Chapter Twenty-Four
“How’s the wine?” Reid asked, flipping bacon over in the frying pan he had going. If he and Gabriel were going to hang out together regularly, some of their meals needed to be home-cooked.
That didn’t mean he was giving up bacon, though. No pasta dish was complete without it.
It killed him to go light on the garlic, but hedidwant to kiss Gabriel later. Sacrifices had to be made.
“My knowledge of wine hasn’t improved since last time,” Gabriel said. “But it’s very drinkable.”
Reid chuckled. “That's the important thing. I figure we can learn wines together.”
“House training me already?” Gabriel asked. “I knew seeing my apartment would freak you out.”
“I’m not freaking out,” Reid argued. “I just want to share nice things with you.”
“Ooh, careful,” Gabriel said. “This is starting to sound borderline romantic.”
Reid raised an eyebrow, removing the bacon from the pan and turning the heat low before dumping the pasta he’d drained a moment ago into it, adding his garlic, herb, and olive oil mixture to the whole thing.
“I’m making dinner right in front of you while you sip wine and tell me about your day, and that’s onlyborderlineromantic?” he asked. “I don’t know how to get any more romantic than this.”
Gabriel laughed, twirling his wine glass by the stem. “I’ll accept that this is a little romantic. I’m enjoying it, anyway.”
“Good,” Reid said, hissing as he crumbled the still-hot bacon and tossed it into the pan with the pasta, turning the noodles to coat them.
Cooking for himself was boring and always felt like a chore, but cooking for someone else—someone he really liked—made it a lot more fun. Reid didn’thatecooking, exactly, but it was nice to have someone else to share with.
Gabriel, specifically. It was nice to share with Gabriel.
“So how wasyourday?” Gabriel asked as Reid slid one of the plates over to him.
He’d thought about moving them both to the dining table, but eating at the counter was nice. Comfortable.
It felt like something they could do all the time. Like maybe they could justhavethis, sink into it like a warm bath.
He could practically reach out and touch it. Reid couldn’t remember feeling quite this way about anyone before.
Terrifying as it was, it was also kinda nice. Feeling connected to someone like this made him feel warm all over, excited whenever he got a chance to be around Gabriel.
He washappy. Genuinely happy, in a way he hadn’t been in a long time.
Gabriel felt like a missing piece in his life.
“Well…”
Reid hesitated.
He wanted to tell Gabriel his good news, but he was worried that he’d take it the wrong way.
“Don’t leave me in suspense,” Gabriel said around his first mouthful of pasta. “This is good.”
“Thanks,” Reid said. “I, uh… turns out I won an award? For, uh, social impact.” He scratched the back of his neck, waiting for a reaction.
Gabriel looked up at him, his fork halfway to his mouth. “You’re saying a positive thing in a tone that makes me think you’re conflicted about it,” he said.
That was exactly what Reid was doing, because it was exactly how he felt.
Firstly, he wasn’t sure he deserved it. Secondly, he wasn’t sure how to approach the subject of the award dinner with Gabriel.
