Luke rolled his eyes and waved him away. “It’s fine.”
Asher glared at Talon, holding his gaze long enough to be considered threatening, then left the library, closing the doors behind him. He’d just caught up to Cameron at the top of the winding staircase when Luke’s voice rang sharply down the hallway.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the first thing you’re going to ask me?”
He and Cameron exchanged glances, shook their heads, then hurried down the steps. Neither of them saidanything until they’d reached the relative safety of Asher’s kitchen.
“What the hell was that all about?” Cameron asked, gingerly placing the glass coffee carafe down on the countertop beside the sink.
“No idea,” Asher answered honestly.
“Do they know each other?”
Up until two minutes ago, he would have said no. “Luke never mentioned knowing him.”
Cameron bit down on his bottom lip and glanced upward as if he could see through the ceiling and into the library. “How long do you think we should give them?”
Luke wasn’t the type to keep his feelings to himself, and from the little bit Asher had witnessed, the guy had a lot to say. “It’s probably going to be a while.”
Nodding, Cameron went to the refrigerator and began pulling out various meats and cheeses from the deli drawer. Next, he opened one of the produce bins and stared into it for a long time before selecting a colorful mixture of vegetables. Finally, he placed several different jars on the counter and closed the door.
“Cam, what are you doing?”
“You need to eat something,” he said as he crossed the kitchen to the pantry. “You’re out of white bread, but I think there’s a loaf of honey wheat. Oh,” he added, his voice muffled as he rummaged through the shelves, “you also have flatbread.”
Asher grinned. “The wheat is fine.”
While he was terrible at anything that required more than a spin in the microwave, Asher was perfectly capable of making himself a sandwich. Just like with the coffee and the hot cocoa, however, he understood that Cameron needed to keep busy. He needed to feel useful.
So, instead of arguing with him, he moved around the island, positioning himself to catch Cameron as he turned away from the pantry.
“Oomph,” Cameron wheezed when he walked right into him, trapping the loaf of bread between them. “What the—”
“Thank you,” Asher interrupted, taking Cameron’s face in both hands and tilting his head up so he could look into those icy blue eyes.
“You’re squishing the bread.”
Asher grinned. He didn’t give a damn about the bread. “Thank you,” he repeated. “For everything. I couldn’t do this without you.”
“It’s just a sandwich,” Cameron muttered, his face heating in Asher’s hands.
It was so much more than that, and they both knew it.
Asher bent, sealing their mouths together and teasing those soft lips with his tongue. He smiled when Cameron parted for him on a quiet sigh, then delved inside for a deep, languid kiss he hoped said everything he couldn’t put into words.
Thank you for trusting me.
Thank you for believing in me.
Thank you for not running.
Thank you, Cameron Stone, for just being you.
Ending the kiss, he rested his forehead against Cameron’s and exhaled a shaky breath. “Do you want some help?”
“If I ask you to slice tomatoes, you’re not going to cut your finger off, right?”
Asher chuckled, kissed Cameron’s forehead, then turned away. “I think I can handle it, smartass.”
