by Geneva Vand
"Um. You mean the dinner I sort of tricked you into having? When you were nervous and still sort of suspicious? That one?"
Aiden laughed ruefully and let his arms fall. "Oh. Right. I suppose that wouldn't have gone well."
Jason walked back to where he stood and grabbed his hands. "I'm sure we both knew from the start that we must live close to each other," Jason said quietly. "We good? Please?"
Aiden sighed and frowned. Jason's heart got caught in his throat while he waited to see how much trouble he was in.
Finally Aiden's frown changed to a small but sincere smile. "Yeah, we're good. Let's go eat."
Jason went back to the passenger door, holding it open for Aiden. He was very careful not to let the sigh of relief escape until the door was firmly closed. That had been just a little too close. Of all the things he could mess up, that had to be one of the stupidest. Though he couldn't see how they might have avoided it. He just hoped he could make it through the rest of the night without scaring off his Panther.
This was quite possibly the best date Aiden had ever been on. Which sort of made sense, because Jason was by far the most charming man he'd ever been wooed by.
Dinner had been amazing. Jason had taken him to a tiny little Italian restaurant. They'd ordered wine and pasta and stolen food off of each other's plates. The waiter had giggled at them and flirted with them both. And all the while Jason had touched Aiden. They'd tangled their legs under the table while they ate. Jason had at one point started petting his fingers when Aiden had been playing with his wine glass.
And now he was dancing. They were at a quaint little jazz club Aiden had never been to before. Old wood floors shone and the blocky tables gleamed. When the band broke theme and started playing Sinatra, Jason had insistently pulled him out of his chair. Aiden had followed timidly, not sure of how the other dancers would take a gay couple in their midst.
When he hesitated at the edge of the dancefloor, Jason tipped his head toward the far side. Aiden looked and saw a small red-headed man being guided by a taller brunet. A few couples over a pair of women were whispering together. He relaxed, smiling happily at Jason and letting the other man pull him into a box step.
Aiden let the familiar pattern settle into his feet then moved closer to Jason, snuggling into his arms while they moved together.
Jason hummed. "This is nice."
"It is. I didn't know you danced."
"I have many hidden talents. Though to be fair, this is about the extent of this particular one." Jason grinned up at Aiden. "I knew you could dance, though."
Aiden laughed. He remembered the night he'd seen Jason at the pub, but he hadn't realized Jason had watched him dance with Ange. "I suppose you would. At least I didn't make a fool of myself in front of you that night. I don't suppose you want to forget one or two of the other times I did, though?"
Jason laughed and pushed him out into a turn, then pulled him back in. "Just think of all the stories we'll have. Why would I want to forget one?"
Aiden just shook his head. Stories indeed. He'd lived out more clichés in the past few months than he had the entire rest of his life combined.
The song faded out and Jason slowed them to a stop until they stood staring at each other holding hands like besotted teenagers. Aiden looked down at their entwined fingers and chuckled softly. He looked up again quickly, though, when the band started a familiar tango song.
Jason started to lead them off the floor, but Aiden planted his feet and tugged him back. Jason shook his head madly. Aiden just grinned and pulled him into place.
Jason's eyes were wide and he tried to step back. "Nope!"
Aiden laughed and tried making puppy eyes. He loved the tango, and he was good at it. He could probably still lead Jason, even though Jason didn't know the steps.
"Um..."
"Oh, all right," Aiden sighed out, smiling and stepping back. It was rude to terrify your date, even if it was fun sometimes.
"Thank you!" Jason said, and all but dragged Aiden back to the table. Aiden followed, laughing. He collapsed into the chair next to Jason's, scooted it a little closer, and snuggled into him. "This was fun. Thank you."
Jason's arm wrapped around his shoulder and Aiden felt him sigh before he nuzzled into Aiden's hair. "It's nice," Jason said quietly. "We're going to do it again, right?"
Aiden leaned back and smiled into Jason's very hopeful expression. "Definitely."
Aiden fidgeted, impatient for the elevator to reach the fourth floor of Jason's apartment building. It was their second official date and Jason was cooking him dinner. Aiden was excited but also...terrified.
