Page 48 of Margins

“That wasn’t the same,” Alex says quietly, closing his eyes only when he leans into Elijah for an almost chaste kiss.

“Mmmm, no. Wasn’t the same for me either,” Elijah agrees. Then he bites back a laugh. “Think I might’ve been wrong about needing to borrow some clothes, though. I’m kind of a mess.”

“But you’re my mess.”

Elijah doesn’t bother biting anything back then, his laugh warm against Alex’s lips. “Are you always this sappy after an orgasm?”

“Only one way to find out,” Alex teases, careful when he uses his own shirt to clean up what he can before he rolls out of bed to help get rid of that and Elijah’s clothes, too. His sweat shorts are on the floor nearby, so he puts those back on and pulls an extra pair from his drawer to toss toward Elijah, then he crawls back under the covers, soft and sated and seeing so much of the same on Elijah’s face too.

They’re both still figuring this out, and there’s no chance to process what just happened when Alex has to get up early for work to be as productive as anyone is the week of Thanksgiving, so he only combs his fingers through Elijah’s hair and sighs happily when Elijah brings the tips of their noses together again.

“Thank you for letting me stay.”

“Thank you for coming back.”

Chapter Twelve

Just as he’d told Elijah he would be, Alex is careful to stay quiet in the morning, though he’s not sure how late Elijah will actually sleep when neither of them is used to whatever the hell they’re doing now. He takes a quick shower and gets dressed in the bathroom before he gives Elijah one last glance and slips out of the bedroom. In the kitchen, he considers leaving notes or instructions or something, but realizes Elijah’s perfectly capable of making coffee and grabbing whatever else he might want before he goes. After another few minutes, Alex finishes up his own quick breakfast and then packs up for the office, going in earlier than usual with the hope that he can leave early, too.

The sooner he can wrap up his day, the sooner he and Elijah can get back to the Poe collection.

Whether what they find there will make Elijah feel better or worse is anyone’s guess.

But the day goes by faster than Alex might have expected after he receives a good morning text from Elijah and they enjoy a flirtatious back and forth from there. He daydreams through a meeting Steven was too optimistic about scheduling, nobody on the team prepared to accomplish anything of substance during a holiday week, and then there's some kind of impromptu potluck in the office break room when everyone orders too much food for lunch. There’s a little more work to do at the office in the afternoon, but plenty Alex can finish at home, so he says goodbye to everyone when it seems professionally acceptable to do so, and he hurries to his car.

He didn’t figure Elijah would still be hanging out at his house, but somehow Alex is disappointed that the familiar truck isn’t parked along the curb.

The disappointment is gone twenty minutes later, when Elijah calls.

“Good timing,” Alex says, in lieu of a hello. “Just got back from the office.”

“Still have some work to do now?”

“Some, yeah. But you can come over whenever,” he tells Elijah, such an easy thing to say even as his cheeks grow warm. “I mean, if we’re still on for tonight.”

“Yeah, we are, but is it okay if I just grab dinner for us on the way? I think I’d rather have something quick so we can get started a little earlier.”

Alex hums. “You want to get through the rest of the stuff tonight.”

“I just—” Elijah sighs. “After last night, I’m not sure I’m gonna want to stop reading once we start. Unless you’d rather—”

“No, no,” Alex interrupts. “A quick dinner is fine, and reading through everything tonight is fine. I ate a lot at lunch though, so pick whatever you want.”

“What if whatever I want isn’t something you actually like?”

“I’m pretty confident you can figure out what I like,” Alex says, his voice lower than he expects it to be when he quietly ribs Elijah.

In response, he’s treated to a few moments of relative silence, and Alex wonders whether Elijah is trying to decide how much he can push, even if Alex thinks the limit is further away than either of them has imagined. In the end, it’s easy to hear Elijah’s smile, and the sound only settles Alex that much more.

“We’re talking about dinner.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Elijah echoes, his next breath loud but steady. “Raw onions are a no, grilled onions are fine. Ranch for dipping if there’s anything to be dipped. Hold the lettuce on most things, but you’ll eat a salad if I go that route. Anything involving a form of bread with some cheese is a safe choice. Add avocado or guac anytime it’s offered with anything. Mushrooms are good as long as they’re not huge and slimy. If I get fries, I should also get some for you or you’ll just steal some to pay me back for when I did that to you at the bar. Pesto or any cream sauce over red. Burritos over tacos. White over wheat, but sourdough is usually better. Pizza is always okay, even though you already have it every other week with Elena. Sushi is a tricky one, and I’m not gonna guess either way, but other than that, how’d I do?”

“Shut up,” Alex growls. “You already know.”

“Maybe. So, I’ll see you later?”

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