by Geneva Vand
"Ah. Right."
Door propped against his hip and part of the food stowed, he held out his hand for the rest. "Did you invite friends?"
"Huh?"
"Well, you got enough food to feed my whole building."
Jason glanced into the car. There was a tidy row of brown paper bags nested in white plastic ones marching across the backseat. "Oh. Right. I may have gone a little overboard. But hey, you can invite me over again for leftovers." Jason grinned.
Aiden laughed and shut the door. "We'll see. Do you want to follow me?"
"Lead on."
Jason fell in behind Aiden's car as they left the parking lot. They headed off in the direction he'd expected, back toward the main part of town where Jason lived. He figured they had to live close to each other, or they wouldn't be doing the meet-cute thing nearly so frequently.
Jason sighed, resigned. He was being a huge dork, and he knew it. Worse, Aiden probably knew it, too.
It was just that, after the few actual interactions they'd had, he already knew he liked Aiden a lot. He'd thought the other man was interesting and attractive before, but now that he'd seen more of Aiden's personality he was hooked. The whole ice cream incident was just too good of an excuse to pass up.
And Aiden hadn't seemed that put out by the whole thing, had he? If he had seemed to be truly annoyed or just plain uninterested, instead of just unsure or nervous, Jason would have left him alone. He didn't bother people that didn't want to be bothered. As it was though, he figured nervous was justified. He was nervous. First crush, butterflies in the stomach, nervous.
It was ridiculous. He was a grown man. He'd thought he was past the crushes and butterflies stage. He just really liked this guy. A lot. It had been a while since that had happened.
Jason started paying more attention to where they were going when Aiden turned toward his neighborhood. When Aiden turned onto his street, he got curious. When they turned into a narrow parking garage used mostly by residents in the nearby apartment buildings, he became incredulous.
There was no way Aiden knew where he lived. This couldn't be some kind of weird prank. Could it?
Jason followed Aiden into the garage and up to the third level, where he pulled his car into one of the assigned spaces. Jason passed him, going to a nearby spot labeled "visitor". He'd have to move it later. If he went up to his own assigned space now Aiden might think he was abandoning ship. And that just wouldn't do at all.
He stowed his helmet and wandered over to where Aiden was unloading groceries. "What can I carry?"
Aiden jolted upright and hit his head on the trunk lid. That truly impressive cursing once again made an appearance as he rubbed his head.
Jason chuckled and walked around Aiden to examine the spot he'd hit. He shoved Aiden's hand out of the way and combed through his hair checking for blood. He didn't see any, but he apparently found the tender spot because Aiden swore louder, hopped away, and glared over his shoulder at Jason.
Jason grinned. "You're a bit accident prone, aren't you, darling?"
Aiden let the glare go and sighed. "Just a bit. Can you get the stuff in the backseat and maybe a bag out of the trunk?"
"Sure. Can I stash my milk in your fridge?"
Aiden shrugged. "Yeah. It'll go bad if you don't."
With only one more minor scuffle, they managed to gather up all the bags. Jason followed Aiden over to one of the elevators, then watched as he tried to push the call button. The bags got in the way. Aiden quickly looked around and then used his foot.
Jason laughed. "Seriously, Aiden?"
"What? It worked."
Jason sniggered and followed him into the elevator. Aiden looked at the bank of buttons and sighed. Jason set down the milk and held his fingers over keypad.
"Ground floor," Aiden muttered.
Jason hit the button. In no time at all a second set of elevator doors opened on the opposite wall and they were stepping back out.
Jason looked around at the apartment building lobby they had somehow wound up in. "Um..."
Aiden turned to look at him and laughed. "It's not magic. The garage is built onto my building so one of the elevators empties out on our ground floor. We can go back up over here."
Jason followed Aiden across the lobby, using the corner of the milk jug to press the up button.
Aiden rolled his eyes. "And you scoffed at my method."
Jason shrugged.
The doors opened and they stepped in, repeating the button dance to go up to the fourth floor. The hallway they stepped out into was pretty average, Jason thought. Not crappy but not fancy, only a little run down.
