Page 40 of Fire
As he’d read, the asparagus salad and steak were incredible together. Jake even tried an asparagus spear, so Tobias let him have a bite of his steak too.
“The cheeseburger ain’t bad, but I’ve had better.”
“You should’ve gotten the salmon,” Tobias told him, and Jake threw him a look.
“You know I only eat fish when it’s been deep fried. Maybe pan fried if I’m feeling adventurous.”
“You might’ve liked it.”
Jake leaned across the table grabbing his hand for a quick squeeze. “I already know what I like, tiger.”
Alcohol was supposed to bite in your mouth and warm you up from your stomach. Sure, that was the blood vessels expanding to allow for more heat and circulation and not actually a good way to stay warm in snow or to face adversity, but it was something that Toby had expected from his research. When he took his first sip, he’d felt the bite, but not much of the second effect.
With Jake holding his hand, he was beginning to feel that warmth now.
* * *
“So,”Jake said, as Angie slid two generous slices of New York cheesecake onto the table, “any favorites from that museum today?” By now they were sharing one side of a booth together, as Toby had returned from the bathroom and unceremoniously dropped onto Jake’s side, bringing his drink with him. Hell yeah, Jake had known tipsy Toby would be an awesome cuddler.
Toby considered the question. “The watercolors were nice. But the St. Louis collection was better.”
They’d seen a museum in nearly every state by now, since they’d made the habit of looking up the nearest one after a successful hunt (one where no one died, or they otherwise felt like they’d earned it). Toby liked art: exhibits with big canvases covering the walls, glass cases of ancient pottery and jewelry, rooms full of dancing girls or muscular men posing forever in marble. It was a learning curve for Jake, seeing beauty outside the weight of a weapon or the lines of a classic car, but he’d learned a new appreciation for them by watching Toby's face as he took them in. It was the same way Toby looked at things as simple as fields of wildflowers and the vast plains of the west: beautiful things that existed for their own sake.
Toby loved the science museums too, and ones dedicated to things like the history of trains or potatoes, because he was an enormous nerd.
By the end of dessert (and the cheesecake was freakin’ awesome, Jake took back every bad word he’d ever thought about this place), Toby was slouching fully against him, one hand twined with Jake’s under the table. His cosmo was half-empty, and he was closely inspecting the cocktail glass as though looking for structural flaws. Or maybe he was just mesmerized by the way the light passed through it.
Jake slipped his arm behind Toby's back, letting his fingers settle over Toby's hip. “My sweet sixteenth was the first birthday I had a fake ID that got me into a bar. Ended totally hammered, woke up a couple towns over from where I started, but it was an awesome night.” He paused. “That’s not gonna happen tonight, of course.”
Toby rolled his eyes, pressing his shoulder into Jake’s. “Were you with anyone?”
“Nah. I mean.” Jake shrugged. “No one I saw again.”
Toby traced the rim of his glass with one finger, head listing onto Jake’s shoulder. “I’m glad nothing bad happened to you.”
“Hm.” Jake turned his head, brushing his lips along the exposed line of skin above Toby's collar. “I was a dumb, cocky kid. Got lucky a bunch of times.”
Toby turned and kissed him deep, no dallying about it, and Jake got the message. The kiss lingered, and they paused with their foreheads touching, breath mingling, before Toby turned to take another sip.
“Still,” Jake said finally, “I gotta say my twenty-first was my favorite.” The fact it had been his first birthday with Toby outside Freak Camp would’ve put it on top regardless, but Toby had made it awesome and delicious in ways he’d never expected.
Toby rolled his eyes. “You’re a sucker for breakfast in bed.”
“More like I’m a sucker for you every time.”
Toby sighed, but it was completely different this time around. He slouched deeper into Jake’s hold. Jake tucked his nose under Toby's ear and just took a breath. Toby’s curls tickled his cheek, the smell of his shampoo sweet and comfortingly familiar. He was a big fan of how Toby had started growing his hair longer, so it almost brushed his shoulders.
The cosmo was mostly gone when Toby said, “So, uh, my lips are . . . tingling? That thing I’ve read about?” He rested his chin on Jake’s shoulder, playing idly with Jake’s fingers between his own.
“Yeah?” Jake said, intrigued. “How you feeling otherwise?”
“Pretty good.” Toby blinked slowly. “This is nice. The room feels . . . far away. Like it’s not really there. I see why people like this.” He exhaled, turning his face to bury it in Jake’s neck. “You’re not drinking, right?”
“No way. You’ve seen me get Coke, and not the wild kind, this whole time.”
“Good. I’m not . . . I wouldn’t be very useful right now. Like if you started a fight.”
Jake snorted. “You’re in luck, ’cause I’m not gonna start a fight.”
