Page 44 of Finally
“No, it was…” Gray cleared his throat. “The texture threw me for a second, but I’m sure it’ll taste great.”
“It won’t.” Jack dropped the spoon and turned around in Gray’s arm. “I tasted it. The sauce is too salty, the texture’s gross, and I overcooked the beef.” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey.” Gray rubbed his hands up and down Jack’s arms. “It’s not a big deal. We’ll clean up and go out to dinner. No harm no foul.”
“I know. I just wanted to…” His voice wavered and he looked at the ground. “Never mind.”
“Tell me.” When Jack didn’t respond, he put a couple of fingers under his chin and raised it until their eyes met. “Why’d you decide to cook?”
“I thought I could do it. I watched a couple of YouTube videos and we took those baking classes. I don’t know what went wrong.”
“In those classes, we had an hour and a half to make a single item with premeasured ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and professional supervision. I’m not convinced either of us could replicate those recipes at home right now and none of them were as complicated as beef stroganoff.”
“You’re right.” Jack shook his head and rubbed his palms over his eyes, looking completely defeated. “It was a silly idea.”
Jack’s despondent reaction wasn’t proportional to the harmless situation.
“What’s going on? Talk to me.”
“I wanted to cook for you.” Jack licked his lips. “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
“They?” He grasped Jack’s ass and tugged him closer. “Who’s they?”
“I don’t know.” Jack set his hands on Gray’s chest. “Everyone?”
“Ah.” Gray chuckled. “Well, apparently everyone is wrong because that’s not the organ with a fast track to my heart.”
Jack jerked his gaze away. “We both know that’s not true.”
“What do you mean?” He still didn’t have a handle on what was going on in Jack’s head and he needed to catch up so he could fix the problem.
“Gray,” he sighed. “You’ve had sex with lots of guys and you’re the first person to say they didn’t mean anything to you, before or after. They couldn’t get to your heart that way and neither will I.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” He kissed Jack’s forehead. “The organ I was referencing was my brain. You’re the smartest, most interesting person I’ve ever met. Nobody else measures up. But if I’d been talking about my dick, you’d be in a league of your own too.” He leaned forward and kissed Jack’s neck. “I’ll tell you again, you are phenomenal in bed.” He cradled Jack’s cheeks and looked into his eyes. “But that’s all moot because you madeyour way into my heart a very long time ago and planted your flag. There is no competition, and if there was, you’d win it every time.”
“You are so kind.” Jack pressed his lips to Gray’s. “Thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, but I would like to understand what’s on your mind.” He curled his hand around Jack’s nape and rubbed his thumb back and forth over his skin. “Did something happen today?”
“Not today. You know how I had lunch with Kevin on Wednesday?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“He told me he made a move on you.”
He hadn’t seen that coming. “Kevin?” He frowned. “He spends most of the time we’re together insulting me. If that’s his idea of flirting, we’ve uncovered the reason he’s still single.”
Jack laughed. “He didn’t do it recently. Or at least he didn’t say he did it recently. He said he came onto you around the time we met.”
“He did?” Gray tried to recall those days, but they were a distant blur.
“You don’t remember?”
“That was almost twenty years ago. How am I going to remember a random come-on from back then?”
“You’re right. With as often as guys hit on you, I’m sure it’s impossible to keep track. By the way, even though he harasses you, Kevin also wants to fuck you.”
“He told you that?”
