Chapter 18 Lee #2
It wasn’t anything like the passionate kisses we normally shared, full of heat and sharp edges, and it didn’t last long, but it meant something.
It meant apology accepted. It meant understanding.
It meant choosing a new beginning. And then, when it was over, Chase grinned and leaned in for a second hungrier kiss, and we both jumped like scalded cats when someone knocked on the window.
Tyler had his face pressed against it, one hand cupped around his eyes. “Hey, guys?” he said, his voice muffled by the glass. “Not to cockblock, but are you coming into work any time soon?”
I cracked the window an inch. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute. Go start the ovens.”
Tyler looked between us and his brow creased. “Wait. Are you guys gonna be one of those on-again, off-again couples? Because if you are, I’m gonna need a group chat with updates, just so I’m kept in the loop.”
It was a fair question, and I was still considering how to answer when Chase cleared his throat and said, “We’re not.” His hand tightened on mine for a second.
Tyler’s gaze cut to me for confirmation, and I nodded. “We’re good.”
“Great,” Tyler said. He slapped the roof of the truck. “See you inside.”
Once he’d gone, Chase said, “We’re not going to be one of those couples.”
He said it like he was reassuring himself. Maybe reassuring me too. And I believed him, because Chase might have been scared but he was also brave as hell, and anyone would be a fool to bet against that.
It was a good day.
“Extra peanut butter cookies today, boss?” Tyler asked as he cut the rolls of dough for the oven. “Chase’s favorite.”
“Shut up,” I said, but of course he made extra.
Chase was in a good mood too, even with the customers. I came out to reload the display case just as he was waving a few of them off with a smile.
“Were those people from the church you hate?” I asked. There was no mistaking the Laura Ashley knockoffs.
He nodded as he wiped down the tray of the espresso machine.
“Wow, and you let them buy stuff? I thought you banned them.”
Chase shrugged. “Well, since they made sure to tell me that they wouldn’t tell Wilder’s asshole dad they’d been here, I figured they deserved a second chance.
” I was about to say something about how didn’t we all, and he and I were proof of that, when he gave an evil smirk and said, “We’re bringing them down from the inside, one cupcake at a time.
I’m gonna need you to put rainbow frosting on everything you can,” he said.
“Can you imagine that fucker’s face when he busts one of them eating a gay cake from this bakery? I want him to have an aneurysm.”
Which was also a sentiment I could get behind, actually.
“I will gay up any cakes you want, Chase,” I said, leaving him grinning as I went back to the kitchen.
Tyler and I talked the usual shit we did as we worked, and the hours passed quickly.
When it was time for Chase’s lunch break, Tyler took over out front, and Chase crowded me up against the wall of the walk-in and kissed me until we were both breathless.
Kissing Chase felt both familiar and exciting.
I could have kissed him for hours, except he needed to eat. I pushed him gently away.
“Hey,” I said as I leaned back against a bag of flour. “Wanna do something tonight?”
Chase grinned, and there was a wicked edge to it. “You could fuck me.”
I laughed. “I was thinking dinner with my family. Sam’s making gnocchi, but fair warning, she’s never made it before.”
“What’s gnocchi?” he asked, wrinkling his nose.
“It’s like potato dumplings,” I said. “It’s Italian.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Whatever.”
There was the old Chase, shit scared of being invited to be a part of my family for the evening and pretending he wasn’t.
But I’d take his “I guess” and “whatever” over a refusal any time.
Because he had still agreed to come, and if he had to pretend it wasn’t a big deal for him so that he could protect whatever feelings he was having about it, then that was okay.
“I’m making garlic bread as well,” I said. “And maybe dessert.”
“I guess,” he said again. His brow creased. “What’s for dessert?”
I hooked my fingers into the belt loops of his khakis and reeled him in. “How about whatever you want? But not tiramisu, because Tyler and I drank the Marsala the other day.”
“Peanut butter cookies,” he said without even hesitating.
“Already made some,” I said.
Chase tried to smile and roll his eyes at the same time, which was awkward and weird, so I tugged him closer and put my arms around him. He let it happen, then said, “Should I bring anything? Like for dinner and shit?”
