Page 61 of Mr. Naughty List
“I won’t forget. These ornaments are too precious to risk.”
RJ nodded. “Good luck.” He leaned in and kissed Aaron’s forehead. A warm, proprietary kiss that Aaron felt all the way down to the soles of his feet. “Text me when you’re ready to see me again. I’ll be waiting.”
Then he left.
Aaron stared at the door for way too long, his mind a complete blank but his body full of yearning. Then he headed for his stereo, found his old vinyl record of Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” and let the soothing sounds of his Grandma’s favorite singer fill the space.
While Constance slept on the sofa, Aaron began to decorate the silvery Christmas tree alone.
Chapter Nineteen
RJ was justas sexy onstage as he’d been the first time Aaron had spotted him up there not even a week ago. Knowing what was beneath RJ’s white, V-necked T-shirt and his comfortable-looking blue jeans didn’t detract in the least from the erotic visions buzzing in Aaron’s head.
Tonight, RJ wore another jingle-bell tipped reindeer antler headband. Someone had fashioned more tinsel wrist cuffs for him, and he sang a jazzy-blues version of “Frosty the Snowman.” By all rights, he should have appeared absurd.
Instead, his natural grace and complete personal comfort in his body made it impossible for Aaron to tear his eyes away. And he didn’t think he was alone. By the time he’d found a seat in the corner of the bar, he’d overheard two different groups of women angling to approach RJ during a break or once the show as over.
Good luck with that, honeys.
He’d dressed in a pair of slacks that he knew clung to his ass just right, a sports coat, and a tight, red and green Polo shirt that gripped his biceps in a way that made them look bigger than they really were. Though he’d have to take his sports coat off for anyone to see that.
Aaron shouldn’t have come. He knew that deep down. Or rather, he shouldn’t have come if he didn’t plan to fuck RJ tonight, and probably tomorrow, and definitely for the rest of however long RJ stayed in town. And he really shouldn’t have come if he didn’t want to get his heart broken when it was over. Because that was what he’d figured out while he was putting his grandma’s ornaments on her beautiful, sparkling tree: he was already falling for RJ Blitz.
Even his dad had seen it.
Maybe it doesn’t have to be over when he goes.
He shook the thought away. Hope like that would make this hurt so much more when it was done. Better not to indulge in it at all. He shouldn’t have gotten so sentimental over the word “lover” or taken RJ out to meet his dad. He shouldn’t have told him all his fucked up, emotional baggage and let him into his life like that. He shouldn’t have started to care about RJ, dammit.
Fuck, Lauren wasright. He shouldn’t have fucked a former student at all.
And yet…
Once he’d finished decorating the tree, he’d glanced at his phone and realized that RJ was on the stage performing at that exact moment, not even a mile away from him. A five-minute walk at most. Aaron hadn’t been able to keep away, hadn’t wanted to even try.
So, he’d tucked orange and lemon peels beneath the tree skirt he’d fashioned out of one of Aunt Gladdy’s quilts, satisfied when Constance ran away from it like a vampire from garlic. Staring happily at the finished tree, he came to a realization. If he’d put the Christmas tree in a box, and all the ornaments too to keep them safe, then they might as well have remained lost to the world in Candace’s basement forever.
If he returned home to find the tree overturned and the ornaments smashed, he knew he’d cry. But he also knew life would go on. No matter what disaster happened, life always went on. So why not enjoy what he had while he had it?
It was the same with RJ.
Aaron would no doubt cry real tears of pain whenwhatever this wascrashed and burned, but so what? He’d have felt cared for and been, for a short time, someone’s lover. Not just some guy’s hookup or an easy hole to fuck.Lover. So, he should enjoy it while it lasted.
As he’d added his Grandma’s angel on top of the tree, he’d resolved to stop pushing RJ away. So here he was at Scruffy City Hall again, a little nervous, a little stupid, and a lot turned on. He sat his bruised ass on the barstool and watched RJ play and sing, admiring the way he closed his eyes and let his gritty baritone rush out. RJ looked vulnerable like that and yet powerful too. Christmas carols had never been so sexy.
When the bartender swung by to get Aaron’s order, he motioned the man closer. “Do you have a girlfriend with a kid that goes to Pineview?”
The man tilted his head. “What’s it to you?”
“I’d appreciate it if you told your girlfriend, or whoever, that what she sees while she’s here visiting you at work really ought to be kept to herself.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Or I might need to have a word with the manager about how his bartender’s woman is causing problems for paying customers at their place of work.”
The bartender looked like he couldn’t decide if he should get pissed off or not, but then he shocked Aaron by saying, “Sorry. It’s not what it seems. I promise.”
“Oh? What was it then, if not your girlfriend gossiping about me in a way that could affect my career?”