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“That’s what we have to figure out.”
THIRTY
Royal
We tried to ignore the backlash as much as possible. I stayed off my phone, used to it after the month at Black Diamond. Levi checked in and kept asking us what we wanted to do, and Aspen never wavered. He wanted to play the NYE show in New York City for the ball drop. I wasn’t about to tell him no.
I enjoyed Christmas with my two favorite people.
I thought about retiring a lot.
The only thing that kept me back was knowing how miserable it would make Aspen.
As the days ticked down to NYE, we couldn’t decide what to do. We were stuck in the wormhole between Christmas and New Year’s when time wasn’t real. As people were off and spending time on the internet, Arthur’s story got more and more traction.
I turned off the TV any time I caught Mom watching something that it might mention it. Not only for my own fucking mental health but for Aspen’s as well.
“You haven’t helped me pick a costume.” Aspen lay on my bed half-dressed, and the last thing I wanted to do was put more clothes on him.
“Can you even get anything this quickly?” I realized I had no idea how he sourced them. I’d stayed so far away for the whole process I knew nothing about it. “Who helps you usually?”
“One of the personal assistants helps me source things, but I’ve designed them all, and I sketch out my idea, then send it to her.” He rolled to his stomach, resting his chin on his fist.
“We only have two days. You can’t do any of that by then.” I sat on the edge of the bed. “I should have asked before now.”
“You’ve been trying not to think about work, so I didn’t want to push it.” He reached for me with his free hand.
I laced our fingers and laid back, putting our faces near one another. “Am I so transparent?”
“I’ve known you a long time.” Aspen traced the lines of my hand. The small gestures were so loving.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I leaned to the side to kiss his forearm. “So what are you going to wear since we don’t have time to design and source?”
“I’ve already done a couple of things. Want to pick which?”
My brows lifted. “Behind my back?”
He nodded, grinning. “I didn’t want to bother you while you were decompressing, but now I want your help if you have the space for it.”
“Hit me with them.”
Aspen grabbed his iPad off the bedside table. He did all of our concept art on it, so I was used to him with it clutched in his hands, drawing, creating, and writing music. It was like his diary or idea notebook. He took the pencil off the top and put it between his lips before tapping into one of his apps. He grabbed the pencil and tapped through.
“Are you ready?”
I flipped around so we were lying side by side, both of us on our stomachs. “Hit me with them.”
“I was thinking after the Joker and Rocky Horror, I should do some more cult classics that mean a lot to us.”
I couldn’t help the smile that overtook my face. I kissed his shoulder and then his cheek. “So you want me horny and in love?”
“Obviously, and if you could add a little sexually frustrated and angry in there, I would be thankful.”
“What does thankful involve?” I asked, nipping at his ear.
“Angry sex, hopefully pinned to a wall.”
I groaned against his skin. “I’ll see what I can do.”
