Vance waited on the doorstep after ringing the doorbell. He knew that Aaron was home and that he’d come to the right house — he recognized Aaron’s car in the driveway. He figured Aaron was caught in the middle of an unexpected phone call, so he waited. He wasn’t in any rush, and the two bottles of wine he’d decided to bring as peace offerings weren’t going to go anywhere.

When they got down to the nitty-gritty of copyright, they were going to need some wine. Anything legal made Vance’s head spin, no matter how plainly it had been laid out for him.

He heard the lock click. The door opened, and Aaron greeted him. He looked a little more relaxed than he usually did, dressed in loose jeans and a faded t-shirt. Vance was used to seeing him in professional attire, and while the change was shocking, it also made Aaron feel more real. Vance remembered the night he’d shown up to meet one of the bands in a t-shirt and jeans, and how collected he’d looked then. This was entirely different… and he liked it.

“Hey,” Vance said.

“Hey,” Aaron replied. He looked at the bottles tucked into the crook of Vance’s arm. “Wine?”

“I figured that we could use some while we go over copyright. I hate legal stuff.”

“You figured we’d need a bottle each?” Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vance shrugged. “Your job sounds pretty stressful. If you don’t want to drink a whole bottle, then you’re welcome to keep the other one for one of those nights when you want to pull your hair out.”

Aaron rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face that made Vance feel like he was secretly pleased. “Come in. You can put the wine in the kitchen, if you want. I figured we could sit in the dining room. I’ve got my notebook laid out there, so I’m ready to take notes.”

“Sure. Sounds like a good idea. Which way is the kitchen?”

“I’ll show you.”

Aaron led Vance into his house. It wasn’t huge, but it was by no means tiny, either. Vance imagined that a young family would feel right at home in a house like Aaron’s, and Aaron was just one man. He’d done well for himself.

“You have a nice place,” Vance remarked as they entered the kitchen. He set the bottles of wine on the counter near the sink. “How long ago did you buy it?”

“About five years, now,” Aaron said. “I got it for a steal. It belonged to an elderly couple who were ready to move on to a smaller senior community, and they wanted it gone. Real estate in Prescott isn’t exactly booming, but I knew I’d be staying here, so I figured I’d go for it even if it turned out to be hard to sell should I ever decide to move.”

“Is moving high on your priority list.”

“No.” Aaron nodded toward the doorway Vance assumed led to the dining room. “It’s pretty much at the bottom. I don’t want to leave here. My life is tied too much to Prescott for me to ever think of going.”

Dreams of Los Angeles with Aaron at his side crashed and burned, but it had been a silly fantasy. Vance didn’t consider himself the relationship type, anyway. He didn’t know why having Aaron with him in Los Angeles was something that stuck in his mind as much as it did, or why it stung that he felt like it was no longer a possibility.

The dining room was modest. It had a table for four, and one of the seats was set up with a notebook and a pen. Aaron’s phone was sitting with it. Aaron pointed to the chair across from it. “Make yourself comfortable. I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

“Probably not long,” Vance admitted. He sat as requested and watched as Aaron settled. He opened the notebook and clicked open the pen. “What I know is pretty basic, so unless you have follow-up questions, it’s not going to be too hard to hash out.”

“And you needed to come over to do that?” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “You said that it was going to be too complicated to figure out over the phone.”

Vance smiled an easy smile and shrugged casually. “I express myself better in person, what can I say?”

“Uh-huh.” Aaron flicked his pen back and forth between his fingers. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that those bottles of wine had nothing to do with it.”

“Nothing at all.”

“Luckily, I don’t need any alcohol when I’m dealing with copyright, and here we are in person so you can say what you need to say without botching the delivery.” Aaron looked at him from across the table, all business. He was too cute. “I know that I can’t advertise you as Midnight. What else can’t I do?”

“You can’t use any of the artwork or photography from the album or from any of the promotional material from back then,” Vance said with confidence. “You can’t use any of the other songs off the first album. The single is mine, but that’s it.”

“Got it.”

“So we’ll have to take some new photos. Do you know any good photographers? It’s been a while since I was in front of a camera, but I’m ready to do it again.”

“I can find one. My cousin, Natalie, knows everyone there is to know in Prescott and the surrounding area.”

“Great.” Vance beamed. “How are you going to be promoting this, anyway? I assume, from all the bands you’re hiring on, that there’s going to be music all day. Are you aiming to put me up first, so everyone comes to the event early? Are you going to put me on at peak traffic hours? Last?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Well, you know I like to come first.”

Aaron opened his mouth to reply, then closed it and narrowed his eyes. “Was that a joke?”

Vance grinned. “Maybe.”

“That was terrible.”

“I didn’t say it was a good joke.”

“And if I’m the one in charge of when you come, there’s no way you’re coming first.”

Vance was awestruck. He blinked several times, then leaned on his elbows to close some of the distance between himself and Aaron, grinning. “Was that a joke? Because color me shocked.”

“I’m capable of humor, you know.” Aaron looked pleased with himself. He met Vance’s gaze, challenging him, and Vance’s heart raced.

Fuck, does confidence suit him. Does he know how hot he looks right now, smug like that?

Vance sat back in his chair, his arms folded loosely across his chest. “You know, it’s good to see you loosen up. I didn’t know if you had it in you. You were always so serious.”

“I’m actually a really fun-loving guy when I’m hanging out with people who didn’t share video of me sucking dick with everyone in town.”

“I was a dick.”

“Were a dick?”

Vance laughed. “Okay, yeah, I am a dick. I’ll admit it. But I’m doing my best to get better. Surely you must be able to see that I’m putting in an effort. I know a leopard can’t change its spots and all that, but I’m doing my damned best to show you that with me that’s not the case.”

A thoughtful look crossed Aaron’s face. He looked toward the kitchen door. “I think I need some wine. Do you want any?”

“I’ll come with you.”

They stood. Vance was more aware than ever of the draw between them, just as shocking now as it had been ten years prior. It had led Aaron back to him on that night at A Stiff One, and it had brought them back together again and again. It saw them now in the kitchen, where Aaron uncorked one of the bottles of wine. Vance leaned against the counter and watched him. His heart sped up a tick, and he bit the inside of his lip as he considered what he wanted to do next. Aaron didn’t look glamorous right now, and he was far from the professional man that he strove to come across as, but to see his walls fall away only made him more attractive.

“You know, I thought about you when I was in Los Angeles,” Vance said softly. “I know that I hurt you, and I was a bastard for what I did, but… I still wondered about what happened to you, and if you’d find the happiness you deserved. I always thought that you’d find a good man to settle down with and you’d forget me, but here you are, still in Prescott, living on your own…”

“And?” Aaron set down the bottle of wine. “I don’t need a man to complete me.”

“I’m not saying you do. I don’t think either of us need a man to complete us.” Vance let his gaze linger on Aaron, feeling his arousal swell. “But what I am saying is that it’s a damned shame you don’t have anyone to keep your bed warm, and that you’re spending your nights alone.”

“It’s a damned shame that I am?” Aaron asked in disbelief. Vance moved a little closer, his heart in his throat. He hadn’t felt so vulnerable in years. “You’re the rock star. You’re the one who was on top of the world. What are you doing alone, Vance?”

Vance smiled. He moved so he backed Aaron against the counter, brushing his hands by Aaron’s waist as he leaned forward. Aaron’s eyes lidded. Vance leaned forward just a little further, letting their lips barely brush as he spoke his next words. “Waiting for the only man who’s worth my time.”