The smile on his face made everything better. “That’s okay. I missed you. Let me get my apron off, and I’ll give you a hug.”
I leaned down, pressing my lips to his in a soft, gentle kiss. “I wouldn’t have minded. How was therapy?”
“It was really good. We talked through some triggersand stuff. Like, um, when I got triggered the other day when you were on top of me. And then the laundry thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I told her it didn’t make sense to me. Like how triggered I got with one over the other. I don’t know.” He shrugged and untied the apron from around his waist, shedding it completely. “She said it’s normal. Not everything will hit me the same way. I mean, the house rules were every single day. Sometimes, I could figure out what the punishment would be, and other times, I had no idea. It was unpredictable at best.”
I felt the anger deep in my gut, but I tried not to show it. Elio didn’t deserve the ugliness. He deserved only good after enduring so much bad in his life. “I mean, it makes sense to me. Though that may not mean much in the grand scheme of things.”
“No, it means a lot to me. Just having you understand me, I guess. Did you call Moon?”
“Yeah, I did. Called my parents right after, too. They really want me to come and see them, or to come see me. See you, really. They’re excited to know you’re back.” I took his apron and led him down the hallway.
He sat on the couch, putting one leg over his knee. “We can go visit them if you’d like. I don’t mind. I’d like to see them again, honestly.”
Well, I hadn’t been expecting that. “You sure?”
“Yeah. That sounds nice.”
I leaned against the arm of the couch, looking down at him. “Okay. We can visit, then. Do you think you’re ready for a date night, or do you want to wait for another day?”
A big, satisfied grin took over his face, damn near squishing his cheeks up toward his eyes. He nodded, his excitement obvious. “I just need to shower all this paint off. Where are we going?”
“Well, I wasthinking we could try that small Italian place at the edge of town if you’re up to it.”
His eyebrows turned down, but only for a second. “I think I’ll be a bit worried. You know, about Jude showing up or something. But I want to try, and I know I’ll have you.”
The way he said it had my heart aching. A warm, tingling ache square in the middle of it.He finds me safe.“Yeah, I’ve got your back, Sunshine.”
He grinned at me just before running off to shower. We took turns doing so, Elio coming out of the bathroom in one of his favorite crop tops and a pair of black jeans. They looked like they were crafted specifically for him, melding perfectly to his body.
Instead of silently admiring him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and kissed him right on the lips. “You look fucking gorgeous.”
Watching his cheeks turn red was one of my favorite pastimes as of late. The blush traveled down to his neck, and I saw his eyes flicker to the side. “You don’t look so bad yourself, honey.”
Through all the years we’d known each other, I never knew I needed this from him. But it felt right. It felt natural. It felt real, and it felt like us.
I could tell Elio was a bit nervous on the way to the restaurant. I could feel the energy coming from the passenger seat where he was. He was holding up pretty well, all things considered. I could hear him doing deep breathing the entire way there, and I made sure to chime in periodically with words of affirmation or praise.
After how well the day had gone, I wanted to go without my earbuds for once. Just while Elio and I were on our first date. I wanted to hear him without any muffled music playing beneath his voice. We needed to be one-on-one, with my sole focus on him instead of the deep bass orstrumming of guitars in the song I’d picked to drown the world out.
So far, so good. I could hear him and everything else around us without any unwanted interruptions.
It took us a minute to get into the building with how anxious Elio was, but once we were seated, he seemed to mellow out some.
The menus were a whole other challenge, with hundreds of options to choose from. I honestly hadn’t fully thought about how the food might affect him. We’d been doing good, checking in with his stomach instead of letting him gorge himself. Though, depending on the portion sizes they gave us, I might have to watch how much he ate so he didn’t get sick.
I opened the menu, pointing to one of the items. “I think the Alfredo looks delicious. What do you think?”
He peered over at it before looking up at me, his bottom lip between his teeth. He chewed on it, seemingly mulling over the decision. “Do you think it’ll be a lot?”
“It might be. But I can help you take a break in between eating if it is. I’ve got your back, baby.”
“Okay, yeah. I think that looks good.”
Elio didn’t take his eyes off me when the waitress came by to take our order. He didn’t seem to feel confident enough to order on his own, so I did it for him without question.
