Better Than Good (18 page)

We let the boat drift aimlessly for a while and just enjoyed the scenery. It truly was a spectacular day. The sun had beat out the clouds, providing a gorgeous backlight to the cherry blossoms’ pink blush, the emerald greens of the lawn, and the gray-blue hues of the water and sky above us. Aaron, as usual, talked enough for both of us. He told me this was one of those silly things he’d always wanted to do as a kid, but never got a chance to.

“You ever notice that when people live and work in the same city all their lives, they never visit the so-called tourist traps? I mean, you said so yourself, this is something tourists do, but have you ever done it? I bet there are hundreds if not thousands of people who live in Orlando but have never been to Disney World.”

“That could have something to do with the price of admission,” I observed, leaning back in my chair and taking in the way the sunlight shone on Aaron’s dark hair. Fuck, what a beautiful man.

“True. Alright, maybe that wasn’t a good example. Let’s see. Well, how about you? What do you want to see or do in DC that you haven’t done since you’ve lived here? You must have a mental checklist. Name something.”

“Let me think.” I paused, considering what I might want to do that I hadn’t yet done in the city. “Well, I guess I have a few. I want to go to a Redskins game. Not because I’m a fan, per se, but….”

“Baseball?”

“No. Football. And I’m pretty sure you knew that.” He shrugged innocently, urging me to continue. “Another thing is….” I paused, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious.

“What? Tell me! Come on, you’re on a fucking paddleboat with me. Tell me whatever it is, and I’ll do it with you!” He threw his head back, closed his eyes, and sent up a mock prayer. “Oh God, please don’t make it sports!”

I gave him a weak shove and admitted the one thing I was really interested in seeing was Ford’s Theatre.

“You know, where President Lincoln was killed.”

“I know. I went there for a field trip when I was in grade school.”

“I’ve never been.” I shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed for no real reason.

“Let’s go, then! I think we can just show up, but we’ll call and see. We can go today!”

I gave him my “you’ve got to be kidding” look, but he wasn’t kidding. And I started thinking
, What the hell? He’s right, how easy is it to put off doing things you’re interested in because they’re almost too accessible? You think you can always do it another time, and then years go by and that box is left unchecked on your To Do list.

“Today?”

“Why not? It’s not even noon. We can leave one of our cars and just go for it. I’m game if you are.”

I couldn’t offer a good reason not to, so I smiled at him and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah! More adventures!”

We got our full hour’s worth of the boat before heading back to the dock. I insisted on taking his picture with my phone to record his first paddleboat jaunt. He posed like a movie star and then asked the employees to take our picture together. I put my arm around him for the picture, knowing this was our first photo together.

Aaron was excited to head out to our next adventure. Once again, I found myself following him, shaking my head at his endless sense of wonder. We chose to take his car to the theater because it was closer. I’d never driven in Aaron’s car, and I found I wasn’t anxious to be his passenger any time soon. The guy drove like a demon. I was working my phantom foot brake and holding onto the door before we were halfway there.

We purchased tickets for an early afternoon tour and set out to grab lunch at one of Aaron’s favorite pizza places close by. He ordered a salad, but kept staring at my pizza longingly. I finally shoved a piece on his plate. He looked surprised and about to refuse, but instead, he gave me one of his spectacular smiles and took a big bite. I watched him closely. He looked like he was performing a sex act, his face a picture of bliss as he licked the cheese from his fingers. When I got caught staring, I gave him a weak shrug. I suddenly wished we’d just gone back to his place. I wanted him. He touched my knee under the table, and we held one another’s stare a moment longer. There was a promise in that look. I just needed to be patient.

The Ford’s Theatre tour was awesome. I admit to being a bit of a history junkie, and I was on the edge of my seat listening to the sequence of events leading to the murder of our nation’s sixteenth president. I was especially interested in seeing the Petersen House across the street, where Lincoln actually died.

