6. Eddie
I’m mixing pancake batter when Noel steps into the kitchen, hair wet from the shower, and holding onto the tablet that rarely leaves his hands. As he sits down at the table, I grab him a cup of coffee. I already know not to talk to him until he’s had his first cup. Even talking before he finishes his second cup is a risk. With Robbie here, I may chance it, since I’m impatient to find out anything he’s learned.
I heat up the griddle so I can start the pancakes and bacon. While the cabin was relatively primitive when we bought it, we overhauled certain parts, especially the kitchen. I have a beautiful double oven, a large cooktop with a griddle attached and plenty of space to work. Noel can’t cook worth a shit, so instead, he made sure I had the best kitchen possible. It was his bribe, and it worked, since I rarely want to leave my area.
Right before I pour the batter, I hear a ping that, hopefully, means we finally have answers. Setting the batter down, I turn the griddle on low and step toward the kitchen table where Noel already has his app open on the tablet. His humming sound generally soothes me, but right now, I’m so impatient I want to scream. Finally, he looks up and gives me a wink before setting it down. Fucker was taking his time just to mess with me. It’s a damn good thing I love him.
“Well…” I pounce, my patience finally snapping.
Laughing, Noel shakes his head at me. “You can wait for a mark for almost eternity, but this? This almost breaks you.”
“You can’t blame me. You want to see how far things go too. I don’t know what it is about him…”
Noel rolls his eyes. “Dustin got back to me. It’s mostly good news. He’s exactly what he said he was. He left where he was living because he caught his ex cheating. Walked right in on them, from what I hear. What’s worse, and I don’t think he knows this yet, is the two fuckers went ahead and got married using the ceremony and reception that Robbie planned. Makes me wonder if this was premeditated. If so…”
“If so, we’ll take fucking care of it.”
“Roses are red, violets are blue, blood spatter can’t be better for you?” I laugh at Noel’s dry ‘poem’ because that’s romance for us. Continuing, he goes, “However, there is one interesting facet that makes this…questionable. His mom?—”
“Oh, fuck!”
Noel and I stare at each other for a split second before he’s on his way to the hallway. Dropping my head, I have a feeling my plans for breakfast got derailed. Robbie’s voice does not sound thrilled. I’m hoping he only stumbled onto our playroom and not our, uh, workspace. I’m pretty sure I locked our workspace with our other toys, but after our fun last night, it’s possible one of us forgot to lock the playroom. Not that he should have been rummaging around…
I listen to the scuffle in the hallway and shrug my shoulders. I know Noel won’t need me to deal with whatever is going on. Instead, I focus on what I was doing—making breakfast for all of us. I hear them shuffle in and a chair scrape as it’s pulled out. I take that as a good sign because Robbie must not be running.
Right when I pour the batter out for the first round of pancakes, Noel steps behind me and snuggles in. I turn my head and meet his lips, barely swallowing a moan as he changes it from sweet to dirty. Fuck. He knows exactly what he does to me as he thrusts his hips, letting me feel the outline of his hard cock through our sleep pants. This time when I hear an ‘oh, fuck’, it’s in a much different tone. Ah, so playroom then, and it appears our little morsel isn’t too upset about it.
“Better get the bacon before it burns,” Noel whispers as he draws back. Groaning, I glare at him, but he just chuckles. Fucking tease.
As he doctors his second cup of coffee, since his first is always black, I hum and continue to cook, placing food in the warming drawer as I go. Noel grabs plates and silverware and I hum at the domesticity of it. It’s always been one of my favorite parts with Noel. Well, that and killing people, but that’s more a relaxation activity than anything. I think that’s what keeps us young. Loving your job is important in life—even, or maybe especially, when it’s killing others.
Taking the dishes to the table, I set them in the middle. Before sitting down, I ask Robbie, “Would you like something to drink? I apologize for Noel not asking. Anything before his second cup of coffee is risky.”
“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind, do you have any juice? I’m not really a coffee drinker.”
Noel blinks. And blinks some more. Even I pause. Because who the hell doesn’t like coffee?
Clearing my throat, I decide to approach it straightforwardly. “Of course. We have apple juice and orange juice. Or, um, do you prefer tea?”
Please don’t fucking prefer tea…
“Oh, no. Not tea either. Hot chocolate would be my choice of hot beverage.”
Sighing, my shoulders slump in relief. Tea…we have some for when we get sick, but that’s a pretty strong hell no in this household. Even I won’t go with tea, and I’m not addicted to coffee like Noel is. “I can make you hot chocolate if you’d like. It won’t take too long.”
The smile Robbie sends me almost knocks me back. Damn. That’s almost lethal. “No, thank you. Juice is fine for right now—apple, if you don’t mind. I don’t want breakfast to go cold. This looks amazing.”
