He seemed to understand what Aiden either did not or could not say, certain it was somehow tied to Valentine’s.
“I’m glad and I love you, too. Why don’t you wash up while I get supper on the table?”
They enjoyed a quiet meal, sharing unremarkable details or humorous stories from the workday. After cleaning up the kitchen, they retired to the family room downstairs, where they presented each other with Valentine’s gifts. By agreement, it was a single, inexpensive present that couldn’t be purchased in a store. Dash opened his first and found a framed photo of them from the wedding—on the dancefloor, all lovey-dovey and lost in their own little world. Dash growled with pleasure.
“I love it! Did the photographer take this one?”
Aiden shook his head.
“No, my mom took it with her phone. Do you see the look on my face?That’show I feel about you all the time. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I wanted you to know.”
Dash pulled Aiden into his lap and kissed him breathless.
“I feel the same way. I’m so glad you’re mine.”
After a few tender moments, Aiden opened his gift from Dash. It was a clear glass canning jar filled with folded slips of paper. A label on the top of the lid said, LOVE NOTES – TAKE ONE AS NEEDED. Aiden grinned from ear to ear.
“This is great! So, what kinds of things will I find in here?”
Dash gestured toward the jar.
“Take one out and see.”
Aiden removed the lid, mixed them up a little, and pulled one out. This one said,Naked kisses. Time and place of your choosing.
Aiden’s brows shot up, and he held the slip out to Dash.
“I choose here and now. Pay up, big boy.”
Dash complied, and they both got what they really wanted for Valentine’s Day.
THE END
