“Yup,” I said with a shrug. “I already downsized once when I moved down here, and again when I got out of the first place I was staying. I’ve been traveling around for work for years, so I never allowed myself to build up a huge amount of stuff I was just going to have to get rid of anyway.”
Rafael barked a laugh. “That first night you came over, I was afraid you were going to look around at how basic my apartment is and judge me,” he said. He shook his head. “I didn’t realize we were exactly the same.”
“Well, maybe we’ll start changing that,” I said. I slipped an arm around his waist, looking around at the small living room: my stuff next to his stuff. “Start putting down roots.”
“Yeah?” Rafael asked, tilting his head.
I nodded. “Yeah.”
He looked back at the view. “I think I’d like that,” he said. “It might be nice to have a reason to want to come home.”
“I can think of one or two,” I said with a crafty look.
He caught my eye and rolled his own, but he grinned and played along anyway. “Like what?”
I leaned in without another word and captured his lips, one hand sliding behind his neck to hold him in place as I took my leisurely time with him. There was no longer any rush. Neitherof us had to get home for the night, and as for work, well, we were both going in together.
We had all the time in the world – and I was going to take it.
I undressed him slowly, sending gooseflesh up his arms as I smoothed my fingertips over his skin. He shuddered with need and overwhelm as I drew him through to the bedroom, the only place not now covered with my boxes, and pushed him to sit on the edge of the bed. Between his knees, spread wider, I got down on my own and took him into my mouth.
Our eyes locked as I sucked him torturously slow, watching his hands fist in the sheets, flushes running up his neck and onto his cheeks. He moaned and said my name and begged, and even though I wanted to draw it out, I couldn’t help but give in. He lay in front of me on the bed and I lined myself up against him, taking a second just to admire the sight before me, recording every millimeter of him in my memory.
This was the kind of day I would want to remember forever.
I moved inside him and he clung to me, desperately, his fingers leaving marks on my arms. I bent over him, over his cocked legs, until he was pretzeled in half to accommodate both of us, and kissed him as he panted for breath. Sweat slicked both of our skin as he twisted under me, spinning himself around and up on all fours, looking over his shoulder with the most enticing look I had ever seen in my life.
That was when I knew.
Everything was going to be okay.
We christened every room in the small apartment that night, between trying to shift boxes to the right places and ordering pizza, eating it in front of a shitty movie that neither of us wasreally watching, and turning in for the night – or what was supposed to be turning in.
And if anyone noticed how tired we were the next morning, or how stiff our legs were, they doubtlessly ignored it in favor of the blindingly bright smiles we couldn’t stop wearing – or the way we moved in the kitchen like two halves of the same whole, anticipating each others’ movements flawlessly, like two people now become one.
Epilogue: Rafael
“Do you think you’ve got it?” I asked Robbie. He nodded, though I detected a trace of attitude I wasn’t sure I liked. Where did Grey keep getting all these strays from, anyway?
“I’m sure I’ll cope,” he said. He sounded bored.
I lifted my chin, trying to rise above it. It probably didn’t feel good to accept a job as a dishwasher when you were his age. He was just starting out in the job market, and he wanted to be higher up already. The impatience of youth. I couldn’t blame him for that.
“Well, if you get stuck, you can always ask Luca,” I said, my hand landing on the shoulder of our proud newly-minted chef. “He did your job for the last year and a bit. If there’s anything you can’t find or you don’t know where it goes, just ask him.”
“Not too much, though,” Luca said hurriedly. “I’m still training. I need to focus.”
Robbie snorted. “Haven’t you been paying attention over the last year? You should know how to work the whole kitchen by now.”
“Is that your intention?” I asked. “To learn how to be a chef so you can move up?”
Robbie shrugged. “Does cooking pay more?” At our nods, he made a loose gesture. “So, yeah. I’m obviously going to want to move up.”
I had my concerns about whether he had the stamina to keep up with the demands of the job; you couldn’t succeed as a chef unless you really believed in the role. Still, time would tell, and if not, we’d only have to train up a new dishwasher.
“Brendan’s going to have your back today,” I told Luca. “You two should be able to cover everything between you. If not, let me know. Now that Drake’s got his full range of motion back, I can help out with the prep a bit more.”
“Isn’t it a bit weird?” Robbie asked. He was wrinkling his nose at the mention of Drake. “I know I’m not an expert, but I’ve never heard of a restaurant having two Head Chefs.”
