“You need to feed me before you do anything that smile is suggesting,” I said.
“Sounds good,” he said, and made a move to get up. But, I stopped him with a hand to his thigh.
“I’ll get the shower warm,” I said, sitting up myself and giving him a quick press of lips, and then getting out of bed before he could argue with me. He hated being cold. Perrin didn’t respond, but I felt his eyes on me the whole way to the bathroom.
Before long, we managed to actually leave the cabin and find a funky basement cafe that had a vibe that drew both of us in. I loved the feel of the place, and being there with a completely relaxed Perrin was even better. He was a very tactile person on a good day. So sitting with him next to the stone walls of the underground cafe meant his legs were underneath my own chair, and mine his, and he had one of my hands caught in both of his.
“Perfect timing, gentlemen,” the server said with a smile. She had short hair and a row of piercings in her ear. I liked her infectious smile immediately. “Lunch crowd is out, and we still have plenty of everything.” I could see her eyes sweep our body language in a second. “A late brunch maybe?” she asked.
Perrin smiled at her and then turned a wolfish grin to me, but before he could say anything, she stopped him.
“You want a local suggestion?” she asked. “I know just the thing.”
“Not going to argue with that,” I said.
“We are working on a variation of a Moscow mule for the brunch crowd.Wanna try it? I can bring those and an appetizer while you look over the menus,” she suggested.
“Perfect,” Perrin said. Once she was gone his eyes found mine, and his lips brushed against the tips of the fingers he was holding.
“Jack,” he said, expression serious. “Thank you for this trip. Truly. I know it’s just the first day, but I needed this,” he said.
I smiled because I knew what he meant. He had been hitting it hard at work, in the community, with his business in Texas, and I had seen it take a toll on him the past ten days. Perrin could focus to the point of running himself ragged if I had let him.
“I need you, Jack,” he said, unexpectedly. “You just . . .” he trailed off. “I adore you, Jack.”
I lifted the back of his hand to my mouth. “I know you do, P. And I needed this, too, with you,” I added.
“Sweet talking motherfucker,” he said with a laugh.
I shruggedmy shoulders. “You started it,” I said.
We laughed, and fell into easy conversation as the server came back with drinks and food.
“I need to step outside and coordinate when we are picking up that piece,” I finally told him, not wanting to tear myself away from him, or the conversation we were having. I leaned over to kiss him on my way out, and he caught the back of my head, pulling in for more. I pressed a kiss to his forehead, finally able to pull myself from his spell.
Perrin
“Jack’s not usually one to bring around a date.”
My head jerked up at the words. It wasn’t our server. No, this was a man, about my age. He had a medium build- almost perfectly average in that way. He was attractive, but only because he wasn't unattractive. I searched for a single thing that made the guy unique or stand out, from his eye color, to his clothes, to even a freckle or mole on his cheek that would be memorable, but I came up short. He was like a catalogue model - all parts on paper that should be attractive but instead were, well, not plain exactly, but uninteresting.
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked. I had been checking my email, continuing to ignore the repeated emails from Christopher. They had started in earnest after I saw him at the gala, although they had been sporadic before. Usually, I answered, but something about seeing him with my mother and Malcolm had me ignoring them. I wasn’t the type of guy to be on my phone just because I was alone at a restaurant table. But, I was also expecting something on one of the businesses I ran in Texas, and I wanted to see the contract when it arrived in my inbox. Specifically, I had questions about it for Jack.
“Jack,” the man said again.
“Oh, yeah, he had to step out and take a call. You know Jack?” I asked, ready with a smile to the guy, but I was met with hostility in his gaze.
“I do,” the guy replied, curtly. He was just this side of being rude, and I swore I hadn’t even seen the guy before.
“I guess you have me at a disadvantage, Mr. ?” I said, trying to figure out why someone in Lyle was being hostile to me about Jack.
“I’m Bryan Reed. Jack’s boyfriend,” the guy continued.
I couldn’t help the smile that quirked up on my mouth. This guy certainly wasn’t Jack’s boyfriend, I was pretty sure of that. Which meant saying something like that made him an asshole. Jack and I had more or less been plastered to each other for months. If this guy hadn’t seen that, or seen how Jack had just left the table, then I wasn’t going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Unless Jack was some sort of superhuman or something, he didn’t have time for another guy. That put a smirk on my face, but I didn’t care. I had always been a sexual guy, and Jack only brought all of that out even more in me. Plus, for all the things Jack and I had shared with each other, I was fairly certain our discussion on the point of monogamy had been absolutely clear. And I certainly trusted Jack more than this guy who randomly showed up at my table.
“Oh,” I said, knowing I was about to be an ass, but I didn’t stop it. “Did he come here to Lyle to see you?” I asked, with my best “interested” expression turned all the way on. The name Bryan rang some dim bell somewhere in the recesses of my brain. Then I remembered Quinn’s face I had to clean up during my first week in Bear Valley, and any reservations about showing just what an ass I could be instantly dissipated. If I remembered correctly, this guy also had made a scene at Maxine’s coffee shop that still made Jack cringe.
