Page 44 of By Rude Strength

“Yeah, except I just dropped a shit ton of money on two new fucking tires I didn’t actually need,” LA grumbled. “Goddammit.”

“So…” Cass looked down at the icing. “Chocolate cake for lunch?”

“Fuck yeah.”

“We will have a very nutritious dinner to make up for this,” Cass warned as he slathered icing over the first slab of cake.

“Very nutritious,” LA agreed, trying to sneak a finger into the icing.

“Hey!” Cass shooed him away. “Stop.”

Undeterred, LA went for the icing again and got a big glob. “Ha!”

“Stop sticking your fingers in the food,” Cass scolded.

“Or else what?” LA challenged, licking the icing off his fingers. “Damn, that’s pretty good.”

“Came right out of a tub, sorry to say.”

“What happened to making everything from scratch, huh?”

“You’re out of sugar. Besides, this was easier.”

LA went in for more icing, but he only managed to get a tiny swipe this time. “Hey! Come on.”

“If you’d stop bothering me, I could finish icing the cake!” Cass twisted away and pointed the spatula at LA. “Behave.”

LA smirked and licked the end of the spatula.

“Oh! Now I have to wash it!” Cass fussed.

“So, just give me the damn thing and let me have some more icing!” LA grabbed the handle and pulled.

Cass laughed. “You are quite determined, aren’t you?”

LA found that trying to take a spatula from a giant imp was impossible, so he pulled it close enough to lick it again. He noticed Cass staring at him with a funny look on his face. “What?”

“Huh? Nothing.” Cass let go of the spatula abruptly, another one appearing in his paw. “There, you, you, uh, enjoy that. I’m going back over here now.”

Only then did it dawn on LA that he might have been making quite a scene lapping up the icing.

Which made Cass’s reaction…

Huh.

LA continued to enjoy the icing left behind on the spatula, and he watched Cass carefully. “So. How long has it been for you? Since, you know…”

“Huh?” Cass remained quite focused on the icing. “Since what?”

“Since anyone licked your spatula?”

“What?” Cass turned around to face LA, clearly confused.

LA wagged his eyebrows.

“Oh!” Cass squeaked and went right back to the cake. “That, that, uh, it’s, uh, hmm. That is a question. That you asked.”

“You’re really cute when you get all flustered,” LA teased, finishing off the last lick of the icing. He tossed the spatula over into the sink with a shrug. “It’s been weeks for me. Starting to think that Gavin and I were probably over a long time ago and I just didn’t want to see it. He was probably waiting until he had this other guy on the hook before he dumped me.”