Page 102 of Mr. Naughty List

“You do?” Aaron asked with a yawn, his short, light brown hair rubbing over the white pillow as he turned to face RJ. “I thought we weren’t going to exchange presents?”

“We weren’t, but I have something.” He climbed in beside Aaron, curled on his side to face him and said, “I’m going to give you something special. I just thought of it, actually. Just now.”

Aaron blinked at him sleepily. “Okay?”

“I’m going to give you some clarity.”

“Huh?”

RJ took hold of Aaron’s chin. “I love you. I know we’ve said that before, but the fact remains that I do. I love you more and more every second. I don’t know how long we’ll last, but I think we should start acting like we’re going to last a long time. Because if we don’t, then we definitely won’t.”

“If we don’t, then we won’t?” Aaron repeated confusedly.

“Yeah.” RJ stroked his thumb over Aaron’s mouth. “I remember telling Becca once that if she wanted to be a drummer, she needed to go at it one hundred percent. Because if she wanted to be a drummer but decided to style hair as a backup plan, then I could guarantee that in five years’ time she’d still be a hairstylist. And she is. A hairstylist.”

“Anda drummer?”

“Not really. She just drums for fun.”

Aaron kissed RJ’s thumb. “Right.”

“So if we want to make it, even if we don’t really believe it’s possible to make it, we have to start acting like we can. Or we’ll be over and done with before we ever start.”

“I had too much eggnog, or maybe you did, because you’ve gone goofy on me.”

“Let’s commit.”

“Um?”

“To monogamy. I mean, we’ve already basically agreed to that, but it should be explicit. And to being boyfriends.”

“Lovers.”

“Whatever. So long as it means we plan that next Christmas we’ll still be together. We have toplanon it.”

“RJ…”

“Don’t overthink it.”

“I think you’re the one overthinking things.”

“I’m not. I didn’t become a touring guitarist entirely by chance. I did it by not giving myself the option to fail at it.”

“RJ?”

“Yes.”

“I really think I love you too.”

“I know.”

“And I want to believe, but…”

“No buts!”

Aaron huffed. “You’re ridiculous.”

“It’s Christmas. Let’s give ourselves this ridiculously expensive gift.”