By the time Aaron shrank enough to pull out of Gage, the candles had burned down enough that they were spilling wax upon the table, and Gage was boneless. The plug had long ago been turned off. Aaron withdrew from Gage’s body, then hopped down from the table and tested his legs. They were shaky, but he seemed nowhere near as physically destroyed by their session as Gage, who was still wilted on the table.

Wanting to do right by him, Aaron gently freed the plug from Gage’s hole, tossed it in the sink, then returned to his lover’s side. With a delicate touch, he lifted Gage into his arms and brought him to bed, where he’d be more comfortable. Tonight hadn’t gone as planned, but Aaron wouldn’t have gone back to change anything. He would roll with the punches. Tonight would be a stunning success, no matter how the evening went.

Gage was awake when Aaron laid him in bed, but his eyes were glazed over. He was out. Aaron wouldn’t blame him. The greed they had for each other was overwhelming, and Gage would need time to recover from it. While he rested, Aaron would take care of him.

The first order of business was to make sure he got something to eat.

After making sure that Gage was tucked in, Aaron discarded his shirt, pants, and underwear and pulled on a pair of pajama pants. Orgasm had rattled him, too—the vibrations through his cock paired with Gage’s tight body had been enough to make him lose his mind, and he wanted to wear something comfortable while he came down off his high. Still, he had the cognitive clarity to remove the ring from the pocket of his pants and transfer it to the pocket of his pajama pants before he tossed his clothes in the hamper. When he came back from retrieving their meals, he’d cuddle up with Gage in bed and pop the question then.

A quiet proposal was all they needed. Aaron would be happy with it, and he thought Gage would be, too.

Outfit changed, he crossed the room, intending to return to the kitchen. Before he made it out the door, Gage spoke. His voice carried a melodic note that wasn’t normally there. “Babe?”

“Mm?” Aaron set his hand on the doorframe and turned his head to look at Gage.

“I left my phone downstairs in the bag I took to Bo’s appointments. Can you get it for me? I don’t think I can move.”

“You’re going to text Alex all about what happened, aren’t you?” Aaron smirked.

“No.” Gage wrinkled his nose. “Alex thinks I’m prudish or… or something. I don’t know. To him, me waiting for you means that I don’t have any kind of sexual drive, I guess. He doesn’t need to know how wrong he is. What I want is to get in touch with Mal to make sure that Bo is doing okay.”

“Fair enough.” Aaron opened the bedroom door, but waited to step through it. “So I’ve got dinner and your phone to bring back upstairs. Anything else?”

Gage rolled over and flopped dramatically onto his stomach. “Water,” he croaked.

“Hey! I spent all that time tucking you in because I thought you couldn’t move.” Aaron’s smirk grew. Excitement raced through each muscle, spreading through him until it had left no inch of him untouched. In a few minutes, Gage would be wearing his ring, and their new life together would start in earnest.

They’d never have to be apart again.

Gage stuck out his tongue. “Rolling over is not the same as moving. You can roll over in your sleep. Even babies who can’t crawl yet can roll over. If you try to get me out of this bed, I’ll crumple into a heap at your feet.”

“But if my feet are in bed, does that mean you’ll be able to toll downstairs and get your phone yourself…?”

Aaron narrowly dodged a pillow chucked in his direction. He laughed, and looked back at the bed to find Gage smiling.

“Jerk,” Gage said. “Go get my phone so I can tell all my friends you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m going, I’m going.” Aaron plucked the pillow from the floor and tossed it back onto the bed. Gage caught it and cuddled with it, and for the first time in his life, Aaron found himself jealous of a pillow. He left the room, closed the door, and hurried down the steps, eager to get back into Gage’s arms.

Working as quickly as he could, Aaron transferred the chicken from both of their plates onto a microwave-safe tray, then popped them into the microwave to reheat. While the microwave hummed, he stocked a glass with ice and filled it with water for Gage. Then he went to find Gage’s phone.