“Nah,” I said, warmth spreading through my chest at the effort he was making. “Just you.”
That was all I wanted.
We had pizza for dinner, because the gnocchi was a complete disaster. When she finally gave up, Sam was covered in flour and sticky dough and so was most of the kitchen. Chase and I helped her clean up while Mom ordered the pizzas.
“It didn’t look hard from the recipe,” Sam grumbled when we were sitting around the little kitchen table at last. “Mom, can you make mine pepperoni?”
“Sure,” Mom said. “Chase? What would you like?”
I waited for him to say he didn’t care, but he surprised me. “Hawaiian?”
“Gross,” Sam said, but she was grinning as she said it.
Chase gave her an awkward smile, but it looked like he was biting back a reply.
“You can flip her the bird,” I suggested. “She can take it.”
He flipped me the bird instead.
Sam hooted with laughter. “Okay, so Chase has zero taste. That explains why he’s dating you.”
I flipped her the bird that time, and she laughed even harder.
Chase rested his hand on my thigh underneath the table and shot me a grin.
Mom looked up from her phone. “Do we want garlic bread?”
“I’m making the garlic bread,” I said.
“But it’s free with this deal,” Mom said.
“Lee’s garlic bread is better,” Sam said. “It’s not weird and soggy.”
“It’s free, though,” Mom said.
“It’s still shit,” Sam pointed out.
“If we’re getting shitty pizzas, we might as well get shitty garlic bread,” Mom said and then sighed at the outraged look on Sam’s face. “Fine, we’ll eat your brother’s garlic bread, I guess.”
“I don’t know whether to be offended or not,” I said, pushing my chair back. “Chase, you want a soda?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Hey, Mom,” Sam said, “does your secret boyfriend Bradley know you have terrible taste in garlic bread?”
“He’s not my secret boyfriend,” Mom said, though her cheeks pinked up.
Sam reacted like a middle schooler who’d heard a rude word. “Ooooh!”
I got Mom a soda too, in case she needed something to throw at Sam.
“Does that mean he’s not a secret?” I asked.
Beside me, Chase snorted.
“We’re going for coffee next week, that’s all,” Mom said, the color in her cheeks rising.
“Ooooh!” Sam said again.
Mom ignored her and ordered the pizza.
It was a typical Torres family dinner. We talked shit, stole each other’s slices, and argued about things that didn’t matter.
We also laughed a lot. Chase didn’t say much, but that was mainly because he was busy eating his body weight in pizza, not because he was trying to be polite or anything.
He seemed relaxed and gave as good as he got whenever Sam picked on him, and there was a brightness to his eyes that made me sure he was having fun.
Afterward he walked outside with me when I took the trash out, and I caught him turning around to look back at the house. It was nothing fancy, but the light spilling out into the dark street made it seem warm.
“I can drive you back to Goose Run,” I said. “Or you can stay over. Your choice.”
“If I stay over, I’ll have to go to work with you in the morning,” he said. “An hour early.”
“I can make it worth your while.”
He snorted. “Will you blow me in your childhood bedroom?”
“Also my early adulthood bedroom,” I said. “And sure. But I was going to suggest that if you have to come into work an hour early, the first thing out of the oven in the morning will be peanut butter cookies.”
“What about the bread?”
“Fuck the bread. Peanut butter cookies come first.”
He grinned at me. “That’s not breakfast food. I want quiches.”
“Deal,” I said.
“We’ll need to swing past my place in the morning and get me some clean work clothes.”
“Or I can throw yours in the washer here.”
“Then I guess I’m staying,” he said.
I wasn’t sure how he’d made it seem like he was doing me the favor by staying when I was the one who’d ended up agreeing to do his laundry and make him quiches in the morning.
Oh, and give him a blow job, but that was no hardship.
But also, I got why he was hesitant. Given how things had turned out last time Chase had stayed overnight, this was a big step for him.
This was him actually committing to both a new beginning and a second chance, like we both wanted.
“I guess you are,” I said and held out my hand.
He took it, and I led him back toward the house.