The corner of his mouth twitched but he merely nodded.
Zane had known that, of course. He was just making shitty small talk. He sighed and folded his arms on the counter, resting his chin on his hands. “Fevd is my favorite fish.”
Pavel didn’t bother holding back his smile then.
“Which you knew.” If only Zane knew how to do this. He straightened on the stool, antsy.
“You don’t have to try so hard,” Pavel told him lightly. “Relax, gorgeous. There’s nothing to this.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“I’m guessing family dinners are stuffy and catered for the Solaces?”
“That would be an understatement.”
“What about with Lyra?”
“More of the same.”
“Even after you two have hooked up?”
“We never eat together after. It ends as soon as we’ve both gotten what we wanted. With Kazimir…” He pursed his lips, unsure if he should say as much, but when Pavel didn’t flinch and continued preparing dinner, decided it was fine. “Kaz and I would sit around after sometimes. Just as long as it took for one of us to clean off and put our clothes back on, or if we planned on going another round before calling it. It wasn’t anything major though. It was just shooting the shit to pass time.”
A dark thought entered Zane’s head and his eyes narrowed. “What about you? How many people have you made dinner for?”
Pavel chuckled. “Aside from my brother and my parents, only you, baby.”
He’d been calling him that a lot more frequently. Baby. It made Zane’s ears heat and he didn’t understand why. But he didn’t entirely dislike it either.
“How many people have you called that before?” he asked next.
Pavel finished setting their plates and then brought them over to the dining room table, ignoring the way Zane swiveled on the stool to keep him in his sight all the while. Instead of putting them across from each other, he chose two chairs at the six-seater on the same side, the one facing the kitchen.
He came over and held out a hand to Zane, but Zane glanced at it, still a bit miffed by the images his imagination had conjured of Pavel in bed with someone else, whispering sweet nothings into their ear instead.
“Answer the question, Hart.”
Pavel stepped closer and grabbed Zane’s hand, tugging him off the stool with enough force it sent Zane toppling off. He caught him before he could fall completely, grinning when that earned him a curse. “There’s no reason for you to be jealous.”
“I’m not,” he snapped.
“So you won’t care if I say I’ve called—” Pavel’s brow winged up when suddenly Zane’s hand was at his throat. “We’re playing nice tonight, remember, gorgeous?”
“Tell me you weren’t just about to lie to get a reaction out of me and I’ll let go.”
“Fair.” Pavel gently took him by the wrist and eased him off before leading him to the table and into one of the chairs he’d already pulled out. He helped Zane push it in, keeping his hands on the arm rests after, effectively blocking him in with his arms as he nuzzled the side of Zane's head with his chin. “I haven’t shared my bed with anyone since you and I reunited.”
“What does that mean?”
Pavel sighed, his warm breath fanning across Zane’s cheek. “The last time I fucked someone who wasn’t you, I was seventeen.”
He pulled back, turning so he could gape at him. “You’re not serious? That’s like six-some years! There’s no way. You run a damn sex club!”
“I didn’t say I haven’t gotten off.” He moved away and took the seat on Zane’s left, picking up his utensils to start eating. “I just haven’t done it with anyone else. There’s no need.”
“Surely you’ve gotten tired of having nothing but your own hand?” Zane didn’t want to dwell on the spark of relief knowing Pavel hadn’t been with anyone else brought him. “Or do you use a lot of toys to keep things interesting?”
“Sometimes,” he replied. “I have a few favorites I turn to when you’ve gotten me especially worked up. I don’t think I could use any of them again now, however. Before, I could lie to myself and pretend those fleshlights felt the same way you would sucking on my cock, but now that I’ve experienced the real thing, there’s no way. If I knew I could take my time with it, I’d change into you and stroke myself in front of the mirror, trying to emulate your expressions. But I was off there too.”