The bag Gage had taken out that day was bulky and had multiple zippered pockets. Aaron patted the bag down, found the shape he believed belonged to Gage’s phone, and freed it from its prison. As he carried it back to the kitchen, it started to buzz. Aaron glanced down at it, nervous that it was Mal with bad news about Bo, only to be blindsided by what he read.

KnotMyProblem: TD, I heard your man is back in your life, but—

The text preview cut out there, but the slow-moving dread that crept down Aaron’s back and spread through his stomach didn’t end with it. KnotMyProblem? What the hell was Gage doing talking to a man with a screen name like that, and why would the fact that Aaron was back mean anything to him?

It wasn’t right to invade Gage’s privacy, and under normal circumstances, Aaron would have left the message be, but the dread inside of him had started to churn, curdling into anxiety and alarm. He tapped the message, hoping it would bring him to the full conversation, but it only brought him to the phone’s lock screen. Frustrated and fearful, he input the combination that Gage had used the summer they’d last been together. To his surprise, the phone unlocked.

What he saw was worse than he could have imagined.

KnotMyPoblem: TD, I heard your man is back in your life, but I want you to know that all you have to do is say the word, and I’ll marry you. If he can’t take care of you and Bo like you need to be taken care of, I’m here for you.

The terror sickening Aaron erupted into rage. His hands trembled, and he had to fight the urge to throw the phone across the room. Who the hell was KnotMyProblem to think he could steal Gage away? And why the hell was he asking Gage to marry him?

Another message came in, causing the phone to vibrate. Aaron gripped it in his hand tightly until the plastic backing creaked and begged his mercy.

KnotMyProblem: We can keep it on the dl, too, if you’re worried about him finding out or whatever. I can be really discreet. He won’t even have to know.

A sick, bitter taste coated the back of Aaron’s tongue. A colony of bees must have taken up residence in his muscles—he could figure out no other way to explain the buzzing, itchy sensation prickling under his skin in ways he could never reach. On autopilot, he moved to the sink and spat down the drain, trying to get the foul taste out of his mouth, but it was of no use. He’d trusted Gage to tell the truth and had believed that Gage’s heart had stayed true during the time they were apart, but it was obviously a lie.

Aaron could understand the fact that Gage had streamed to make ends meet. Their child had needed a place to live, and money was money. But this?

KnotMyProblem wasn’t talking about a transaction. He wasn’t even talking just about sex. He wanted to marry Gage.

All this time, Gage had been hiding the truth from him. To think that he’d been about to propose…

Aaron looked up the stairs at the bedroom door, but his heart hurt too much to even imagine Gage right now. With his wide, innocent eyes and his tiny, charming smile, he looked pure. Aaron knew the road map of his body better than he knew his own—all its subtle curves and softness, all its angles and hard lines, where it liked pleasure the best, where it was the most ticklish, and the areas Gage was the most self-conscious about…

He couldn’t think of Gage behind that door, naked and glowing from sex, while knowing that he’d been playing Aaron this whole time.

Aaron’s heart shattered. The betrayal left him dizzy, and he clutched at the sink as his future unraveled.

How could Gage act like nothing was wrong? How could he pretend that he’d been faithful? If he’d been honest, Aaron might have been able to forgive him. He loved Gage more than anything, but to sink so low?

It had to be KnotMyProblem’s influence. Gage would never do something so despicable without having been pressured into it.

Aaron pushed away from the sink, reeling. He wobbled like he was drunk, stumbled into the tiny dining room division between the kitchen and living room and sank into the nearest chair. The microwave beeped, and in an uncharacteristic fit of anger, Aaron found himself longing to rip it from the counter and smash it on the floor.

“Fuck.” Saying it out loud made him feel better. Aaron dropped Gage’s phone on the table, planted his elbows on his thighs, and curled forward so his head rested in his hands. He thought he might be sick. “Fuck!”

