“Why’sthat?” Ethan asked.
“BecauseI like to eat.”
Ethanlaughed, the sound rusty but soothing at the same time.
Beausearched the refrigerator for longer than he probably should have. It wasstocked just as well, if not more so, than the pantry. Tons of fresh food,including vegetables and fruit, more meat and cheese. A gallon of milk, a sixpack of Heineken – Ethan’s beer of choice. Several jars of applesauce. And anenormous jug of chocolate syrup.
Pretendingthat he wasn’t checking out what type of food Ethan opted for, Beau grabbed ajar of mayo and a bottle of spicy mustard. When he turned back, he noticedEthan watching him, a subtle grin on his delectable lips.
“Sorry,”Beau said shyly as he took the items and set them alongside the abundance offresh meat and cheese that were decorating the counter beside Ethan.
Optingnot to retreat, which was something he would’ve done in the past, Beau decidedhe was going to embrace this moment. He still wasn’t sure how they’d gotten tothis point, but he wasn’t about to ruin it. Being here, doing something asmundane as making sandwiches, Beau felt closer to Ethan than when they’d beenmaking out at the shop just a short while ago.
Hisentire body heated rapidly as he remembered that kiss. It was amazing. Evenbetter than last night or the first kiss they shared on Christmas Day, and forthe longest time, Beau wasn’t sure anything would ever compare to that.
“Canyou grab a couple of plates out of the cabinet?”
Beauheaded over to the cabinet that Ethan nodded toward and grabbed two platesbefore returning to his side.
“Oneor two?” Ethan asked, sliding slices of bread out of the plastic wrapper.
“Three,”Beau said with a smile. He didn’t eat often, but when he did, he ate a lot. Atsix-foot-six, two hundred forty pounds, Beau wasn’t a little guy. Consideringhe spent at least eight hours a week in the gym, another forty on his feet atwork, he couldn’t skimp on food if he had a say in the matter.
Ethanhanded him six slices of bread and Beau laid them out on a plate while Ethandid the same with four pieces. For the next few minutes, they built fatsandwiches, their arms, shoulders, and hands grazing one another every sooften, sending shards of awareness coursing through him.
“Wasit me? Or was that the most immensely satisfying sandwich making of your life?”Ethan muttered as he grabbed his plate and headed toward the dining table,causing Beau to laugh as he followed.
“Notgonna argue,” Beau agreed with an amused smirk, “immensely satisfying.”
Thetwo of them sat across from one another while they ate. Beau expected it to beawkward, but surprisingly enough, as soon as they were seated, Ethan opted forconversation. Maybe not a topic Beau was happy about, but at least he chose tofill the silence.
“Thatcomment Ricky made yesterday,” Ethan began, glancing up at Beau. “Has he eversaid something like that around you before?”
Insteadof answering immediately, Beau admired the view off of the back of the house,the crystal blue waters of the infinity pool that were probably cold enough tosend his balls into hibernation for a year. The trees that encircled thebackside of the house, even when they were dismal from the cold wintertemperatures, offered the same sort of privacy that Zane’s house had.
Finally,letting his gaze settle on Ethan once more, Beau opted to answer. “No.”
Hedidn’t even want to think about what Ricky had said. More importantly, he didn’twant to think about the fact that he had left Ricky with his legs still intact.He should’ve pulverized the bastard right then and there. As he ate, he studiedEthan momentarily and then followed up with a question of his own. “Has he saidthat to you before?”
“Tome? No. Around me? Yes.” Ethan wasn’t paying attention to much more than thesandwich that was left on his plate. “I’ve heard it numerous times. Mostly whenwe’re at Moonshiners. The guy doesn’t possess enough balls to say it to myface.”
Beau’shand instinctively clenched into a fist. He had to put his sandwich down, or herisked squeezing it into a mushy mess. “He’s a bastard,” Beau retorted.
“There’rea lot of those in this town,” Ethan confirmed. “You’ll do yourself a favor ifyou learn to ignore them. Or better yet, just keep your personal business toyourself.”
Beauwasn’t sure he could do that. For one, he didn’t want to hide who he was. Hewas at a point in his life when he knew what he wanted. And two, he knew therewould be those who would never accept him, but Beau had spent his life aroundpeople whodidaccept him – why would he want to hide from them now?
“Isthat why you’re hiding?” he asked, the words blowing out of his mouth like avolcanic eruption that he was unable to stop.
Theglare he received from Ethan told him he should’ve kept his mouth shut. Onlynow the words were out, and he really wanted to know.
“I’mnot hiding,” Ethan said, although he didn’t sound convincing.
“No?”
“No.It’s just nobody’s fucking business.”
Beauwas tempted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. Not to mention, he wasn’tinterested in pissing Ethan off. However, it did seem like that was fairly easyto do. Getting into a pissing match with the man he wanted to spend more timewith wasn’t going to benefit either of them, so Beau simply nodded his head,letting the subject drop.
