He nodded and kissed the top of my head. “I’m glad Rian had the epiphany. There’s going to be so many more things in New York to overwhelm our senses.”
Our.I kept forgetting that he and Ben hadn’t really been anywhere other than their home town and a couple of airports on their way to rehab and back.
“What are your thoughts about New York?” I asked quietly as I slipped my hand under his T-shirt.
He sucked his stomach in, then relaxed again. He was such a sensitive, sensual man, as was Ben. Now that I was getting more intimately familiar with their bodies, I couldn’t get enough.
“A bit nervous,” he said as I scraped my nails on his sparse chest hair, then down the line on his lower stomach. “You got to stop that.”
I chuckled, but did as I was told. As much as I wanted to escalate, I also knew it wasn’t the time and the door was wide open.
As if to remind us of that, Cindy waltzed in, jumped on the bed, and went to curl up on Max’s other side. I reached over his stomach to pet her silky head.
As soon as we stepped into the diner, I knew there was a possibility that Ben had chosen the time he did just to make sure it would be less overwhelming for me. There were still plenty of occupied booths, but a cheerful looking human noticed Ben and gave him a little wave.
“Hey, just grab any booth you want and take an extra chair from somewhere if you need it, I’ll be right with you!”
“Thanks, Tadeo,” Ben called out, then pointed toward a family booth near the back by the kitchen doors. “Let’s sit there.”
As we trailed after him, I felt Rian’s hand at the small of my back. He was taking care of me as the one who’d turned me, and I appreciated that. In this situation, it was as comforting as knowing Ben and Max were here with me.
The booth was U-shaped, so I slid into the middle. Ben and Max took either side, and then Rian and Carys bookended them, respectively.
The waiter walked past us with a tray of dirty dishes and ducked into the kitchen. I could hear him talk to someone—the cook, probably—and then he was back, with a notepad in his hand.
“All right, folks. What can I get you?” he asked, smiling in a friendly way.
“I’d just like an espresso,” Rian said.
“Me, too,” I added quickly.
Tadeo’s gaze met mine, and he did a small double-take. “Oh. Yeah. I can do that.” Then he blushed a little, making us all grin. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s okay,” I assured him. “This is my first time being out and about after….” I gestured at my mouth.
He nodded, immediately serious. “I was there for my brother.” He nodded toward the kitchen door. “He’s in the kitchen. Just let me know if you need anything at all.”
The door swung open and a vampire with almost identical coloring to Tadeo’s stepped out. “We got a baby vamp in the house?” he asked, then looked marginally less surprised than his brother when he recognized me. “Well, that’s not common news yet,” he stated.
I chuckled. “No, it’s not. Give me a few days.”
He held his hand out for a shake. “I’m Reyes. I hope you’re doing fine now.”
Ah. He knew I’d been ill.
“I’m great. The new diet seems to be working.” I winked at him.
He laughed and shook his head. “Right. I remember that. It’s been about a decade for me, but it was a similar situation to yours, I assume.”
“We’re fortunate to have this now,” I said, then leaned into Ben’s shoulder while Max reached for my hand.
Both Tadeo and Reyes noticed the movements, and to my relief, they seemed okay with it.
“We really are. I have a wife and this place. My brother lives next door. Couldn’t ask for more, really,” Reyes replied, then clapped Tadeo’s shoulder. “Let me know their order when you have it.”
Then he nodded politely and went back into the kitchen.
Tadeo wrote down what the wolves and Carys wanted to eat, and then brought us our drinks.