The pillars that had been holding up his world since he’d fallen in love with Gage crumbled. The future he’d envisioned continued to unravel and twisted in dark, gruesome ways until it was a horrific mockery of itself. The simple life he dreamed he’d lead, where he’d come home every day from work to find Gage and their children waiting for him, warped. There would be no full house, and no happy family. Instead, he’d be alone, sharing custody of Bo, who’d grow up to despise him despite Aaron’s best efforts to treat him with kindness. He’d see Gage from time to time, between picking Bo up and dropping him off, except Gage would be changed. The love would be gone from his eyes, leaving cold impartiality that would break Aaron’s heart every time he saw it.

“This isn’t like Gage,” Aaron whispered frantically. Keeping the thoughts in his head was doing him no good, so he spoke them aloud to shake them off. “Gage doesn’t cheat. Gage… Gage is better than that. There’s got to be an answer. There’s got to be something I’m missing.”

The thought of returning to the room to face Gage with an engagement ring in his pocket was too much for Aaron. He still shook—whether it was from anger or sorrow, he didn’t know. Every emotion firing off inside of him was confused and muddied, blurred in a way that made it impossible to tell where one feeling started and the next began.

He needed answers, but he couldn’t face Gage. Not yet. So instead, he did a deplorable thing—

He messaged KnotMyProblem back.

TeenDad2: who the hell are you?

As soon as he sent the message, he knew it was the wrong thing to do, but he couldn’t take it back now that it had been done. If Gage was concealing the truth, then he couldn’t trust him to be honest, anyway. Aaron knew his logic was flawed, but in his desperation, going after KnotMyProblem didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Finally, KnotMyProblem’s name popped up at the bottom of the conversation field, stating that he was writing a reply. Hands shaking, Aaron waited for a response.

KnotMyProblem: TD, don’t be a shithead. We’re all adults here. Pretending like you have amnesia now that your man is back in your life is low. Be an adult and talk to me. If you want to tell me to go choke on a cheesy dick, then say it to my face, don’t bullshit me. I was serious when I offered to marry you, and I want to know what’s going on so I can organize the rest of my week accordingly. That’s it, okay?

The tone in KnotMyProblem’s message ticked Aaron off. This brash, insensitive asshole was the one Gage had betrayed him for? The way he talked to who he perceived to be Gage was appalling. Aaron couldn’t let it go—it reminded him too much of the messages Gage had received while they were streaming.

TeenDad2: I’m the shithead? You’re the one talking to Gage like he means nothing to you. What the hell is your problem?

KnotMyProblem: Ffs, TD. Are you trying to destroy the SDSG from the inside or what? Why are you being such an asshole all of a sudden? I know that I’m a lot to handle, but seriously, you could have told me to stop if I was making you uncomfortable. Trying to brush me off like this is immature af.

TeenDad2: I’m not Gage, I’m “Gage’s man”

KnotMyProblem: Okay, real talk, if this is you, TD, this is a shitty thing to do to someone, just putting that out there. If this is actually not TD, then prove it. Take a picture right now and send it to me, or I’m not going to believe you.

Who the hell was KnotMyProblem to make demands like that? Aaron bristled. He knew that he shouldn’t engage—that he’d already gone too far and invaded Gage’s privacy in unforgivable ways—but he was pissed as hell, and he needed answers. He tapped the camera button on the chat screen and took a picture. His hair was still mussed from sex, his cheeks flushed, and his expression pinched with anger. The darks of his eyes stared the camera down forebodingly. It was a shock to see himself look so stern and upset—Aaron wasn’t the type who angered easily—but he didn’t regret it. His whole life was corroding, and it felt like nothing he could do could save it.

Aaron sent the picture. KnotMyProblem started typing.

KnotMyProblem: fuck you

KnotMyProblem: get the fuck off TD’s phone. Are you policing his texts now? Controlling who he can and cannot speak to? Who the hell do you think you are?

There was truth in what KnotMyProblem said, but Aaron was too angry to acknowledge it. The hostility in KnotMyProblem’s messages shredded what little composure Aaron had left.

