“I DIDN’T know you could cook,” Dane said around a mouthful of rice pudding. Rich custard on his tongue, cinnamon and vanilla in his nose. Food. He’d missed it.
Gideon looked at him across the kitchen counter. “I never said I could. But I can read.”
“Huh.”
Dane knew that some of the extra delight in inhaling first the crackers and chicken broth and then dessert had to do with the munchies courtesy of the THC in his body, but damn, it was good to eat.
They were scooping spoonfuls out of the baking dish, but Gideon had stopped after a couple bites to drag his spoon tip across the thick lines of cinnamon on top, creating tiny, barren stripes.
Dane sucked on his own spoon for a moment. He would cop to quite a few faults, but being stupid wasn’t one of them. He knew what Gideon’s curse story had been about, what he wanted from Dane. Gideon’s studied disdain might have hidden the truth before, but living together made Gideon’s unchanged feelings as inescapable as Gideon himself. Dane just didn’t have it in him to offer what Gideon was asking for. This soul-mate, eternal-love thing would never make sense to him. It would be far worse to promise it all and then fail to live up to it. Gideon deserved better. Dane had half hoped, but mostly dreaded, Gideon would figure that out some day.
Dane tried to find something he could offer. “Well, since you can read so well, maybe we should have Theo and Jax over for brunch on Sunday.”
Gideon stuck his spoon into the center of the dish like a spear. “With their plus-ones? Or in Jax’s case, that’s now a plus-three.”
Dane tapped lightly against his teeth. “Hmm.” He glanced around Gideon’s loft. Lots of glass, nothing remotely appealing in the way of toys, unless there was a gaming system hidden that Dane didn’t know about. “Have you met them, the kids?”
“I’ve avoided it so far.”
“I suppose….” He gave the area another study, brain locked on his new project. “Coloring books?”
Gideon snatched his spoon and Dane’s soup mug and turned away to clang the objects into the dishwasher. “If you’re bored enough that the company of toddlers seems refreshing, I’ll buy them Barbie’s Dreamhouse, and you can all play to your hearts’ content.”
Dane worked that through. His usual translation for the Gideon-impaired was working more slowly than normal due to the still-pleasant high.
“There’s nothing wrong with my current company. I thought you might want to do something couple-y.” Dane rifled through his compromised vocabulary and couldn’t find anything better than “couple-like.”
Gideon straightened and turned back. The very slight expression of confusion in the ripple of his brows had Dane fishing again.
“Like a couple,” Dane said with triumph. “Because we are one now.”
Gideon leaned back against the dishwasher, and Dane knew he’d gotten it wrong.
I’m trying, damn it.
He scooped up some more rice pudding in defense.
“If I understand your stoned ramble, you think hosting brunch with Theo and Jax and their assorted affiliations would somehow delight me because of the paper we signed to put you on my health insurance.” Gideon’s face was blank, but something about it let Dane read it as empty instead of controlled.
“Not exactly?”
Dane thought Gideon would stomp away in full retreat, but there was an advantage to living together in the loft. He couldn’t get far.
Gideon’s voice was softer than Dane expected. “And before we were coupled—” Gideon paused to give the word extra weight. “—how much delight did you see me taking in other social occasions?”
Dane snorted, then choked on his pudding. “How much delight do you take in anything?”
“Good answer, good answer.”
A blast of laughter at the familiar refrain from Family Feud sent what was left of the food in Dane’s mouth spewing out—though just into his hand, and just from the force of his humor. He couldn’t stop laughing, and Gideon’s half smile sent Dane’s amusement deeper. It felt wonderful.
Dane laughed until his stomach ached, until he couldn’t keep his balance on the barstool facing the counter. Gideon was there as he slipped off, and they sank to the floor. Gideon’s warm, breathy chuckles tickled Dane’s ear. That felt even better. When had he ever heard Gideon laugh like that? The sound, the too-rare joy from Gideon, doubled the high buzzing in Dane’s head.
Food. Laughter. Love. And lots of sex. Dane might not be able to give Gideon everything he deserved, but maybe this could be enough.