Page 57 of A Different Form of Oxygen

“Maybe next time you won’t go against your Papi’s rules.”

I wash my hands in the nearby sink and Ben stands there, trying to regain his balance.

On his way to the table, he runs his fingers over the fake plants on the counter.

“I can’t even begin to express how much I hate plastic plants.” His face scrunches up in distaste.

“I think you’re doing a pretty good job of that right now,” I say, chuckling before sliding on an oven mitt to pull out our dinner.

“That smells delicious.” His eyes brighten and he perks up where he stands, no longer caring about the fake plant. “You know, I still think it’s odd a vegetarian went fishing today.”

“I told you already, I never claimed to be a vegetarian. You just keep assuming I am. I guess if you have to put a label on it, I’d go with pescatarian.”

“What’s a pescatarian?”

“A person who doesn’t eat meat but does eat fish. I don’t eat it often though. Only on certain occasions.”

“Like when you’re with me?”

I smile handing him his plate of food. “Like when I’m with you and occasionally when I go out to dinner with friends or Maverick.”

We eat our food and are quiet except for the humming sounds Ben makes when sliding each bite of food into his mouth and the occasional scraping of his fork against his plate. Each piece is rich and tender in my mouth, and I can tell he’senjoying his food just as much.

“That was really good. Thank you for making me a delicious meal, Papi. I’ll have to make you dinner next time.”

I smile, running my fingers over the soft skin of his face. “I’d like that very much.”

“I’ll have to make you one ofmi abuela’sfamous recipes. Don’t worry, there’s a way to make it vegetarian. Don’t tell mi abuela though. I don’t get a chance to use her recipes much since it’s not often I have someone to cook for. Casey doesn’t come over for dinner as much now that he has Maverick.”

I take his hand in mine, pressing soft kisses into the inside of his palm. “Well, now you have me and I’ll let you cook dinner for me anytime you want.”

He releases a soft sigh, giving me a sleepy smile with his eyes blinking. “Anytime?”

“Yes, beautiful boy, anytime. Someone looks like he’s about to fall asleep in his chair. Let me get these dishes put away and we can get the fireplace started, roast marshmallows and cuddle in front of some cheesy romance film.” That should help us wind down some more before turning in for bed.

He shoots up from his chair. “Oh, I used to love roasting marshmallows. We did it a lot as kids when my parents would take us camping in the summers. I haven’t been since. I never had the time. I was usually working multiple jobs the moment I became a teenager.”

I frown and my heart sinks in my chest at the thought of Ben missing out on so much and having to carry so much responsibility for so long. He hadn’t even had time to enjoy the things he loved. His words only seemed to make me frown, and he still held light in his green eyes.

Bouncing on his feet, Ben eyes the kitchen. “How about I grab the food while you start the fire?”

I chuckle at his enthusiasm and am glad he is enjoying this so much. “It won’t take long to start it. It’s an electric fireplace. Only takes a flip of a switch, but that would be great. It’s all in the pantry.”

Ben’s eyes follow the direction my finger is pointing in, and he moves toward the pantry with a bounce in his steps. He shoves a marshmallow in his mouth while humming an unrecognizable tune, standing on the balls of his feet to reach the graham crackers. I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on him. Now I know why Rebecca told me I was less productive when Ben was around. It’s taking me double the time just to get the fire going. Ben looks up from the pieces of chocolate and crackers he’s gathered on a plate, the corners of his lips inching up and cheeks blushing.

“You are making it really hard for me not to be naughty with you smiling at me like that, Papi. No pun intended.”

He shoves another marshmallow slowly between his wet parted pink lips, causing a rush of heat to run all the way down to my groin. He had no idea how hard it was. Very hard indeed.