away.

As they took the elevator down a flight to Aaron’s condo, neither said a word. Hawk leaned against the left wall, while Aaron leaned against the back one, hands in his pockets. He kept them there all the way to his door, but when he reached in his pocket for the key, Hawk nudged past him to open it with the one Aaron had given him years before.

“You didn’t have to come down here with me,” Aaron insisted as he headed straight for his kitchen counter, where a bottle of sprinkles sat in front of the spice rack. “I’m perfectly capable of retrieving a bottle of sprinkles and finding my way back upstairs. See, they’re right here.”

“I didn’t come down here for them,” Hawk said, crowding him back against the counter until Aaron had nowhere left to go. “But I think you know that, so let’s cut the shit.”

“Fine, what did you come down here for?” Aaron asked.

When he turned to face Hawk, mere inches separated them, but Aaron didn’t go up on his tiptoes to kiss him, nor did he pull Hawk into a hug. He just leaned back some like he was desperate to keep distance between them, and stared at Hawk’s chest, refusing to lift his head, even when Hawk pressed a finger beneath his chin and attempted to coax him into raising it.

“There’s no reason to be so stubborn about such a little thing,” Hawk muttered, staring down at him in the hopes that Aaron would glance up, just once, so he could see how hurt Hawk was about distance that existed between them.”

“I’ve got every reason,” Aaron growled. “Now what do you want?”

“Well for starters, I wanted to tell you that you could stop staring at Cade anytime now,” Hawk grumbled. “He hasn’t noticed yet, but I sure as fuck have.”

“The hell are you talking about? I’ve hardly looked up from my plate all night.”

“And when you have, the only place you look is at him.”

“What’s it to you?”

“I’d hate to see you make a fool of yourself ogling the man,” Hawk said. “Especially when he’s the spitting image of the man you can’t stand to look at. Your prejudice is showing and it’s not pretty.”

“I’m not prejudiced.”

“Then what would you call it?”

“Uncomfortable.”

“You know how to get over discomfort don’t you?”

Aaron’s mock yawn came complete with an eye roll. “I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”

Fuming, Hawk decided to let it pass, if only to show Aaron that he couldn’t get a rise out of him. “You confront the thing that makes you uncomfortable.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.”

“You do that, and while you’re at it, stop acting like you can’t front this band. You can, and you should. The only person limiting you at this point is you.”

“Thanks Dr. Phil, now, if you don’t mind taking the sprinkles back upstairs, I’ve got some dabs to do before I rejoin everybody.”

Growling, Hawk gripped his arm, giving him a little shake. “You need to leave that shit alone.”

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