Page 43 of His Choice

It wasn’t so much that I had become bolder. It was that Aaron had already photographed my chest, and I had stripped off my shirt for Tyler’s photoshoot for the world to see. Modesty seemed pointless now. It made me happy that Aaron was proud of me, though. It emboldened me to continue undressing in front of him. I bit my lip, then unzipped my jeans and slid them off, too. I played it casual as I began rummaging through my clothes to find my tennis shorts. When I turned to face Aaron, he was gawking at me again. My confidence teetered.

“What?” I thought my legs were one of my better features, even if I had always hidden them. Then again, it was all relative when I was compared to others. Now I was back to worrying about Cliff seeing me in shorts later. I glanced down at myself, wondering if I should make an excuse to wear jogging pants on the court and forego a swim. Even though I had muscle from workouts, tennis, and running, the near hairlessness of my legs might be what Aaron was reacting to. I could understand, as that was what had always embarrassed me about them.

Aaron scratched his chin. “I don’t think in all the time we’ve lived together, you’ve worn shorts, let alone walked around in underwear. Even at the gym, you’ve always worn sweatpants.”

“Oh.” Was he simply surprised and not disapproving?

“You’ve been way too insecure for no reason,” he added.

I might have grinned. “So, you really think I have a good body?”

He tilted his head as if appraising. “Hard to tell. I’m blinded by the whiteness.” He grinned to show he was teasing.

I pursed my lips. “That’s what happens when you cover everything all the time, I suppose.”

I picked up the bathing suit, shorts and polo shirt and started toward the bathroom door to change. Aaron stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

“You have a good body, Mikey. Stop worrying.”

I turned to look at him, and I could see he was sincere. “Thanks.”

“And if I had known you have an ass on you, I would have suggested you buy yourself a tighter bathing suit. The one I brought will be baggy,” he added. “Maybe find a reason to moon Cliff while you’re out there.”

“What? I’m not going to do that! Who do I look like? Daryl?” I asked.

He chuckled. “You only look like him when you give me those sour looks like you just smelled poop.”

“Probably because I had, tooter. You’ve let one go more than once since I’ve known you.”

Aaron shook his head. “Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess.”

“No, lack of manners does,” I corrected. “So, you really think I have a nice butt?” God, I’m so pathetic and desperate for approval.

Aaron jerked his head back. “I didn’t say nice. I said you have one. You’ll just need to hope that Cliff focuses on that and not something else.”

“Huh?”

Aaron tilted his head. “You know. Pray he isn’t a size queen like you are.”

I covered my crotch with the clothes I was holding. I flushed as I thought of a comeback. “I’m not a queen.”

Aaron laughed. “Okay. A size…prince?”

I frowned at the turn of the conversation. “I don’t care about that in a partner, for your information. And I happen to be a grower.”

Aaron continued to chuckle. “All dudes grow with the right stimulation, pookie.”

“I mean it grows to the size of most other people’s,” I said in defense. I wasn’t sure if that was true. It seemed average based on what I’d read over the years.

Aaron approached and patted the side of my head. “I told you, a big one would be grotesque on you. God gave you what makes sense aesthetically.”

I frowned. “You spend too much time thinking about how people look naked and having sex.”

“That’s called having an XY chromosome. Now go change, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“But you wouldn’t do anything, considering it’s Cliff,” I reminded him.

He nodded. “Exactly. Men don’t buy the cow if you give them the milk for free. That’s what my mom always tells my sister, anyway.”