Dinner and dancing had been two weeks ago. Jason had dropped him off at his door with another spine-melting kiss and then they'd had almost nothing since. Sure, they'd had a couple quick public kisses at the coffee shop because they still ran into each other, sometimes a little too literally. There had been an incident.
But nothing that resembled actual time together. They'd been taking turns being busy, and this was the first day they'd both been free. So here he was, ridiculously excited to see a man whose potential to be important in his life was more than mildly nerve-wracking. Add in the high probability of sex happening, and Aiden was nervous.
The elevator dinged.
Aiden all but sprinted down the hall to Jason's door. He stood there for a moment, taking the traditional deep breath. And then jumped when the door opened before he could knock.
Aiden let his hand fall back to his side, though he did consider knocking on Jason's forehead. But it seemed foolish to do that to someone who looked so happy to see him.
Jason grinned widely and gently tugged him inside. "Hi. You look nice."
Aiden blushed and glanced down at his worn jeans and grey sweater. "Thanks?"
Jason kissed him on the cheek before closing the door. "You do. You look relaxed and comfortable in my apartment. I'm all for it." Jason grabbed Aiden's hand and led him to the kitchen. "Come on. You can talk to me while I finish dinner."
Aiden peeked around the apartment on the way. The layout was more closed off than his, but still nice. The kitchen was long and narrow, with counters on either side of a stretch of pale yellow linoleum.
Aiden hopped up onto an empty stretch of counter next to the sink and watched Jason stir some kind of yummy smelling sauce on the stove set into the opposite counter. "What did you make?"
"I played it safe. I have rigatoni, red sauce, salad, and some of Rina's garlic bread that I'm not even going to try to take credit for."
Aiden laughed. "Why not? Aren't you supposed to be trying to impress me or something?"
"Yeah, but it's amazing. So you might want it again." Jason grinned over his shoulder. "And then I would have to get all embarrassed and admit that Rina made it and I can't figure out how."
"And then I'd be like, it's garlic bread. You can't make garlic bread?"
"Exactly."
Aiden hopped off the counter and draped himself over Jason's back. "I want some now. Gimme."
Jason snorted. "You'll ruin your supper."
"I'm just eating part of it early. It's fine."
"That's a valid argument." Jason bumped Aiden out of the way so that he could pull a foil wrapped loaf of bread out of the oven. He gingerly peeled back the foil and pulled out a small piece of bread, handing it to Aiden.
Aiden smiled and took a bite. "Oh, wow." He moaned and took another bite.
"Right? I tried to get her to teach me once, but she refused and now uses garlic bread as bribery."
Aiden licked the faint traces of left-over butter off his fingers. "Smart woman. Does she need anything done? I could kill someone for her if she wants, as long as she pays me in bread."
"I'll let her know." Jason snickered. "Here. If you put this on the table and get the salad out of the fridge, I'll plate the pasta."
Jason hummed contentedly and stretched his arms over his head. Dinner had been fabulous. And fun.
Sex had bee
n even more fun and…mmm.
He hadn't been sure that was where they were going tonight. Aiden had seemed nervous, so Jason had been fully prepared to have to wait. But then Aiden had snuck up behind him while he was putting plates in the sink. A throatily whispered thanks for dinner and a kiss on his neck had had him turning around and crowding Aiden against the other counter to kiss him stupid.
It had been a foregone conclusion after that and they'd started pulling each other's clothes off on the way to the bedroom. Aiden was just as lean and long and graceful without his clothes, and Jason had enjoyed exploring every inch of that pale skin until they both were panting and coming all over Aiden's trembling stomach.
Jason smoothed his hand down Aiden's back, tucking the other man closer against him. He rubbed his cheek over Aiden's hair.
He closed his eyes and then just rested there for a minute, enjoying the post-orgasm haze.
"Will you come to my birthday party?"
Jason jerked his head up so he could see Aiden's face where the other man was snuggled into his shoulder.
Aiden laughed. "Well?"
