Page 51 of Broken Chorus

That wouldn’t do.

“Good choice,” Hawk growled as he pulled Aaron to him, his lips descending on Aaron’s in a brutal kiss. Relief washed through him when Aaron started kissing back with barely a moment’s pause, his fingers sinking into Hawk’s hair as they made out. Hawk pinned him against the wall with his body and trapped both of Aaron’s wrists in on hand, slowly raising them above his head as he rocked against him. Rough, messy, and hot as hell. Hawk’s body felt like it was on fire and his jeans felt way too tight. Just when he was about to drag Aaron to the floor and fuck him stupid, there was a loud knock on the door.

“Alright you two, I don’t care if you’re fighting or you’re fucking, you need to break it up and come back upstairs, thenatives are getting restless. Liam has already asked Declan if it was possible to tie fire extinguishers to his chair to use as battering rams.

As stunning as the words were, what was more surprising was the way Aaron froze, while Hawk snorted and leaned against him, shaking with laughter at Kelly’s words.

“Alright already, we’re coming,” Hawk yelled, before cupping Aaron’s cheek and lowering his voice so that only he could hear. “And later tonight you will be too.”

Chapter 12

I heard my demons crying

From the opening line of the song, Aaron’s discomfort showed. His playing was on point, even if he spent the whole time staring at his hands like he was still learning his way around the frets. His singing however, was a stifled, mumbled mess barely audible over the music.

“Dude, they’ve gotta be able to hear you,” Micah encouraged, nudging him with his shoulder.

Hawk watched Aaron nod, while Dani bounced on his knee clapping and chantingsing, sing, sing.

“Let’s just call that one a warmup,” Kelly offered, trying to be encouraging too.

When Kelly had told him about Aaron’s fear that Hawk and Kelly would throw him out of their lives if he didn’t do this, Hawk had felt like shit for pushing it, because that was the last thing he’d intended to make Aaron feel. All they’d ever wanted was for him to stop holding himself back and stop living in the shadow of people who’d never appreciated him for the beautiful, loving soul he was.

I get it, okay. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want me and I’m trying to be good with that.

Hawk didn’t want him to be good with that. He wanted…. hell, what he wanted was selfish and probably impossible.

Aaron’s hands trembled until he placed them back on the guitar, caressing it as he took a step closer to the mic.

There was an old trick, about picking someone in the crowd and singing the song just for them. He’d have loved for Aaron to choose him, but those brief moments of making out hadn’t settled anything between them. If anything, the interruption had left things more turbulent and unsettled. Had it even registered for Aaron that Hawk had told him that he loved him?

That wasn’t something they’d ever said out loud to each other before. Not that way.

Love ya, fucker.

Love ya, ya fuckin’ dick.

Love ya, bastard.

Love ya, asshole.

Those were all things they’d tossed at one another over the years, but even in their most passionate moments,I love youhad never come out of either of their mouths. To Hawk it had a different connotation than what you said to your buddy or thatannoying family member that always made you wonder how the fuck you could be related. Watching Aaron focus on Dani and her smile back at him, he could see it erase some of his fear, but the haunted look remained and when Declan tapped out the intro, Aaron licked his lips, glanced over his shoulder to where Micah stood and shook his head.

“You sing it,” Aaron said, sliding the mic towards him.

“Unky Aaron, no you sing!” Dani protested.

“I will sweetheart, on the next song, okay?”

“Ok-ay,” she replied though Hawk could tell she was pouting.

Micah sighed, but he didn’t shove the mic back at him. For a third time, Declan played the opening beat, a grim, resolved look on his face. Not having to sing meant Aaron played without staring at his hands this time, but it was uninspired, and now he refused to look at anyone, especially Hawk. It was like he was ashamed of being up there in front of them. The longer the song went on, the more he moved, backward, taking the spot to the left of center, where he’d always performed.

That didn’t mean Micah moved up into it, he didn’t look much more comfortable than Aaron, and the words he delivered lacked the genuine passion that came from experiencing what you were actually singing about.

In short. It was a trainwreck.

By the end, Micah looked relieved, Kelly looked disappointed, while Declan just looked pissed. Aaron still wasn’t looking at anyone, but he’d promised Dani a song, and Hawk knew he’d deliver.

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