Aiden led him to a door at the end of the hall. He looked down at the bags he was carrying then glanced at Jason. Grinning, he shrugged and suddenly just dropped them all.
Jason laughed as Aiden dug out his keys. "Is that the usual method?" he asked. Who just dropped their groceries? Splat? What about eggs and bread and stuff?
Aiden shrugged and opened the door. "It works." He scooted the bags through the door with the side of his foot and moved aside to let Jason in. "It's faster. I've only broken the eggs once."
Jason laughed again. "You're a menace."
"Am not." Aiden picked up about half the bags and headed toward the kitchen Jason could see tucked away at one end of the small living room.
He set the Indian food in a jumble on the floor just inside the kitchen door and then retraced his steps to get the rest of the groceries. He wandered slowly toward the kitchen while he gawked nosily at the rest of the apartment.
The living room was long and narrow, with a simple but nice kitchen running along the short end farthest from the door. Aiden had arranged a couch and chairs across from an entertainment center at the end nearest the kitchen. The couch was upholstered in some kind of deep brown ribbed fabric, and it looked like it had sort of sprouted out of the standard beige apartment carpet like a giant mushroom. Weird but interesting.
Aiden had strewn pillows and blankets everywhere and not all of them had stayed on the furniture. They made pops of bright color that extended over to the other end of the room where bookshelves and a giant blue papasan chair made up an amazing looking book nest. The doors at the edge of the kitchen that he assumed were to the bedroom and bathroom made him wonder how in the hell the apartments in this building slotted together, but he had to admit he liked the homey space Aiden had created.
Aiden banged something in the kitchen and Jason jumped. He hurried around the end of the counter and set the bags down on the now-clear floor.
"You want to eat on the couch?" Jason asked.
Aided shrugged. "It's that or the floor. I've got a movie rental coupon from Google, if you want."
Jason grinned. "Sounds good, but that would mean I'm staying for at least two hours. You up for that?"
Aiden snorted. "You've already weaseled your way in. Why put a time limit on it? Besides, I haven't watched the new Marvel movie yet."
"What? How is that even possible?"
"We were busy at work when it was in theaters." Aiden shrugged and started piling rice on the plates he'd already gotten out. "And if I wasn't being busy at work I was exhausted from being busy at work, and then it was out of theaters. And I haven't rented it yet." He handed Jason a plate of rice, a fork and a stack of curry containers. "You want to watch that or something else?"
Jason shook his head woefully, moving to the couch and setting everything down. "Nope. We're watching that. We must remedy this situation immediately." He flopped back on the couch and waited for Aiden to catch up with his own plate and the rest of the food.
Aiden rolled his eyes and found the remote.
Jason rolled his head to the side gently, careful not to disturb the still form slumped against his shoulder.
His gaze traced fondly over Aiden's sleeping face in the light from the movie credits. The strong features looked delicate in the dim lights, and his dark hair was rumpled and sweet. They'd turned the lights off
after they finished dinner, and about fifteen minutes after that Aiden had fallen asleep.
Jason hadn't bothered to wake him. He figured if you could fall asleep while superheroes were doing their thing, you probably needed the sleep. And Aiden's weight settling into his side had been nice.
But the movie was over, and since he definitely hadn't been invited to spend the night he should probably get going.
Jason reached over with his other hand and threaded his fingers through Aiden's hair. "Babe, wake up."
Aiden grumbled and snuggled harder into him.
Jason grinned. Aiden was so freaking cute, it blew his mind. He shrugged his shoulder gently, bobbing Aiden's head up and down.
After a few bobs Aiden sat up, rubbing his face and groaning. "Oh God, I fell asleep, didn't I?"
"Sure did. Long day?"
Aiden sighed. "Long week. Thus the attack ice cream."
"Ah." Jason clicked off the Blu-ray player, but left the TV on for the bit of light it provided. "I should head out. Let you get some rest."
Aiden frowned a little. "We could watch another movie."
Jason smiled. "We could, but you barely watched the first one. Besides, I've already shoved my way in enough for one evening."