TeenDad2: Who the hell am I?? the man Gage should be fucking marrying, you asshole

KnotMyProblem: Oh, right, so he should marry a jerk who takes his phone and inserts himself into his conversations

TeenDad2: You fucking asked him to marry you! That makes it my business

KnotMyProblem: jfc you are a piece of work

Aaron’s palm itched. His muscles tightened, and the urge to throw the phone across the room returned. He was a man of science, an academic who preferred cerebral pursuits to physical mindlessness, but if KnotMyProblem had been standing in front of him, he wouldn’t have wasted time with conversation—he would have ripped him limb from fucking limb.

TeenDad2: Whatever. I don’t care what you think. If you ever talk to Gage again, I will find you, and it won’t be pretty

KnotMyProblem: OH REALLY?

KnotMyProblem: jfc you’re an edgelord aren’t you?

KnotMyProblem: you want to fight? You and I, face to face. You’re not going to walk away in one piece. TD deserves a fucking man, not a little manlet who can’t hold his tongue long enough not to jump to conclusions

Adrenaline coursed through Aaron, making it impossible to sit still. He bounded to his feet and stalked across the kitchen. The microwave beeped again, and he wrenched the door open so hard it bounced against its hinges and slammed shut. The sound echoed through the room, obscuring the melody of the concerto that still streamed through the surround sound system. Now that Aaron heard it, he couldn’t get it out of his head. It grated on his nerves.

Everything grated on his nerves.

This was the guy that Gage wanted more than him? He didn’t understand. Shaking with anger, he stormed into the living room and snatched his phone from where it rested on the table, deactivating the Bluetooth connection to kill the concerto. The silence was soothing, but it was only a momentary reprieve from the situation.

Gage’s phone buzzed again.

KnotMyProblem: you running scared? I can’t believe you’re the guy TD’s been pining about all these years. Fuck you

Aaron should have let it go—should have—but his thoughts were fraying at the edges, unraveling what separated the good from the bad until it was all a jumbled mess.

TeenDad2: I’m not afraid of you. You wanna fight? Come fucking fight me. I will DIE for him

KnotMyProblem: lol

Three letters had never made Aaron more angry. He scowled at the phone, pacing restlessly between the kitchen and the living room. If he hadn’t been renting, he would have slammed his fist through the wall.

KnotMyProblem: you need to step away from the phone before you spontaneously combust. Go take a cold shower, apologize to TD for being an asshole, then give him a big sloppy kiss for me, okay?

TeenDad2: fuck you

KnotMyProblem: I can see why TD loves you. So charming. So eloquent.

TeenDad2: You know what? I’m done.

Aaron tossed the phone onto the kitchen table. It slid across the surface until it bumped against one of the candles. They were still burning.

The conversation wasn’t worth his time. He was accomplishing nothing, and he was no closer to the truth. What he needed now was distance from the situation so he could cool down and pull himself back together. Before he confronted Gage, he needed to be able to approach what had happened from a place of logic rather than one of emotion.

No matter how bad it looked, something wasn’t stacking up, but as angry as he was, he’d never be able to figure it out.

He needed to go. Not forever, but for long enough that he could figure out what to do next. There was no way he could go back to the bedroom to face Gage. Despite the betrayal and anger the situation had stirred in him, Aaron loved Gage, and he wouldn’t put himself in a situation where he might say something he regretted. For both of their sakes, he needed some space.

Aaron pocketed his phone, then grabbed his keys from the hook by the door. He was only dressed in his pajama pants, but they would have to do—he couldn’t go back to get other clothing with Gage in the room.

Maybe the fresh air would help him cool off. The September heat had started to give way to fall weather, and the temperature had plummeted accordingly. But even if the chill didn’t help clear his mind, a long drive would.

There was someone Aaron needed to see—someone he’d put off visiting for too long since arriving back on American soil. His twin brother, Caleb, would be able to put him back together. And in the likely event that he wasn’t home, then Aaron would pay a visit to his parents.

He was done waiting. The comfort he needed right now, he couldn’t find anywhere else.

He needed his family. He only wished he’d found the time to come back to them sooner.