"Ah. When's your birthday party?"
"On my birthday. Duh."
Jason picked up the pillow next to his head and flopped it over his face. "Oh my God, Aiden. Just answer the question."
Aiden plucked at the pillow until he could nuzzle under it and kiss Jason's cheek. "It's week after next. On Wednesday night. Well, my birthday is all day, obviously."
Jason grunted. "Obviously."
"Will you come? You can meet my people. Most of them will be there. And I'll get to dance with you if you come. I want to dance with you some more. It could be my birthday present. See? You wouldn't even have to bring me a present."
"Yeah, I'll come. I can't believe I didn't know your birthday was so soon." He frowned. "Wait. Do I even know how old you are?" Jason pulled the pillow off their heads and tossed it off the side of the bed.
Aiden chuckled darkly. "Thirty-one, darling. Thirty-two on party day."
Jason blew out a disgruntled breath. "We're almost the same age. You're less than a year older than me. I feel so stupid for not knowing that."
Aiden propped himself up on his elbow and rested his head in his hand. His free hand trailed up and down Jason's chest, driving him crazy and making it hard to pay attention to what Aiden was saying.
"We haven't actually been dating very long, you know," Aiden said quietly. "It just feels like it because we danced around each other for so long before we started dancing together."
Jason grabbed that wandering hand and brought it to his lips to press a gentle kiss against Aiden's palm. "You may be crazy, but you say the most romantic things I've ever heard."
Aiden's smile was bright and sweet. Just like the man himself, Jason thought. He lay there just admiring the man in his bed and playing with his hair until an idea popped into his head.
Aiden must not have liked the expression on his face. He pulled his hand back from Jason and watched him suspiciously. "What?"
Jason tried to look innocent. "Nothing."
"Uh-huh. Tell me."
"Well I was thinking that it would be a fair trade."
Aiden frowned in confusion. "What would be a fair trade?"
"Well, on Wednesday I'll go to your birthday party and meet your people. And then on Friday night you'll come over to Rina's for one of her famous birthday dinners. You can meet my cousins and the monsters."
"Oh. I was expecting something much worse than that." Aiden paused and watched him for a moment. "There's a catch, isn't there?"
Jason laughed and reached over to tug Aiden down onto him. "No catch, except maybe the boys. The twins can be...boisterous."
Aiden sighed and relaxed onto his chest, draping his long-limbed body over Jason's stockier one. Jason closed his eyes and reveled in the warm weight of Aiden's body. He thought that life might not ever be better than this. He wasn't ashamed to admit he was beginning to think he might do almost anything to keep this man.
Aiden stretched a little and yawned. "What's the deal with the famous birthday dinners? Why are Rina's dinners famous?"
"It's just a thing she does for family and close friends. She's an amazing cook. You pick whatever you want and she makes it, no matter how weird it is. Mark chose mac'n'cheese, teriyaki chicken, and baklava once."
Aiden laughed, a startled bark of sound that made Jason smile. He shifted as if to get up, and Jason grabbed at him, not ready to let him go yet. But Aiden just wiggled enough so that he could see Jason's face again.
"I'm confused. I'm not really a close friend. And I'm definitely not family. Rina doesn't really know me. What makes you think that I rate a famous birthday dinner?"
Jason slid his hand into Aiden's hair and pulled him down for a soft kiss. After a moment, he let Aiden raise his head just far enough that they could look into each other's eyes. "You're mine now, aren't you?" Jason asked softly.
Aiden's eyes were huge and sort of vulnerable. "Yes, I guess I am."
Jason smiled and cupped his cheek. "And as far as we know, we're going to try to make this work, right?"
"Yes." Aiden's voice was so quiet.
Jason would swear his heart quivered and another little piece broke off. He gave it to Aiden gladly, even though the other man probably didn't even realize it. He rubbed his thumb along Aiden's cheekbone and smiled. "Well, then, Panther. You rate a dinner, don't you?"
"I guess so." Aiden pressed his cheek harder into Jason hands and closed his eyes. "This scares me sometimes."