"'S'all right. You make a good pillow." As if to demonstrate the point, Aiden slumped over again and perched his chin on top of Jason's shoulder.
Jason turned his head further and found himself nose to nose with a sleepy, cute Aiden.
They blinked at each other.
Jason swallowed hard. "Um…"
Aiden smiled slowly. "Hi."
Jason barely managed to hold back the groan that wanted to sneak out. "Hi?"
Aiden's sleepy smile turned into a grin as he rubbed his nose against Jason's. "Thanks for barging in. This was nice."
"Nice?" Jason blinked, surprised and more than a little dazzled.
"Mmmhmm. Nice." Aiden moved forward very slowly.
Jason froze in place, enchanted by bright eyes and a coy smile. He held his breath as Aiden's head tilted sideways a little and soft lips rubbed gently over his. Once. Twice. He groaned and pressed forward, capturing Aiden's mouth with his own. He threaded his fingers through Aiden's soft hair and licked and sucked at Aiden's lips until the other man pulled back.
Jason let his hand fall away, panting slightly.
Aiden just smiled some more and stood. "I'll see you around?" he asked roughly.
Jason stared up at him. "Yeah," he said finally. "I suppose you will."
"Good." Aiden held out a hand to pull Jason to his feet.
"Good," Jason muttered distractedly as he was shuffled to the door.
"Goodnight, Hot Guy." Aiden leaned down and kissed his cheek.
And then Aiden closed the door in his face. He stared at it for a few seconds. "Goodnight, Panther." Jason laughed, still a little dazed.
Well, then. That was…something. He grinned. That was fabulous.
He shrugged into the coat Aiden must have stuffed into his hand without him noticing. His milk was still in Aiden's fridge, though. He'd have to pick up more.
He laughed again as he walked down the hall toward the elevator. Worth it.
"Hi."
Aiden jumped and flailed slightly, losing his grip on the book he had been reading. He watched helplessly as it flipped through the air toward the back of a barista's head. Jason caught it at the last moment and set it back on the table in front of him, leaving the barista blissfully unaware of the near disaster.
Aiden stared blankly at Jason. He should probably be used to Jason showing up at his table at the coffee shop, but he wasn't. And this was the first time he'd seen Jason since dinner last week. So three days. Four days? It was Tuesday wasn't it? He and Rob had worked through part of Sunday, so he was all off track.
Aiden picked up the book and blinked up at Jason. "Um. Hi. Good morning. How are you?"
Jason grinned and flopped down in the other chair at the table. "I'm good. How are you? You seem a bit jumpy."
"Yes, well, that happens when you interrupt someone in the middle of the gruesome murder scene."
Jason laughed. "I suppose. I didn't think I'd find you here this late."
"We all agreed to have a late morning in. We finished off a quote for a corporate award banquette around midnight last night." At Jason's questioning look Aiden shrugged. "It was a last-minute deal, but we're charging them two small fortunes for it so it was totally worth it."
Jason nodded. "What time do you have to be in?"
Aiden hummed. "Soon."
"So, we've been doing the morning coffee thing for a while now," Jason said innocently.
Aiden braced himself and nodded.
"And hanging out and eating curry was great."
Aiden nodded again.
"And you didn't seem totally repulsed when we kissed."
Aiden didn't nod to that one. He just held his breath and stared.
"So do you think you'd want to— "
Aiden couldn't help it. He freaked out. He pretended to casually look at his watch and realize the time. Then he bolted out of his chair, babbled something about being late, and ran for it.
He knew it was stupid. It was, in fact, mortifying. But he still bolted.
Thump. "Aiden!"
He startled and almost fell out of his chair. He looked up to see Ange standing over him glaring. "What?"
"You don't even have any idea what we're talking about, do you?"
"Weren't we trying to figure out where to get the desserts for the Anderson party?"
"Man, what is with you today?" Rob handed him a faxed receipt for candy bouquets. "We figured out the Anderson desserts an hour ago."
