Dev let out a groan, stretched, and tried to formulate words. “Mm-hmm.”
“I take that as a yes. We’ll be there within an hour. Get out of bed and go shower.”
“Okay.”
“See you soon. Bye.”
Dev put the phone away and pulled himself out of bed. Seth and Leaf were coming over. The thought was enough to get him into the bathroom to shower and make himself presentable. He tossed the clothes he’d been working and sleeping in into the hamper, then went back to his room to pull on some clean sweats and a T-shirt.
He took his cell and walked downstairs into the kitchen to plug his phone into the charger there. He was about to start coffee when the doorbell rang. Smiling, he went to open the door.
Seth stood there with a large white paper bag in his hands, and beamed at him. “Morning or afternoon, whichever works for you.”
“Morning,” Dev murmured and let him through.
Leaf, on the other hand, just look at him from head to toe, smirked, and walked after Seth without saying a thing. He was carrying—
“Is that coffee?” Dev closed the door and followed the men into the kitchen.
“Yes, there’s coffee, croissants, and muffins. Oh, and a bagel for you. I picked veggie stuff because I wasn’t sure what you liked,” Seth said while setting delicious things on the island.
“This one’s for you,” Leaf said, extracting a cup from the tray.
When Dev went to take it from him, Leaf lifted it up over his head.
Dev froze, his morning brain stalling for a few seconds before he understood. “Oh,” he said, smiled, and went to kiss Leaf soundly on the lips.
Leaf took control of the kiss immediately, coaxing Dev’s lips open, and all but devoured him.
A long, lone moan from nearby made them stop and turn to look at Seth, who seemed flushed and quite turned on.
Dev took his coffee from Leaf and went to Seth. “Do I get a good morning kiss from you too?” he asked, and Seth ducked his head, then moved in for the kiss.
They kissed for a while. It was maybe a bit less lusty than with Leaf, but Dev thought it might be the fact that Seth was more restrained and careful anyway, and they hadn’t done anything but kiss before.
“As good as this is, I need my caffeine,” he said finally, pulling away and taking a sip from the mug. “Oh God, which of you knew?” he moaned when he tasted the hazelnut with a dash of chocolate in the drink.
“You might’ve told me when we talked about coffee habits one day. You didn’t even realize why I was fishing for the information,” Leaf confessed.
Dev could just about remember a few texts about caffeine-related things. “Sneaky. I like that,” he said decisively, taking the plate with the bagel on it from Seth.
They settled around the breakfast nook, and Dev had his breakfast while Seth and Leaf had a late lunch.
“How’re the dogs?” Dev asked, and Seth launched into a lengthy yet oddly mild rant about how he’d nearly tripped on Missy that morning on his way to bathroom.
“I mean, she’s almost never there! I was too sleepy to notice her, and now I feel bad about kicking her even though it was an accident!” Seth pouted, which looked endearing on his professor face. Dev realized he was wearing his work clothes, so the slightly stuffy teacher image still clung to Seth.
“She’s honestly not smart enough to feel bad about it. She’s just confused about why you’re acting weird,” Leaf said in a tone that suggested he’d told Seth this already. Maybe a couple of times.
Dev nodded. “Yeah, I’m with Leaf on this one.” He grabbed a muffin and looked at Seth. “I love Missy, I do, but she’s not the sharpest anything. Husky or Grace might’ve gotten offended, but they’re too smart to lie down somewhere on your path anyway.”
“And I told him that too, but he’s a bit of a martyr, our Seth,” Leaf murmured over his coffee.
Seth rolled his eyes. “Fine,fine. I’ll try to get over myself.” He reached to touch Dev’s hand. “Did you manage to solve the emergency problem?”
“Oh yes, around… I don’t even know. Fiveish this morning?” Dev squeezed Seth’s fingers and smiled. “Which means I appreciate breakfast even more.”
“Looks like our boy did earn his reward, doesn’t it?” Leaf purred, making Seth blush.
