Asa scoffed, glowering at one of several screws scattered across the hardwood like it owed him money. He picked it up, turned it between his fingers, then dropped it again like it had personally betrayed him. “I’m an architect. This fucking $60 shelf is not going to best me. I went to Cornell.”
“Are you hoping to intimidate the bookshelf with your CV?” Zane asked, earning a giggle from Felix who snuggled closer beneath the blanket, their legs tangled together. Felix’s toes were cold against Zane’s calf, and Zane tucked them under his thigh without thinking.
“I also went to Cornell,” Avi reminded him with a smirk, “and I gave up on those instructions on page two.”
Asa waved a dismissive hand. “You went for fashion. I went for architecture. This is literally my job.”
It was, in fact, not his husband’s job to put together cheapfurniture, but to build skyscrapers. The two weren’t even remotely similar. Okay, Zane could see the correlation from an engineering standpoint, but that didn’t mean Asa could put together a bookshelf…did it? There was a big difference between drafting a forty-story tower and deciphering a cartoon man holding an Allen wrench.
Zane hid a smile behind his hot chocolate. The mug was warm against his palms, marshmallows floating along the top, the steam fogging his glasses just enough to make everything feel soft around the edges. “It’s okay to admit defeat.”
He knew Asa would never, ever do that. But sometimes Zane got off on poking the bear. Especially when the bear was beautiful, dramatic, and currently being humbled by particle board. Also when the bear liked spanking him for his smart mouth.
Asa shot him a pouty look. “Et tu, Lois? Et tu?”
His favorite phrase to use any time Zane had an opinion that was counter-intuitive to his.
Zane’s face softened. He shifted forward, resting his elbow on his knee, voice dropping just a touch. “Baby, this is clearly stressing you out.”
“Maybe if you weren’t all staring at me…” he sulked. He gestured vaguely at the room like they’d assembled an audience just to judge him.
“We’re only here because you invited us,” Felix reminded him in a sing-song voice. He leaned his head against Zane’s shoulder, smiling into the blanket.
“Yeah, you said, and I quote, ‘Want to come watch me make this IKEA shelf my bitch.’ End quote,” Zane saidaround a laugh.
Felix nodded. “Yeah, Zane and I were gonna get bundled up and make the arduous journey across the neighborhood to see the Prince shrine in the gazebo. Apparently someone decorated it for Christmas. Noah said it’s very festive.”
Felix nodded again, warming to the topic. “Yeah, supposedly there’s reindeer, some elves and a tiny Santa hat glued to Prince’s picture.” He paused. “Not taped. Glued.”
The neighborhood stressed Noah out but since the others had moved there, they’d taken to treating their neighbors like a zoo exhibit. Noah had compared it toTwin Peaksand he wasn’t wrong. The people of Serenity Grove were off-putting on a good day. There were no dancing little people or people talking backwards but there were other things that made absolutely no sense…and Zane had grown up in the suburbs. This wasn’t normal suburban weird. This was curated. Intentional. Upper-middle-class weird.
“I owe Noah an apology…maybe Adam too. This neighborhood is fucking cracked, right?” Avi asked.
Asa scoffed. “You’re telling me. The older part of the neighborhood is…bizarre. Have you noticed the roads on that side of the neighborhood?”
“The roads?” Felix asked, like he hadn’t anticipated the sharp left turn in the conversation.
“I knowyoudidn’t notice the roads. You barely notice the pedestrians,” Asa muttered.
“Or stop signs,” Avi added.
Asa snorted. “Or traffic lights…”
“Traffic cones…speed limit signs…” Avi continued.
Felix gasped like they’d slapped him in the face. “I’m a good driver now!” He lifted his head, indignant. “I am. I haven’t had any accidents in over a year. Not even a fender-bender. And I use my blinkerreligiously.”
“That’s not a flex, kitten,” Avi said. “Most people don’t have a fender-bender every year, much less four. You don’t get a prize for not hitting people. Though maybeyoushould.”
“I still maintain that last one hit me,” Felix shot back, face flushing with righteous fury.
“They were in front of you, baby,” Zane reminded him gently.
Felix gasped. “They could have reversed into me!” When Asa and Avi laughed in tandem, Felix cried, “What? It happens! Stop laughing. It does!”
Zane let his gaze slide away to the dancing flames of the fireplace in the next room. The fire popped softly, sending a warm pulse through the house, the light throwing slow shadows that stretched and shrank along the walls.
“I am,” Felix said again quietly, almost like he was now trying to convince himself.
