“You’re staring.” He chewed as he stared right back.
“Incredible view.” No point in denying it.
“The sandwich is more interesting than me.” His mate took another bite but chewed more slowly this time.
Like hell. Ash could watch him eat for hours. Watch him do anything, really. The way his throat moved when he swallowed. How he licked salt from his fingers. The satisfied sigh he made between bites. It was like watching someone discover joy for the first time.
Mama Lou was giving him her recipe.
“Tell me something…” Ash needed a distraction before he really did drag Danny across the table. “What’s your favorite movie?”
“Besides Harry Potter?” Danny grinned around a fry. “Which I still haven’t seen all of, by the way.”
“Easy fix.”
“I like horror movies.” Danny ducked his head. “The cheesier the better. Like, terrible special effects, plots that make no sense, dialogue written by someone who’s never had an actual conversation.” He grinned. “So bad it’s good.”
“Friday the 13th bad or Sharknado bad?”
An evil smile formed on Dannys face. “Halloween Resurrection.”
Ash hissed. “You came out swinging.”
“Yes I did.” Danny laughed. “Isaac and I have this tradition. Every Halloween we marathon the worst ones we can find. Last year we watched something called Zombie Strippers, and I’m pretty sure it gave us brain damage.”
Ash never wanted their meal to end. “Sounds like quality entertainment.”
“It was terrible. Like impressively terrible.” Danny’s hands moved as he talked, painting pictures in the air. “There was this scene where—”
Their conversation flowed easy, swapping stories about movies and music and Danny’s theory that all cats were secretly plotting world domination. Ash found himself laughing more than he had in months, drawn in by Danny’s animated storytelling and the way his whole face lit up when he talked about things he loved.
The pie arrived as Danny was describing a customer who’d tried to return a watermelon because it was “too wet inside.” Mama Lou set down a slice that could've fed three people, chocolate cream piled high enough to qualify as architecture.
Danny’s fork hovered over the massive slice. “I’m so full, but...” He took a bite and softly moaned, eyes rolling back, his whole body going slack with pleasure.
Ash gripped his glass of soda hard enough to shatter it. That goddamn sound. Christ, it would haunt him. Would replay in his dreams until he heard as his mate writhed naked under him.
“You have got to try this.” Danny held out his fork, chocolate cream clinging to the tines.
Leaning forward, Ash let his mate feed him, their eyes locked as sweetness exploded across his tongue. Danny’s breath hitched, fork trembling slightly.
“Good?” His voice came out breathy.
“Better than perfect.” He slid his tongue over the tines once more, only slower this time. “I love eating cream.”
Danny’s lips slightly parted, a small squeak escaping. Without breaking eye contact, he scooped another forkful and fed it to Ash, who turned a bite of pie into an arrestable offense. By the time the plate was clean, Ash had a hard-on from hell and Danny was panting so heavily he could’ve fogged up every window in the diner.
“Ready to ditch this place?” Ash slid his tongue over his lower lip to catch a drop of cream.
“Uh-huh.” His mate slid out of the booth so fast Ash thought for sure he’d hit the floor. But he didn’t. Danny caught himself and headed straight for the door.
“He’s as red as a beet,” Mama Lou said from beside Ash, a smirk on her face. “Wonder what made him fly out of here.”
Ash glanced down at her, his smile never wavering. “I really enjoy our friendship, Lou.”
Her grin faded, wariness creeping in. “Loud and clear, Ash.”
As much as he adored her, if she’d caused his mate to experience even an ounce of embarrassment because of his arousal, Ash would have no qualms about never stepping foot in this pace again.
