Page 37 of Before It's Too Late
Taylor sat in her high chair next to the kitchen table, eating and playing with the Cheerios on her tray, her sippy cup actually standing upright in the little cup holder. Cael talked with someone on the phone, his back to Zach as he walked in, as he cooked something in a frying pan on the stove. Oh, and he was shirtless, wearing only a pair of jeans—a sight Zach had seen many times before but had never fully appreciated until now. Zach imagined how it might feel to sneak up behind him and run his hands down his muscular back before slipping them around his waist and across his abs as he splayed little kisses along his shoulder.
Zach’s insides warmed as he let the vision before him soak into his brain. He couldn’t have plucked a more perfect image of what he wanted from his thoughts if he’d tried. The only difference from this and what he’d always imagined was Cael—his best friend, and a man, not a woman as he’d always expected, and Zach was perfectly okay with that.
“Zaa!” Taylor squealed, trying to say his name. As cute as it was, he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from Cael.
Cael twisted his tanned and toned upper body and glanced back at Zach, a warm smile stretched across his face, as though he’d been waiting all morning to see him. Or maybe, that was just Zach hoping for something that wasn’t really there. Still, it was enough to stir that crazy fucking feeling in the pit of his stomach and shoot a tingling sensation straight down his spine.
A moment later, Cael turned off the burner as he wrapped up his phone conversation. “Listen, Zach’s up, so I gotta go, but thanks, Jemma. Will do. Later.” He pressed the button on his earpiece, then removed it from his ear and shoved it in his pocket.
“Hey, Pook. Just in time for breakfast.” Cael grabbed two paper plates from the cabinet.
“You didn’t have to,” Zach said as Cael spooned scrambled eggs onto the plates.
After setting the pan back on the stove, Cael opened the fridge and pulled out a bowl of sliced bananas and strawberries.
“Well, I have to eat too so it didn’t make sense not to make some for you as well.”
He dished some fruit onto each plate, then put a little on Taylor’s tray before setting the still half-filled glass bowl on the table. Cael paused and looked at him as Zach still stood frozen in place, simply watching him.
“Well, don’t just stand there. Grab a plate and some coffee and sit down.”
Oh. Right. Coffee.
Zach grabbed a mug and filled it with the hot, fresh brew, then added his usual milk and sugar. After taking a careful sip, he joined Cael at the table, sitting opposite him so they could both reach Taylor if needed.
“So, why were you on the phone with Jemma?” Zach asked, taking a bite of eggs. Jemma was a friend of Chloe’s who also happened to be a pediatrician and Taylor’s primary doctor.
His mouth full, Cael pointed at Taylor with his fork as he worked to chew and swallow the fruit in his mouth.
“I noticed she kept batting at her ear last night, and again this morning. I thought it might be an ear infection. Jemma said it sounds like it, so I made an appointment to take her down later this morning to check it out. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Mmm-mmm.” Zach shook his head. “Thanks. I was beginning to wonder if I should anyway with the way she’s been screaming off and on the past few nights.”
“I can take her if you want. Give you some more time to yourself.”
“No, I’ll take her.” Zach poked a strawberry slice and stuck it in his mouth. He wanted to ask Cael to come with him, but he figured it might sound a little weird.
Cael shrugged, dismissing the issue quickly. “Suit yourself.”
Zach stared at him for a moment, trying to ignore the fact that his chest suddenly hurt. It was obvious Cael wanted to go on about his day. Just because he stayed last night and made breakfast this morning didn’t automatically equate to him wanting Zach.
“What’s wrong?” Cael asked.
“What? Oh, um… it’s nothing.” Zach gave his head a subtle shake, drawing his brows together and clearing his throat. Fuck it. “I was just thinking, maybe you’re right. Maybe I need to get out. If Chloe can babysit.”
“You want to go out tonight?” There was something odd in the way Cael asked and the way he looked at Zach, as though he was hopeful but hiding it. That wasn’t possible, was it?
“Uh, yeah. Or earlier.”
“Okay.” Cael whipped his phone out of his pocket and, holding it in his palm, swiped and tapped the screen with his thumb. “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. You pick.” Zach didn’t care. He actually didn’t want to go anywhere. He just wanted to be with Cael, preferably some place where he might be able to get him to kiss him.Fuck,did I really just think that?
“You really don’t want to go out, do you?”
Zach scrunched his lips, shaking his head, then looked at Taylor. She had banana goo mashed in her little fist, squishing out between her fingers. Christ, little kids were so fucking messy.
“Okay, how ‘bout this?” Cael’s phone chimed, and he looked at the screen. “Chloe says she can be here around five. You come over to my place, we’ll order some pizza, drink some beer, and blow apart little pixels on a seventy inch screen. Better?”