“It’s just one night before we got back together, I was feeling really down and conflicted about what I wanted to do. He came over my house with wine and… well, we got pretty fucked up. He tried to take that moment to make his move on me. I stopped him before it got too far and kicked him out. But when he did that, I knew for a fact that I wanted you in my life more than anything and I wasn’t going to let anyone or anything stop me,” I admitted, making my way closer to Aiden.
“What’s too far?”
“Nothing happened.”
“Not what I asked.”
Oh shit… there was that sass I loved. “Some groping and he tried to suck me off, but I wouldn’t let him. The whole thing was probably less than a minute before I put a stop to it. I sobered up pretty quickly, I’ll tell you that.”
“That slimy motherfucker, I knew he wanted my damn man!” Aiden growled.
Well, he was never going to get me. I took Aiden’s face into my hands and kissed him. “I love you so much.”
“I know. I love you too,” he said, smiling back up at me.
“Let’s do this.”
We returned to the living room where Troy was sitting on the sofa.
“About time… my curiosity was getting the better of me. I almost looked inside your bathroom cabinet,” Troy teased, getting his camera ready.
“It’s good that you didn’t, nothing to see there anyway,” Aiden said.
“Okay, how do you want to do this?” Troy asked, getting into his professional mode.
“I figured one or two photos of us looking all couple-like should be good enough for the blog,” I said.
Aiden nodded. “That’ll work. We’ll pick the best out of the selection to feature. First, let me contact my boss.”
I nodded and Aiden walked into the kitchen for some privacy while Troy and I talked.
“I had suspected you were gay,” Troy said.
I arched an eyebrow. “Oh really? Why?”
He shrugged. “I’m not necessarily out and proud myself, but I’m also not hiding in the closet either. It’s just no one is interested in taking pictures of me. Still, most athletes are always surrounded by women. Strippers, escorts, chicks at bars and parties. As famous as you are, you seemed to avoid all of that, but until Kathy, you weren’t with any woman. That’s rare for an athlete, especially one as young and popular as you are. I know women must throw themselves at you.”
“You could say that.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. Plus, the whole Kathy and Macio thing seemed contrived. People who wanted to believe the relationship was real, really ignored the signs. Not me, I have an eye for that sort of thing. The stiffness when she kissed you. The space between you two when you were together. It was like you weren’t comfortable in your own skin when you had to be with her,” Troy said.
I smirked. “Kathy and I are friends.”
“Friends, not lovers. It was the lovers part you obviously had issues with.” Troy shrugged again. “Let’s just say, I wasn’t shocked when I saw the photo of you and Aiden. It was hot, though.”
I growled and he laughed. Aiden returned with a huge smile on his face. “My boss is stoked about this story. He’s ready to run it for the evening edition on the blog. He wants us to do a quick story for the blog and a more in-depth one for the magazine. Oh, and he’s willing to pay you top dollar for the images.” Aiden looked at me. “He’s also willing to pay you for the exclusive interview.”
“Well, far be it from me to turn that down.”
Aiden nodded, then looked at Troy. “He wants you to contact him.” He gave Troy his boss’s information.
“Cool,” Troy said, making the call.
Aiden looked at me. “You too.” He gave me his cell with his boss’ number ready for me to call.
This was all kinds of tedious to me. Normally, Rupert handled all this, but I couldn’t call him anymore. I contacted his boss and went over the details with him and settled on an amount that was pretty decent for this exposé. We had to work out the details, but when we did, both of us were satisfied. Finally, with the business end having been worked out for both Troy and I, he was ready to get started.
No doubt, Troy was happy with the deal he made for the number of photos Ringside wanted. Now it was time to pose. We took pictures sitting on the sofa, smiling and kissing for the camera… and each other. We took photos in the kitchen while Aiden made lunch and I hugged him from behind. We took photos of me kissing his neck while he smiled for the camera. It was very lovey-dovey, in your face kind of shit. But very tasteful, too.
