Page 14 of Habibi: Always and Forever

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

Featuring Aaron and Josh from Summer Kisses

JOSH

“B abe, what the fuck is this?” I asked as I lifted the lid of the plastic tub that had been tucked away at the back of the fridge, giving it a tentative sniff.

Whatever it was, it was fucking rank and going straight into the bin.

I closed the lid, making sure it was on properly, and dropped the tub unceremoniously into the black bag by my feet, where it joined the rest of the shit I’d already pulled out of our fridge.

We might have a five-star food hygiene rating at work, where the chillers were spotless, well-organised, and managed with ruthless precision, but our home fridge was another story. One that I was determined to change.

“What the fuck is what?” Aaron asked, sticking his head around the kitchen door with a confused expression, a stack of neatly folded clean washing in his arms. It was a Monday, which was our joint day off and the one we usually tried to use to get shit done around the house.

Which meant washing, housework, food shopping, and all the other bollocks that was required for us to be functional adults.

But it usually ended with us making comfort food for dinner and most weeks there was sex involved somewhere, so they weren’t the worst days.

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever it was had gone off, so I binned it,” I said as I turned back to the fridge and began eyeing the random selection of jars and bottles that we’d shoved into various slots in the door and strewn across the top shelf.

“What do you mean binned it?”

“Literally put it in the bin.” I nudged the bag by my foot to make a point.

“Why?”

“Because it’d gone off and smelled fucking rank!”

“All right,” Aaron muttered. “But what’s the fucking bag for?”

“I’m clearing out the fridge,” I said as I picked up a bottle of barbecue Srirachaand turned it over in my hand, trying to see if there was a date on it. “I’ve been meaning to do it for ages. It’s a bloody nightmare.”

“It’s not that bad!”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “There was a chunk of stilton in the back that was more mould than cheese.”

“I was gonna make soup with that,” Aaron said defensively, rubbing his foot along the floor as he scowled.

“Plus, three tubs full of unidentifiable leftovers, some very soggy, wrinkled spring onions, a protein yoghurt that went out of date two months ago, and I haven’t even started on all this.” I gestured to the door and top shelf. “It’s fucking disgusting, babe. It needs cleaning.”

“Yeah, but… hey, that’s my Sriracha!” Aaron said, lunging for the bottle as I dropped it into the bag. “What the fuck? That was fine!”

“It went out of date last year.”

“So, it was still edible!”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yeah, it was. I had some on a bacon sandwich the other night and I’m not dead.” He shrugged, like that was the answer to everything. But Aaron was well-known for having an iron stomach, so I wasn’t considering him a good judge of anything.

“I don’t care. I’ll buy you another one.”

Aaron muttered something under his breath about me not appreciating developing flavours or some shit, and I chuckled as I picked up another bottle of Sriracha. Although this one was surprisingly in date.

“God, you’re just like my mum,” I said teasingly, as I slotted the bottle back into place. “She refuses to let me go through her cupboards for the same reason. I’m pretty sure she’s got spice mixes in the back that are from the nineties.”

“I think my mum’s the same,” Aaron said. “Leo apparently tried to throw some things out last time he was there and got an earful about how it wasn’t stuff that went off.”

“See, you’re becoming your mother!”

“Fuck, don’t say that!”

“What?” I asked with a laugh as Aaron pulled a face, his arms still full of pants and socks.

“The day I become my mother is the day I finally admit I’m old,” he said.

“I mean, we are closer to forty than thirty now.”

“Don’t fucking start,” he said, laughing as he tried to jab me in the ribs. “We’re not old. We’re just aging.”

“Disgracefully.”

“Damn right.”

He put the washing on the counter and wrapped his arm around my waist, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck while casually plucking the jar of jam I’d been holding out of my hands and putting it back in the fridge.

I turned in his arms and smiled, my eyes roaming over his face, drinking in the details both new and familiar.

There were a few more lines around his eyes, a few more freckles across his nose, his hairline creeping back the tiniest bit, a few strands of grey amongst the fox red, and some lighter patches in the stubble on his jaw.

He had laughter lines too, and I loved that Aaron wore joy on his face instead of pain.

“I’m glad you’re aging,” I said softly, running my thumb across his cheek. “When you turn forty, I’m throwing you one hell of a party.”