Clearing my throat, I pour him a glance of juice and take it over to him, sitting down in my own seat. “There are four types of pancakes. I wasn’t sure of your preference. Plain, chocolate chip, blueberry, and then there’s an apple cinnamon one. There’re caramelized apples on the side if you’d like that as a topping.”
“Wow! This looks delicious. I can’t believe you went through so much trouble for me.”
“Oh…it’s nothing. Really. I enjoy cooking.” I blush, unable to meet Robbie’s eyes.
I didn’t realize I may have gone a tad overboard, especially when Robbie struggles to choose. Noel takes care of it and plops a couple of pancakes on Robbie’s plate. I shrug sheepishly.
Noel shakes his head at me and digs in once Robbie adds his syrup. I’m in the middle of grabbing my own when Robbie lets out the most indecent moan possible, and I squirm in my seat because fuck. I can imagine that sound in a completely different context.
“So, Robbie, did you have any questions for us about what you found?” Noel asks as he pours maple syrup over his second batch of pancakes. I hold my breath, wondering if the elephant in the room was going to be addressed.
“Ah, well, uh, nope. Nope. I think I’m good. Absolutely no questions here.” His voice goes up several octaves, and I have to press my lips together not to laugh.
Noel’s eyes are filled with mirth as he looks over at me while Robbie focuses even more intently on his food. Clearing my throat, I take pity on the poor guy. “Well, if you do have questions, you can always let one of us know. Now, why don’t you tell us more about you. We’d love to get to know you better.”
Robbie sets his silverware down and straightens up, his fingers flexing on the table until he places his hands in his lap. Hmm. I didn’t expect that. “Uh. What do you want to know?”
Snorting, Noel responds, “We’re not asking for your darkest secrets if that’s what you’re worried about. We’d like to get to know you better. How about we start with what led you here.”
Pain slashes across Robbie’s face, and my fingers itch to reach out and hold his hand. I know it’s hard to talk about betrayal, but it’ll be better for him. Plus, it’ll let us know exactly how far in the dark he was with that situation.
“Well, umm…I guess it’s not the most unique story in the world. My ex and I were planning our wedding. Everything was set up, I had paid for the venue, the reception, and even our honeymoon cruise. I had been putting in overtime to do it, but my boss let me leave early on Friday night. I was excited to go home and surprise Cameron. I’d stopped by and gotten his favorite takeout, but when I opened the door, I knew something was off right away. The kitchen table had already been set up for two and he never does that. I almost called out, but instead, I set the food down and moved further in.
“I knew what I was going to find. I’m not an idiot. But…I had hoped there was another explanation. The sounds coming from our bedroom...Hell, he sounded way more enthusiastic than he ever did with me. I’m not sure how long it took me to gather the courage to open the door, but when I did…Anyway, as you can tell, I caught them in the act. Cameron started to make excuses, like how I was working so much, even though he was the one who wanted the fancy wedding. And he wasn’t doing the work to pay for it. He even tried to tell me it was one time. Like that makes it better? He threw away our entire relationship for what? One last fuck? The other guy left quickly. Thankfully. He probably didn’t even know that Cameron was engaged, so I feel kind of bad for him. He saw me in such a horrible light since I was not calm. I kind of went off on Cameron.”
“Why would you be calm?” Noel frowns, and I agree. It makes no sense that Robbie is upset about that. Hell, it would have been far worse if that happened to me. And yeah, okay, sure, one could point to my chosen profession, but how would anyone stay calm in the sight of being betrayed?
“Well…because…because Cameron always told me I was too high-strung? I don’t really know. Everything with him, it”s…I guess I realized on the way here that, by the end of the relationship, I was the only one doing the work. Not only by actually having a job, but everything. The chores, making plans, making appointments, everything. And I hated it. I hate making decisions on a good day, much less on a regular basis, but he wouldn’t even say what he wanted for dinner. I was supposed to be some type of mind reader because there was hell if I picked wrong. I’m…tired. So very tired.”
This time, I don’t stop myself and I gently reach over and rub his shoulder at the same time, almost like it’s choreographed, Noel does the same from the opposite side. “Hey, you’re here. All you need to do is relax. We can take care of things for now. At least until you decide differently. But take some time to find your bearings. It sounds like you’ve been pushing yourself too hard, for way too long.”
Swallowing, Robbie drops his gaze to the table. “I don’t want to be a bother. Or take advantage.”
“You are absolutely not a bother. We’d love to get to know you better…and perhaps you’ll feel the same way at some point.”
Robbie blushes and ducks his head, unable to look either of us in the eyes. “Um, yeah. I think I’d like that.”
Grinning smugly at Noel, I move my hand to rub my fingers over Robbie’s knuckles, enjoying the way he shudders. At Noel’s chastising look, I roll my eyes and remove my hand. I know there will be time to go there further. For now, he’s right. I need to give Robbie space to come to us. And once he does…all bets are off.