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Jesse lifted Lake’s hand to his mouth to kiss the back of it. “You are all of those things.”

“And you’ve been showing me for months what kind of man you are. You’ve taken care of things for Remi and Dom when they needed help. You’re respectful to your employees and everyone in the club. You’re sweet to me. I deserve to be on this date!”

Jesse couldn’t remember being this happy on a date ever before. “We both deserve to be on this date.”

“You’re trusting me and I’m trusting you,” Lake said. It sounded like he was repeating something he’d heard.

“Yes.”

Lake nodded. “Yes.”

Was that it? Jesse looked toward the restaurant. “Are you still hungry?”

“I’m starving!” Lake told him.

“Good. I’ll help you out of the vehicle.” He had to release Lake’s hand and Jesse hated that but there would be more hand-holding, he promised himself. They had a whole date in front of them.

* * * * *

Lake

Laughing as Zeb swung between him and Jesse, Lake was sure they were getting some weird looks walking down the mall, but he honestly didn’t care. Zeb had even sat at the table during lunch and the waiter hadn’t mentioned it. Jesse was so smooth and confident that anything he did just got him a smile.

For someone who always worried what others thought about him, it was refreshing to be with Jesse, who didn’t seem to notice the attention they garnered.

“Now remember that I booked us a private shopping so you can take your time,” Jesse told him as they approached the store in question.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Lake said again.

“I want us to enjoy our time. I was a little overwhelmed when I came for you. There were lots of kids—of course it was a Saturday, not the middle of the week like now when kids should be in school—but it was loud and crowded.”

Lake smiled because he just couldn’t help it. He was being so brave on their date and Jesse was as sweet as he always was.

That morning, he had been a mess when he’d been thinking about his date, and Dom had needed to step in and stop Lake from canceling. Lake was glad he hadn’t canceled. This was an experience that Lake had never dreamed about.

“Here we are.” Jesse moved to open the door for Lake.

“Hi!” A young man about Lake’s age waved from the register.

“Hello,” Jesse called back.

Lake looked around in amazement. He’d seen the store on shows and in movies, but he’d never been inside one. There were animals of every variety on shelves covering two walls. The other walls were filled with every type of clothing and accessories that Lake could think of. These animals were before they were stuffed where Lake would be able to pick whether he wished for a squishy baby or a harder full stuffed animal.

“Wow!” Lake breathed out.

The young man left the counter to walk over and place a sign in the window of the door. “You must be Lake! I’m Scotty and it is my pleasure to help you make a new friend today!”

“Thanks, Scotty.” Lake smiled at the happy guy. “I appreciate you doing this for us.”

“Oh! You brought Zeb back! Do you love him? Isn’t he the prettiest boy ever?”

Lake felt an instant connection with Scotty. “He is the prettiest and goodiest boy ever!”

“That would be you, baby,” Jesse said, kissing the top of Lake’s head. “Would you like to do a walk-through before you decide on what friend you want?”

“There are so many!” Lake gushed.

“There really are!” Scotty bounced on his toes. “I can only buy one a month or my whole paychecks would be spent here! And I get a discount!”