“I’d love that.” He sighed, leaning into my touch. “I never thought I’d make thirty, let alone forty. Fuck, I thought I’d join the twenty-seven club and that would be it. So, fuck it, I’ll take getting older because it means I’m still here. With you.”

“Good, because you’re not going anywhere for a long, long time,” I said. “We can grow old disgracefully together.”

“Fuck yeah. Gonna get more tattoos, keep swearing, and drive all our staff nuts when we ask them what the fucking hell they’re talking about. All these fucking TikTok memes, man. I’m not online enough for half that shit.”

I snorted. “You’re going to be one of those ‘back in my day’ people then?”

“Hell yeah, but like a cool one.”

“I don’t think we were ever cool.”

“Speak for yourself,” Aaron said. “I’m still cool.”

“Do they even say cool now?” I asked with a grin, remembering my cousin’s kids teasing Aaron and me over the summer for being ancient. I’d had no fucking clue what most of them were talking about, although apparently Aaron was cool for having seen My Chemical Romance back in 2007.

I guessed it was the way I felt as a teenager when my dad told me he’d seen Queen in the eighties.

God, I really was getting old. Fuck me.

“I dunno, message your cousin’s kids and ask,” Aaron said.

“You’re just worried if you do it they’ll roast you for being old,” I said, chuckling quietly as I rubbed my nose against his.

“Obviously, I’ve gotta keep up my reputation as the cool uncle somehow.” He kissed me softly, his lips brushing over mine and making me hum.

“I’m supposed to be clearing out the fridge. You’re not meant to be distracting me.”

“I’m not.”

“Then what’s this then?”

“Appreciation,” he said, sliding one hand down to grab my ass. “Of my super sexy husband.”

“I’ve already thrown out your Sriracha, you’re not getting it back,” I said as I tried to ignore how good it felt to have Aaron’s hands on me.

He kissed me again, tongue teasing the seam of my lips. “I know.”

“What else are you trying to stop me from finding?”

“Nothing. Everything else is fine.”

“I doubt that,” I said, trailing my fingers lightly down his chest until I found the bottom of his T-shirt. It was oversized and easy to slide my hand underneath so I could teasingly dip my fingers into the waistband of his joggers. Two could easily play his game of distraction.

Even though I didn’t really think it was a game.

It was Aaron’s natural adoration, which only I ever really got to see.

He could be soft with other people, loving and caring too, but there was often a prickly edge to it, a slight hardness and defensiveness even now.

I doubted anyone else noticed it, but none of them had seen the way he was with me when the door was closed and it was just us.

“Mmm, now who’s doing the distracting?” Aaron asked, teasingly squeezing my ass as he smirked. “I thought you had things to do?”

“I do, but I can come back to it later.”

As much as the fridge needed doing, I was in no rush to get it finished. Especially not when the other option was anything with Aaron.

He deepened the kisses, his fingers sliding under the waistband of the old shorts I’d thrown on. I groaned as he toyed with my ass, fingers slipping between my cheeks to brush over my hole.

“Want me to keep distracting you? Show you just how much I appreciate everything you do?” Aaron’s words were punctuated with kisses, his voice sending shivers down my spine and making need build in my gut.

“Y-Yes,” I said, nipping his bottom lip. “Show me how much you love me.”

“Might take a while,” Aaron said. “Love you more than the fucking world. You know that right? That I fucking adore you. I might not always show it, but I do. You’re fucking everything to me, and I’m still fucking astonished you agreed to marry me.”

“Never thought you’d get married?”

“No, not really. And I never thought, after everything, that you’d want me. But you do.”

“I do. I really fucking do.” I kissed him again.

“I love you, Aaron. And we’re going to grow old fucking disgracefully together.

We’ll be eighty and still buying all the different flavours of Fanta we can find and dancing around the kitchen to Taylor Swift while we make cheese toasties and lopsided dumplings. ”

“Mmm, sounds perfect to me.”

He hooked his thumb under the waistband of my shorts and began to walk backwards, slowly leading me out of the kitchen towards our bedroom.

We kept kissing, our clothes eventually making it onto the floor as we finally made it to the bed.

I knew Aaron was feeling sweet because he hadn’t just dragged me to the sofa, although I was pretty sure we’d finished the bottle of lube that was usually shoved down the side of the cushions, so that might have been why.

Aaron pushed me down onto the bed and climbed on between my thighs, and I melted into the mattress as he stole my breath with his mouth. He pressed kisses to every inch of me, worshipping my body and making me whine with need.

