“Why are your hands full?” Zach asked as he pulled open the door to his best friend holding a large, plastic McDonald’s bag and two large coffees.
“Mornin’,” Cael said, beaming brightly.
“Shit, I could fucking kiss you right now.”
Cael smirked. “Do I know you or what?” He walked past Zach to the kitchen table. “Hi, Tay-tay,” he said, setting the food and coffee on the table.
Taylor squealed. “Cael!”
As Cael emptied the contents of the bag, Zach took one of the coffees to the kitchen and popped the lid. He poured some of the coffee out, added a little milk, and once that was done, he grabbed the sugar container and a long-handled spoon and joined them both at the table.
“You go for a run this morning?” Cael asked as he removed the plastic lid from a scrambled egg and pancake platter.
“Yeah,” Zach mumbled, having already shoved half a hashbrown in his mouth. “Mmm.”So fucking good.
Cael laughed as he removed two of the three pancakes from the foam try and set them in the plastic lid, then started tearing the remaining one into tiny little pieces.
“What?”
“Nothing, Pook,” Cael said, his mouth curving into a wry grin. “Just leave some for me, okay?”
Cael set the tray of scrambled eggs and bite-sized pancake pieces in front of Taylor, letting her have at it, then sat down across from Zach.
“How was last night? She sleep okay?” Cael asked, stirring a small amount of sugar into his coffee.
Zach gave an affirmative scrunch and nod, swallowing the bite in his mouth. “Yeah. I think the pain meds they have her on helped her sleep. She hardly made a peep last night.”
“You figure out if you’re goin’ in tomorrow?” Cael unwrapped a breakfast sandwich and took a bite.
“Yeah,” Zach exhaled the word. “I think I’ll take tomorrow as a personal day until I know what’s going on with daycare. Plus, it will give me a little extra time to settle her in here.” He looked over at Taylor, happily eating, and his chest tightened.
“Hey,” Cael called, and Zach looked at him. “You okay?”
Zach puffed out a breath of air. “Yeah. I mean, no, not really, but I fucking have to be, right?”
“Zach…”
“Sorry. I just… I fucking hate that there’s nothing anyone can do.” He paused, shaking his head. “Is it bad that I’m trying not to think about her?”
“Of course not. You’ve got Taylor right now to worry about.”
Cael reached across the table and covered Zach’s hand with his bigger one. It struck Zach as a little weird at first, but the gentle warmth of Cael’s rough hand on his actually felt good.
“Besides, Pook. We’re talking about Abbey—stubborn, kick-ass, knock-me-down-I’ll-get-right-back-up Abbey.”
Zach huffed a small laugh, pretending to ignore the caring way Cael’s thumb rubbed over his knuckles. It felt good—really good—and reminded him of how close they were, even as just friends.
For a moment, Zach wondered if Cael had ever thought of them as more than that, or maybe wanted more between them, but then Zach remembered this was Cael—the guy who swore off boyfriends years ago and proudly proclaimed he would never get married. Ever.Guaranteed.
But then why his comment yesterday that he would marry him? Had he just been trying to make Zach feel better, or was there something more that he simply wasn’t seeing.
His mom’s whispered words came back to him as his gaze drifted down to where their hands rested on the table, still connected, and how good it still felt...
Open your eyes, Zach, before it’s too late.
Zach sucked in a sharp breath.
No fucking way. He couldn’t. Fuck, he would have known, right? Or maybe he’d overlooked it since he knew Cael didn’t want the same things he wanted.
