“I’m good,” Luis said, which was the truth. You?”
Julien sat beside Karim. “Good. Better, I think, than last time.”
Luis nodded, “You seemed better. I’m glad.” He sat up to take the plate.
“Mille-Feuille,” Karim explained. “A French pastry of layers, the cream is vanilla.”
“It looks amazing,” Luis said as he carved off a forkful. “Can you just make anything?”
Karim shrugged. “I worked a long time as a chef then a baker in a lot of kitchens.”
Luis put the fork in his mouth and then groaned. It was flakey and sweet and perfect. “Wow,” he said after the bite, “that’s damn good.”
“One of my favorite desserts,” Julien said. “But Karim does make it hard to choose.” Julien leaned over to peck a kiss to his husband's lips before Karim could undercut the compliment.
“No kidding,” Luis agreed, “Everything I’ve eaten here has been amazing.” He was quickly clearing his plate, still warm and fuzzy at the edges, “It’s really made the microwave meals tough to get through.”
He meant it as a joke, but he caught Karim frowning.
“You know, you could come over more and I would cook for you,” Karim said.
Luis froze. “Oh, I mean–I wasn’t trying to, uh,” he fumbled.
“It’s no problem,” Karim said. “It’s nice to cook for someone who can actually eat.”
Julien was already nodding in agreement, “It really wouldn’t be any issue if you wanted to come for dinner any day of the week. Karim makes a little something for me, but he could make more if you’d join us.”
Luis blinked at them. The worst part was how tempted he was. The food was good, but what was really alluring was the company.
“Oh, um. Can I think about it?” He asked. He was way too compromised to be agreeing to anything right now.
“Of course,” Julien said. “The offers on the table for anytime.”
“Thanks,” Luis put down the scraped-clean plate, and then a yawn broke through. He could feel himself coming down from the excitement.
Julien smiled. “Bedtime?”
Another yawn. “Maybe,” he concluded.
He stood and went to reach for the plate but Karim waved him off. “I’ve got it.”
Luis nodded. That was good because he suddenly felt heavy, exhausted. Like even trudging up the stairs and brushing his teeth was going to be a labor.
“Thank you both for a nice night,” he said. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Luis,” Julien said.
“Night. There’ll be bagels tomorrow for you in the kitchen,” Karim said.
He was full, but that still sounded amazing. Luis climbed the stairs slowly, digesting the evening.
Being here felt like being spoiled. The food, the company, the lack of needles. He didn’t want it to end, but…
Luis couldn’t stay here. This wasn’t his life; these weren’t his partners. His life was something he’d allowed to go untended, unnourished, and as a result, now, it was nearly unpalatable to him.
But he had no clue what to do to fix it.
Chapter Nineteen
