Page 110 of Dear Mr. Brody

“I’m sure,” I said and pulled back as I took a breath. “I trust you. Trust us. I want you, Parker. In every way.”

I drew my thumb along the smooth curve of his smile, and he closed his eyes. “I don’t know why, but I’m nervous.”

“For you or for me?”

“Both,” he said and opened his eyes. “What if you hate it, or I hurt you and—”

“Can we help with anything?” Anders leaned against the opposite side of the breakfast bar with Ethan at his side.

I dropped my hands from Parker’s waist, wishing he could have finished what he was about to say. “I mean, if you want to help me open up these take-out boxes… I’m not sure I can handle it.”

Ethan chuckled and walked into the kitchen. “I think I can help with that.”

“Should we wait for your friend, Parker?” Anders asked.

“Nah… he’s always late. He won’t mind if we start without him.”

“Help yourselves,” I said. “I got a little bit of everything. Hope you like Indian.”

“I don’t think Ethan’s ever had it before,” Anders said, and smiled when Ethan’s nose wrinkled.

“Nope, can’t say that I have.”

“He’s not a very adventurous eater.” Anders’s eyes sparkled with mirth as he stared at his soon-to-be husband. “I took him to this restaurant in New York once. It was the first time he had sushi. I tried to get him to eat octopus.”

“Fuck that,” Parker said, and Ethan high fived him like they were old buddies and hadn’t met only twenty minutes ago.

“There is no reason in the world to eat something with eight goddamn legs. Not unless it’s the apocalypse and it means survival.” Ethan grinned at Anders as he sighed.

“It’s actually quite good,” I said, and Parker raised his brows with a disgusted look on his face. “I’ll have to take you out for sushi, see what you think.”

“I’m going to have to pass on that date night, babe,” he said with a lopsided smile. It was the first time he’d ever called me babe, and it caught me off guard. Like he could read my mind, he leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. The affection in front of my friends made my cheeks burn. We rarely got to be open like this in front of others, and God, I liked it. “The babe kind of slipped out.” He spoke low enough that only I could hear him.

“I liked it.”

“…think it’s weird to eat something that’s in the same family as a spider,” Ethan said, oblivious to our side conversation.

“You eat crab.” Anders’ smile was triumphant.

“Fuck, I hate it when you’re right.” Ethan attempted a scowl, but Anders placed a kiss on his forehead.

“Love you, too.”

The four of us dug in, scooping rice, tikka masala, and curry onto our plates. Ethan seemed skittish, at first, but when Anders fed him a piece of chicken, he added another scoop onto his dish. Once we were settled around my small dining room table, I poured the wine I’d opened earlier into my glass, and passed the bottle to Anders right as the doorbell rang.

“See… he’s always late,” Parker grumbled as he stood. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, we’ve barely started,” I said. “Sit down, I can let him in.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to give him shit.” Parker leaned down and placed a chaste kiss to my lips.

As he walked away, Ethan chuckled.

“What?” I asked, and he covered his smile with his fist as he chewed.

He swallowed and took a sip of his wine. “It’s different seeing you with him. You seem… I can’t think of the word.”

“Content,” Anders cut in. “I’ve only seen you two at the office a couple of times together, but watching you two tonight… you seem lighter, less burdened. I’m happy for you, Van.”

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