Chapter 6 #2
“I liked that one. The flaky pastry one though is still my favorite.” Bay grabbed another one of those, stuffing the entire thing into his mouth and then having to work to actually chew it. He was looking like he was regretting his choice not to make it a two-bite morsel.
Pete hid his laughter in his wineglass, just cackling away. That was utterly adorable.
Bay finally swallowed and took a large mouthful of wine to help wash it down. “You feel like moving on to the main meal? We can always save these for nibbling on later if we get the munchies.”
“I’d love that.” He’d actually forgotten that there was an entree, he’d been so focused on Bay. Too cool.
Bay closed up the appetizer boxes and set them aside. Then he pulled off the tops of the mains and handed one over. There was a lobster tail and a steak there, along with rice, broccoli, and a little pot of melted butter that looked like it had garlic floating in it. Yum.
“Wow. This may be the fanciest supper ever had in this house. I’m serious.” He opened up the butter, the scent of garlic hitting him square in the face.
“I think they included cutlery.” Sure enough, Bay found them and handed them over. “The steak and lobster should be easy enough to cut that the plastic knife will do it.”
“Do you think so? That tender?” He’d like to see that.
“Give it a try,” Bay suggested, watching him.
“Sure.” He cut off a piece of the steak, and the plastic knife went through like butter. “Whoa.”
“Only the best,” Bay murmured. “Tastes amazing, too, I bet.” Bay didn’t wait for him to find out before taking a bite of his own.
Sounded like he wasn’t the only one that made sex sounds over food…
“Now, the steak is good, but the lobster is the real prize.” Bay cut off a bite and dipped it into the butter, before slurping the piece off his fork. A drop of butter ran down his lip and onto his chin.
“I—” He reached out with his finger, not even thinking, stopping the grease from getting on Bay’s shirt.
Bay blinked at him, tongue coming out to follow the same path his finger had taken.
“Y-you had butter.” And he hadn’t even thought.
“Oh. Nanny instincts.” Bay almost looked disappointed.
“I—” No. No, not really. Really it had been just instincts.
“I’ll try not to keep dribbling like a little kid,” Bay promised, grabbing another slice of lobster. “But I don’t promise anything. This is too good not to really savor.”
“I’ll try not to touch your face.” But he couldn’t promise anything.
“Well, if I dribble again, you’ve got my permission.” Bay’s voice sounded a little husky.
“I…” He licked his lips, but he couldn’t look away from Bay’s mouth.
“How’s the steak?” Bay finally asked.
“I think it’s really good. I mean, I think it’s really good.” His cheeks were hot, and he felt goofy and nervous.
“It’s so good you think it’s really good twice. Good. It was expensive enough.” Bay cut through his steak and ate the bite. He nodded and gave Pete a thumbs-up.
Oh, should he be embarrassed that Bay had spent so much money?
“We need to make this a regular thing,” Bay suggested, having another bite of steak, this time picking up some of the rice to eat with it.
“Yeah? I like the idea of adult supper. It doesn’t even have to be fancy, you know?”
“Yeah, but it’s nice to be able to be at least a little bit fancy if it’s kid-free.” Bay dipped more lobster.
“True.” He tried the lobster, finding it sweet and rich, his eyes crossing.
Bay chuckled. “See? Wouldn’t you rather have that on a kid-free evening over chicken fingers?”
“Uh-huh. Next time, can we have something spicy? Thai? Or Indian?” He loved spice.
“Sure. I’ll get Will to find the best places to order from, and we can explore.”
“Yeah? That would be amazing. Thank you. That’s super kind.” He beamed over, licking his lips clean.
“Mmm. Just trying to keep us both sane, yeah?” Bay’s gaze flicked from his lips to his eyes, giving him a smile. “Eat. Enjoy the meal.”
“I am. I—How was your work day?” That was fair to ask, right?
“Good. I’m getting used to the space, to working from home instead of at the office. I’m actually thinking of shutting the office down. Let everyone work from home. It’s a pretty small crew. I know Will would appreciate it.”
“It would save money and resources, yes?” Add that to happy employees and it sounded amazing.
“Yep. Honestly, being in an office is just habit. And if you can keep focused at home, you might as well be there. Saves gas, the environment, all that shi-stuff. Win-win for everyone.”
“Yes. And it’s been so nice, having company for lunch and coffee. It would be lonely otherwise.”
“I’m glad I’m not in the way. I would have gone back to the office if I was, but it seemed best to be available for you and the kids, under the circumstances.”
“I’ve enjoyed it. You. Your company.” God, Pete! Shut up!
“Ditto. This evening is nice. Did you want to watch a movie or something when we’ve finished eating?”
“Sure. What kind do you like?” Please not scary. Please not scary.
“I haven’t been to the movies in a very long time so pretty much anything you choose I likely won’t have seen,” Bay admitted.
“I don’t like horror movies. I don’t like being scared. I have nightmares.” Pete shrugged, feeling a little silly and adolescent, but it was true. He had terrible nightmares, and it was already bad enough with his best friends being gone.
“I don’t mind scary movies, but they aren’t my favorite or anything. Like I said I haven’t seen much in the last ten years really, so the world is your oyster, so to speak. I bet you’re not going to choose anything animated or starring an animal,” Bay added, a teasing glint in his eyes.
“Uh… no. I was thinking about the new Jurassic Park movie. I’m only three or four behind…” And he loved those films. Loved them.
“There are three or four more? I just remember there being two and it’s been so long I would totally need to watch from the beginning. Or you would need to remind me what the heck happened in the first one.” Bay laughed. “All I remember were dinosaurs and scared kids.”
“Well, I could totally do a Jurassic Park marathon. That’s too cool. We could just do one a week for the next however many weeks there is to do it.” Did he sound as stupid as he felt like he sounded? He thought so.
Bay nodded, though. “It’s a date. Or a standing date, I guess. Grown-up food we don’t have to cook and a good movie. Something to look forward to each week when the kids are being especially fractious.”
“To be perfectly honest, I would kind of like it if the kids weren’t particularly fractious.” He chuckled softly. “But I’ll take what I can get.”
He figured at this point he was getting an offer of company one evening a week, a conversation with an adult, and some chance to not be losing his mind. He’d take it.
Bay laughed. “We can still have dinner and a movie even if they’ve been angels.”
“Fair enough. This is very kind, thanks.” Pete felt a little flushed. That had to be the wine, though.
It had to be.
He couldn’t be casting eyes on Bay. Bay was the kids’ guardian.
Once they’d finished their meal, Bay cleared up, leaving two boxes behind. Then he returned with a couple of forks. “Those are dessert. I figure we can dig in when we want to.” Finding the remote, Bay passed it to him and settled on the couch, looking comfortable. Looking good.
He grabbed the remote, pulled a toy out from under his butt, tossed it into the toy box, and leaned back. Jurassic Park, dessert, and company. He was in.