Jason closed his own eyes. Opened them again. Oh, baby. "I know, darlin'. But you can trust me, trust us. We're in this together and I'll keep you safe."
Aiden folded himself back down to Jason's chest and let his weight relax again. "I know, it's just..."
"You feel out of control. Like you can't catch yourself, when I'm around. And you don't like it."
"Hmm. You, too?" Aiden rubbed his cheek against Jason's shoulder.
"Yeah, Panther, me too." He reached over and clicked off the bedside lamp. "Now go to sleep." Jason held Aiden in his arms and stared up at the ceiling he couldn't see in the dim light coming through the curtains. Eventually he felt Aiden's breathing even out into sleep. He tried to let go of his whirling thoughts and let himself drift off as well.
Jason flopped onto Rina and Mark's couch, groaning. Damn, but the week had been long. He'd chosen to take a commission on a short deadline because it had paid very well. While he was thrilled about the paycheck, fitting it in with his previous obligations and Aiden's party on Wednesday had required some long hours. But it was Friday now and he was caught up on deadlines. He was going to eat an amazing dinner, take the weekend off, and make Aiden sleep in with him.
Rina dropped down onto the couch next to Jason, tucking her legs up. She laughed quietly and rested her head on his shoulder. "I like him."
Jason grinned. "That's good, because I think I'm keeping him."
They sat quietly together for a moment, watching Aiden and Mark play with the boys. Luke suddenly demolished the castle they'd been building out of Nicky's wooden blocks. Aiden made explosion sound effects and waved his hands around in the air. Mark made little screaming noises as he and Nicky helped Lego people escape the carnage.
Rina covered her mouth, trying to muffle laughter. "Oh, Jason," she gasped. "You better keep him. That's adorable."
Aiden glanced up then and noticed Jason and Rina watching. He blushed, but then ignored them in favor of pulling Luke into his lap before the little boy could throw blocks at his brother.
Jason sighed happily. "Yeah. I think I will. Even though he refused to tell me what he wanted for dinner. The brat."
"I wondered why he emailed me. It was nice though. We've been talking back and forth for days."
"I didn't know that. I mean, I knew he emailed you. But I didn't know you'd kept talking."
"Yeah." Rina straightened and stretched. "He even asked me for menu advice once when
he and his business partners were having issues. I wound up talking to Scott…Have you met Scott?"
I laughed loudly enough to make the group on the floor look at us for a second. "Yes. I have met Scott. He's the one that made us go to the movie together, remember?"
"Oh, yeah…" Rina said admiringly.
Jason snorted. "Yeah. He was at Aiden's party, too, of course. They're best friends. Scott's a little scary. Zach is…interesting, but not quite as scary. I can't figure those two out."
"I'm pretty sure they're roommates with benefits. Maybe unofficially dating. I'm not sure if they're still seeing other people. You should ask Aiden."
"Nope. Because he's right about Scott always knowing, and I'd never hear the end of it."
A shrill beep went off in the kitchen and Rina stood. "Dinner's in ten. Will you round up the medieval warriors over there?"
"Sure." He went over and scooped up a happily squealing Nicky. "Time for washing!"
Somehow everyone was washed up and in the kitchen just as Rina set a platter full of steaming garlic bread on the table.
Aiden sat down and looked at the feast spread out on the table with wide eyes. "Wow, Rina."
Jason looked over at Aiden. "I didn't know lasagna was your favorite."
"It's not. I wanted more of her garlic bread. She suggested lasagna and salad and it sounded yummy."
Rina laughed. "You're very easy to please, Aiden. I'll make you garlic bread anytime."
"I think you should come for dinner at least once a week, Aiden," Mark said as he grabbed two pieces of bread off the platter.
Aiden laughed and leaned his shoulder into Jason's. "Don't tell the guys," he whispered, "but this is just as good as Wednesday."
Jason smiled, thinking of the raucous and totally awesome party that Scott had thrown in his catering building. It had been fun, and he'd had a blast getting to know Aiden's friends, but… "Yeah," he murmured back. "It is pretty good, isn't it?"
Part 4
