TEN
A cup of coffee, and maybe a bagel, was usually all that Brad had time for in the mornings. All that he took time for. So it felt weird to be cooking, though he knew how. He’d often cooked for the other kids in Julie’s group home. She had taught him the skill, and now, well, he was glad to have it.
It wasn’t like he wanted to impress Aaron or anything. It was just polite to offer someone breakfast after the incredible night, and morning, that they’d had together. It had been nothing short of glorious, the best sex that Brad had ever had, and he figured that some breakfast was the least that he could do.
So he cooked, and when Aaron came in, he turned to smile at him and push a cup of coffee into his hands. For some reason, though, there was this incredibly beautiful, though small and restrained, of course, smile on the other man’s face.
“Did you know,” Aaron commented, as he cupped the coffee in his hands as though soaking up the heat, “That you hum while you cook?”
Instantly, Brad was on the defensive, looking at Aaron, searching his eyes for any trace of mockery. He saw none. Amusement, yes, and maybe something else, something warm, but definitely no mockery.
“No,” Brad admitted, finally deciding to take the comment at face value. “I didn’t know that. Drink your coffee and sit. Breakfast is in about five minutes.”
Aaron did as he was told, and Brad was glad to turn back to the eggs, to stare down into them and to try to figure out how he had gotten to this place. It was not a place he had ever been willing to go before, so how did Aaron manage to get him thinking about things that should have been impossible?
Especially since they worked together. The media would have a field day if they found out about that, but maybe that wasn’t the biggest concern. Lara was the biggest concern because Brad had to avoid even the slightest hint of impropriety to justify her decision to hire him for this.
Soon enough, they were comfortably and cozily seated together at the table, big plates of food in front of them, and Brad was far too aware of how good it felt. Was this why people hooked up? Maybe even got married? It felt good. It felt like belonging, and his condo had never felt as much like a home to him as it did with Aaron sitting at his table.
“I should go,” Aaron said, perhaps feeling the same things that Brad did, only obviously uncomfortable with it. It was hard to get a fix on this man sometimes. Mostly, he understood Aaron and thought that they actually had a fair bit in common, but every so often it was like he was completely in the dark. And he was usually so good at reading people, too.
“Okay,” Brad agreed because he wasn’t going to try to force someone to stay who didn’t want to. That wasn’t his style at all. Besides, it wasn’t like it mattered to him whether Aaron was there or not, right?
Wrong. So, so very wrong.
“I almost forgot,” Aaron realized, as he rose to his feet and put his dishes into the little single person dishwasher that Brad had. Aaron was tidy, too. Just one more damn thing that they had in common. “The contract. I came here to sign it.”
Shit. The contract. Brad had forgotten all about it, and when was the last time that he had managed to do that? Work was everything to him, and Aaron was, he had to remember, potentially his ticket to being a big deal. He had to stay focused, not something that was usually a problem for him.
If only he could get over this ridiculous puppy love. Obsession. Whatever. It was totally unlike him.
“I haven’t completely given up on getting you to sign the other contract,” Brad told him openly. Honesty seemed to him to be something that Aaron would respect, especially with the stuff that Lester had pulled on the band. “So tell you what. I usually spend the morning boxing. Spar with me, and if you win, I’ll give up completely on the long contract.”
It was absolutely ridiculous, of course. Nothing more than an attempt, and not a particularly subtle one, to get Aaron to stay. Brad would never hold Aaron to any result that did come from this, so it was pretty much just an excuse to keep Aaron with him.
He was so ridiculously pathetic. And what sort of stupid pick-up line was it, anyway, to invite someone to spar with you?
“I don’t box.” Somewhat to Brad’s surprise, Aaron looked to be considering it, and then a slow smile crept over the younger man’s face, a look in his eyes that, on someone else, might even be mischievousness.
“It’s okay. I’ll go easy on you,” Brad assured him, and Aaron’s lips tightened like he was trying to keep them under control.
“I wouldn’t necessarily count on having to do that,” Aaron commented and rose to his feet, something almost predatory in that sleek body. “You’re on.”
* * *
Warily, they circled each other, and Brad settled into himself, reaching for the calm place at the center of his soul. He had started boxing way back in high school, when he had first been placed with Julie, and that had been a while back now, but he hadn’t ever stopped.
Aaron watched him, looking at his eyes. He had chosen to forego any protective equipment, and Brad knew he would have to be careful with him because of it. It was just a friendly match, after all, but he was in it to win it, just as he was with everything that he did.
Lightly, just testing Aaron’s defenses, Brad jabbed a fist out at him. Aaron ducked, which Brad had expected, but he somehow hadn’t quite expected the ease with which Aaron avoided the attack. For a moment, Brad felt something new, a flicker of doubt, because no one moved that gracefully that hadn’t had some sort of combat training …
Then Aaron was lunging at him, but not with his fist. No, he attacked in a completely different way, arms going around Brad’s waist, slender, but strong, body shifting around behind Brad. Their legs tangled together, and Brad found himself staggering, only his own training keeping him on his feet.
Well now. Things had just gotten interesting.
Aaron broke away again, or more accurately, Brad staggered back, but quickly found his balance again.
“You’re very surprising,” he admitted. With all of his practice, it was rare that anyone could spar with him and even stand a chance, but Aaron was holding his own. Or maybe a little bit more.