I left Ford’s Theatre very happy that we’d gone.

“Thanks.” I nudged Aaron’s elbow in a buddy-like fashion.

“You liked?” He nudged me back and smiled sweetly.

“I did. It’s been a fun day of firsts.” He nodded in silent agreement. “So, I have one more first to request before we go back to your place for hot sweaty monkey sex.”

Aaron took a swift look around us to see if we’d been overheard.

“Shhh! Geez, Matty, this is a respectable tourist neighborhood! Control yourself!” He mock-admonished me with a smack on the arm. “What is your final request? Let’s see if this genie will grant your wish.”

“Give me your keys, please. There’s no fucking way I’m driving with you behind the wheel again. No offense, babe, but you’re scary!”

Aaron handed over the keys but insisted the entire ride back to my car that I was bossy and had an inflated opinion of my own driving skills. When we reached my car back at the Tidal Basin, I leaned across the seat and put my hand over his mouth.

“No more talking. Meet you back at your place. Okay?” He nodded. “And Aaron? Thank you. That was fun. Let’s go have a different kind of fun now. No clothes required. Okay?” He nodded again. The weekend was only half over and there was so much more to look forward to.

9

A
COUPLE
of weeks later, on a Saturday morning, we arranged to meet for a run before heading back to his place to shower and spend the rest of the weekend together. It was raining, which never deterred an avid runner like Aaron. I, however, was really not looking forward to running in the elements. I was a fair-weather runner, but I made the effort to keep my complaints down so Aaron wouldn’t uninvite me. I could do it if he could.

We started out at a slow pace and chatted about things we may have missed while apart over the past couple of days. Truthfully we talked or texted many times a day, so it was almost a wonder we found as much to talk about as we did. Aaron picked up the pace and I followed along, although my ability to talk became limited as he chattered on. The sky suddenly darkened to a foreboding shade of gray, threatening to dump some serious precipitation instead of the lighter variety we’d been experiencing. We didn’t have to wait long before the first rumbles of thunder sounded. Aaron looked over at me with a maniacally happy grin. The little fucker loved this! The rain fell in torrents, coming down so fast you could barely see in front of you. Lightening flashed, and Aaron laughed out loud as I jumped in fright.

He kept right on running and I kept on following, calling myself all kinds of idiot that I didn’t raise the white flag and beg him to show some mercy. We were nowhere near our cars, so our best bet would be to take shelter at a coffee shop until the worst of the storm passed. A mile later, I signaled for him to stop. He didn’t. He grinned and kept going. Asshole. I caught up to him and grabbed his arm, forcing him to slow down.

“Please! I’m drowning!” I yelled above the din of thunder.

Aaron rolled his eyes but gamely agreed to stop at the next little coffee shop on our route.

“We are soaked! They don’t want us getting their floors wet. Come on, Matty. It’s only two more miles back to the cars.”

A blast of lightning flashed, sending an eerie glow over the street.

“Fuck that. Come on. And fuck their floors. We should be swimming, not running.” I pulled him inside, and we both did our best to shake off the worst of the wet from our clothes and hair before fully entering the shop. It didn’t really help, though. We looked like two half-drowned rats. I told Aaron to grab a table, and I ordered us a couple of hot cocoas. Not a fitness beverage, I know, but I needed the comfort. Aaron didn’t complain. In fact, he had his best and biggest smile on when I presented him with his drink.

“What are you smiling about? This is miserable!” I shook my sopping-wet hair in his direction, which only made him giggle more. He looked so fucking happy, I found myself returning his smile in spite of being really wet and very uncomfortable.

“It’s not miserable. It’s fun! This is the best kind of day, Matty! I love it!”