Aiden stared at the damning piece of paper in his hand. "Well, look at that. Um." He thought hard for a moment. "Were we trying to find the orchid supplier for the Williams and Novak wedding?"
Ange threw her hands up in the air and stomped over to the coffee maker.
Aiden winced. "Sorry, guys. I guess I'm a little distracted."
Rob collapsed into his chair and pushed off of Ange's desk, rolling back across the room to his own. "A little? Aiden, we've been watching you space out for hours."
Ange planted herself solidly in front of his desk. She had a cup of coffee in one hand, but the other was on her hip and her body language screamed annoyed woman. Aiden braced himself.
"You've been out of it all day. Normally I wouldn't mind, but we have too much crap to finish up by the end of tomorrow for you to be all space cadet guy. Either spill or get over it until the day after tomorrow."
Aiden dropped his forehead onto the edge of his desk and talked to the floor. "I fucked up. I was trying to not screw it up, but I think I screwed it up more."
Ange groaned, and he heard her move across the room. "It's Hot Guy. I knew it was Hot Guy. Men." Her voice came from the direction of her desk. "What happened this time?"
"What?" Aiden raised his head. "Nothing happened." Rob snorted. Aiden reconsidered. "Well, nothing like that happened." Aiden paused, remembering the kiss. "Okay, something sort of happened Friday, but that was fine."
Ange looked over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow. "Explain. Quickly. So Rob and I can get back to work."
Aiden glared. "He found me at the coffee shop this morning. We talked for a little bit and it was fine, but then he got this look on his face and started to ask me a question. I was afraid he was going to ask me out. I made up an excuse and ran away."
Rob and Ange both stopped what they were doing while they listened and turned to face him. "You ran away?" Ange said incredulously. "Are you stupid? You've been mooning over this guy for ages and you ran away?"
Aiden held his hands out helplessly. "I know! I don't know what happened!"
Rob laughed. "You got nervous and freaked. It happens to the best of us." He caught the paper ball Aiden threw at him. "Chill. You'll see him again, and then you can fix it. It'll be okay."
Ange clapped. "Can we get bac
k to work now? And pretty please, Aiden, get something done."
Aiden flushed. "Um, what still needs done?"
Ange snarled and stormed over to his desk to hand him a list with some items crossed off. "Start at the bottom."
"Yes, ma'am." As Aiden turned back to his desk he heard Rob snickering across the room. Aiden chucked another paper ball and buckled down to work. With any luck he'd stay focused enough to make up for his earlier slacking.
Jason knocked on Rina's front door and shifted impatiently. It was still only early fall, but he was freezing.
He'd ridden over on his bike. That had maybe been a mistake. Especially since that meant he had to drive the bike home. He was going to freeze to death. He wouldn't have to worry about wrangling that date he wanted out of Aiden, because he'd be a human popsicle, and he was pretty sure human popsicles didn't date.
After what felt like an eternity, Rina opened the door and smiled. The smile quickly changed to a frown though, as she took in his shivering state.
"Oh good lord, Jason. Get your ass inside."
He shuffled past her then made a beeline for the heater vent in the wall on the far side of the living room. He sat on the floor in front of it, huddling and rubbing his hands. He could hear Rina laughing as she closed the door and made a more leisurely journey across the room.
"What'd you do, lock yourself in the freezer?"
He glared. "I brought the bike."
"I'm pretty sure the bike doesn't come with a freezer."
"Apparently it's cold out tonight."
Rina looked him over. "Well, if you behaved like an adult and dressed for the time of year, you probably would have been fine."
Jason glanced down at his clothes: a T-shirt, ripped jeans, and his summer jacket. She may have a point, but he wasn't going to admit it. "Um. I've been a little distracted. I didn't realize it had finally cooled off. Can I borrow one of Mark's sweaters before I go?"
Okay. He wasn't going to admit it directly.
His cousin just shook her head and wandered toward the kitchen. She waited until she was out of sight before yelling back at him. "You might want to grab it before he gets home, or he'll give you crap about it. Then get your frozen butt in here and help me cook."