I gasped as he took my aching cock into his mouth, sucking me into his throat as his fingers teased my hole.

Over the years, Aaron had perfected the art of edging me with his mouth while he opened me up, and as his slick digits pressed into my ass, I realised he’d either planned this or we’d left the lube on the bed again from last night, when we’d made love slowly before we’d fallen asleep after another busy weekend at the pub.

“Fuck, Aaron!” I groaned, my back arching as pleasure burned through me. “Fuck me, please.”

“Anything for you, baby,” he whispered as he released my cock, his voice throaty and hoarse. He crawled up my body, casually folding me in half and pressing his perfect dick into me, kissing me as he planted his hands on either side of my head.

Fuck, I loved the way his cock felt as he filled me up. It was something I didn’t think I’d ever be able to get enough of.

Aaron fucked me like he cooked, with care, devotion and ruthless precision. He’d had years of practice, and now he knew exactly how to make me moan and beg. And while I liked to challenge him, I also loved it when he took me apart, breaking me down into nothing but atoms.

“Fucking love you, sweetheart,” he growled out, nipping my lip as he thrust deep into me, hammering my prostate until I was seeing stars. “You’re fucking… mmm, fucking mine. Never gonna let you go.”

“Never,” I said as my fingers tangled in his hair, my other hand sliding between us so I could stroke my cock. “Love you so much.”

Cum painted our skin as my orgasm sent pleasure coursing through me, Aaron’s name on my lips as I cried out. He growled and kissed me deeply as he chased his release, his perfect thrusts drawing out my pleasure until it was almost too much.

Aaron groaned as he came, kissing me and exhaling into my mouth as he pumped his load deep into my ass. “Fucking perfect,” he said with a smile, his eyes blazing with adoration as he kissed me.

“I am,” I said, chuckling as he frowned. “So are you.”

“Thank you.”

“Egotistical bastard.”

“Yeah, and?” He kissed me then slowly pulled out, rolling onto the bed beside me and drawing me into his arms. “You still married me.”

“I did, because I love you. And I’m a little bit crazy.”

He smiled softly, brushing a strand of hair off my forehead. “Yeah well, nobody else was gonna put up with my shit. I wouldn’t want anyone else either.”

“Well that’s good because I’m the one you’re stuck with.”

“Good.” Another kiss, soft and sweet. “What do you fancy for dinner? I was thinking about making mac and cheese with some baked gammon. Might need to go and get more cheese since you binned my stilton. I was gonna put some gotchujang in it too, make it nice and rich and warm.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said. “Could do some garlic broccoli too.”

“Only you would want vegetables with mac and cheese.”

“It’s good for you.”

“So?”

“You’re having broccoli,” I said with a grin, tapping the skull tattoo on his chest playfully to settle the matter.

“Fine, fine, fine,” Aaron grumbled. “But I’m adding a shit ton of cheese to dinner to make up for it. Fuck healthy.”

I snorted and shook my head. For all his grumbling, Aaron did eat fairly well most of the time and happily devoured every vegetable curry or side I put in front of him.

I took another look at him, vaguely remembering the days when Aaron would smoke after sex.

He’d just about quit now, down to one or two a day between shifts.

Our lives had changed so much but always for the better.

We’d carved out a slice of happiness together, and I would cherish it every single day.

It had been hard fought at times, but we deserved it.

“Okay,” I said, giving him another kiss. “I’m going to shower and then I’m going to finish the fridge.”

“Fine, but leave my Siracha alone please,” Aaron said. “I don’t care if it’s out of date. I want it.”

I rolled my eyes fondly. “If you want it that bad, it’s yours. But I’m throwing out the jam. And everything else that’s mouldy, out of date, or we’ve never touched.”

Aaron smiled and nodded. “Sounds good. I’ll finish putting the washing away and clean the bathroom. Then we can go to Tesco. I’ve already written a list.”

Washing, housework, and shopping; not exactly the most exciting afternoon but one I’d happily take because I got to do it with Aaron. Because once upon a time, this wouldn’t have been possible.

So, I’d take the boring chores and mouldy jars of jam, because they were a sign of how far we’d come and how much life we still had to live.

And we’d do it together.

Growing old completely disgracefully.

If you wish to read more from Aaron and Josh, you can find them in Summer Kisses or find their story as part of the Kiss Me Complete Collection. Both are available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited. Summer Kisses is also available in audio.