It was on the tip of my tongue to say, “And I love you,” but I caught myself. I shook my head and he laughed again, unaware of the inner turmoil I had just set into play. Did I love him? I stopped myself from overthinking the sentiment as I looked across the table at my soaking-wet running partner and reminded myself to live in the moment. I would surely scare him away if I uttered the L-word. Fuck, I was scaring myself! I swiped a finger full of whipped cream from the top of my drink and licked it off suggestively. Aaron’s eyes went from amused to sultry in a heartbeat.

“Drink up, honey. We have to run to our rides before we can get home and get naked.”

I groaned.

“Can’t we call a taxi to take us to our cars?”

“You are whining, naughty boy! And the answer is no. We can do it!”

“Damn right I’m whining. There is nothing on me that isn’t wet.”

“Ooo, that’s sexy.”

“Sexy? How? Never mind. I’m ready when you are.”

My choice of hot cocoa wasn’t the best type of fuel to run on. I had a side cramp a mile into the run and had to stop. Aaron caught sight of me clutching my side and ran back to check on me.

“Want to walk?” His brow was furrowed in concern.

“No, but yes, I have to. Go on. I’ll meet you back at your place. No sense in us both being stuck out here longer than necessary.” I leaned over at my waist with my hands on my knees, trying to breathe through the worst of the pain.

“Don’t be silly. We’ll take a slow walk in the rain. So romantic.”

I made the effort to look up at him and saw his teasing grin. He was more adorable to me than ever in that moment. The L-word sprang to the tip of my tongue again. I wanted to tell him how good it felt to be with him, even when I was hunched over, clutching my side in pain in the pouring rain. Somehow, in spite of it all, this did feel romantic.

I returned his smile and made a valiant effort to start walking. It was slow going at first, with the rain continuing its incessant tattoo. Aaron kept a steady stream of chatter as we made our way at a leisurely pace. He didn’t require much input from me as he set about telling me a story about being stuck in the rain when he was at college, locked out of his dorm. I realized he was setting me at ease in his own way. Attempting to entertain me with a tale he no doubt greatly embellished for entertainment purposes, all to keep my mind off my body’s aches and the long walk ahead of us. It worked. I found myself laughing along with him, noting his quick hand movements keeping time with his animated storytelling. The rain had flattened his hair, but he still had to brush it from his eyes every once in a while. I marveled that the simplest of acts made me yearn to touch him.

We were both shivering in earnest by the time we finally reached our cars. Aaron gave me a quick kiss on the lips, telling me he’d see me at home. I heard the word “home” and decided it fit. I followed him and parked directly behind him, grabbing my overnight bag and my guitar case. I don’t know what prompted me to bring it, but I wasn’t leaving it in my car. He helped me schlep my stuff to the front door. We both let out audible sighs of relief once we were finally inside the building’s relatively warm lobby.

His apartment, of course, was fucking freezing. We dropped my belongings at the door and started undressing as fast as possible. Aaron turned on the heater on his way to the bathroom to get the shower going. We had talked about a steaming-hot shower being our reward, and I for one couldn’t wait.

Aaron called for me to hurry up. He was already under the spray when I got there, smiling a dreamy, happy smile.

“Hurry! You’re frozen, dummy! We need to warm you up. Don’t worry, I’ll do all the work. Just stand under the water. Let me take care of you.”

I did as I was told. The warm water was nirvana. Aaron soaped up his hands and washed me thoroughly. His touch was a magic elixir. So good.

“Bend down so I can wash your hair.”

I obeyed wordlessly, reveling in the feel of his fingers massaging my scalp.

“Rinse off, honey.”

My body was boneless and beyond exhausted, but I wanted to offer him the same treatment. He gently refused my overture, telling me to get toweled off and in some warm clothes immediately. He sounded like my mom. I told him so, which earned me a smack on my right ass cheek.

“Fine! I’m going! I’m going!”

“Good boy. I’ll be right out.”

Aaron made us hot tea once he was dressed. I sat on his sofa, finally feeling the warmth from the heater as well as my comfortable dry clothing. I picked my guitar up out of its case and strummed a few chords, making sure it was still in key.