“I’m about to give the world a show,” I lament.
Aaron chuckles again, his mouth much closer to my ear this time.
“It’ll be a good show, though,” he murmurs, then grunts when I elbow him in his stomach.
Sadie chews on her lip as she thinks. “Devon, stretch your back leg out but leave it bent a little at the knee, and keep the other one lifted. Don’t worry, I’ll be taking the pictures from this angle.”
The skirt slips further up my thigh, but before I can panic, Aaron’s torso flexes underneath me.
“Let me get that.” He reaches forward to grab the hem, smoothing it over my knee until the fabric holds.
“Thanks,” I mutter as he shifts back into position and slides his arm further around me. Fingertips trail absentmindedly along my ribcage as I glance up at him. “So, did you buy these, or did you just happen to have suspenders tucked into the back of your closet?” I tug one of the straps, and he grunts as it snaps against his chest.
“Is that so hard to believe?”
I shrug with a smirk. “You just don’t seem the type.”
“To want my pants to stay up?” he asks.
I snort a laugh at his bewildered face. “To be into this kind of thing. Something tells me a themed photoshoot wasn’t in your bingo card for the year, yet here we are.”
He hums in the back of his throat. “I told you, it was a resolution of sorts for this year. Step out of my boring life and get some new experiences. Be more open.”
I nod my understanding as Sadie kneels on a foam pad, muttering about sunlight and shadows and other technical things I don’t understand.
“What about you?” Aaron asks, poking a fingertip into my ribs as I squirm. “You seem to have a love for all things retro.”
“The car, yeah—”
“The one you almost hit me with,” he interrupts.
I glare at him for a moment before I continue. “The car is my baby. It belonged to my grandfather, and we were really close. He was the first person I came out to, and I thought it would be a bigger deal. I was older, you know? Established. It’s not that I thought he would care. My youngest brother is gay. Gramps always loved and accepted him, but it felt different with me being the oldest.”
Aaron is patient as he listens to me talk, teasing tossed aside as he gently strokes his fingers along my side.
“He passed not long after I told him,” I say. “The car was a reminder.”
“Of what?”
“That just because I discovered these things about myself later in life doesn’t mean they’re less significant. It’s something that tells me it’s okay to accept myself just as I am.”
“I like that,” he says softly. Genuinely, I realize. “And the clothes? Is there any meaning there?”
I grin up at him. “I just thought they were pretty.”
He returns my smile, and without realizing what I’m doing, I reach up and hold on to the arm that drapes over my shoulder.
“They are pretty,” he agrees, running a fingertip along the open V of my shirt. The touch on my bare skin sends a rush through my limbs, and I barely fight a shiver. “When I saw you standing there screaming at me in that street, I was speechless.”
“Because of your guilt from almost causing an accident?” I tease, then yelp as he jabs a finger into my side again.
“Because you were gorgeous.” He bites his lip as he glances down at me. “I was content to sit there and listen to you insult me all afternoon, but you flounced away.”
“Oh, a healthy degradation kink, huh? I can respect that. I had other insults ready.”
“Let’s hear them.”
“Traffic tumor.”
