Page 14 of Just A Little Joy
Cooking and being around people? Dream big, Casey Boy.
Travis returned, as promised, with a bottle of water and an extra pair of hands. Between the three of us, we were able to clean up the kitchen pretty quickly. It wasn’t my place to talk shit about Gerry, but his cleaning wasn’t where I’d expected it to be. It must have also bugged Travis because he grumbled the whole time about grease traps and fires. It took longer than expected, but within an hour, we were done and I was wiped. Unfortunately, I still had at least three hours left on my shift when you factored in bar cleanup.
“Ray, thanks for your help. You can take your dinner break before you go back out front.” With a nod, Ray headed out to the alley to smoke through the break while I internally groaned in jealousy. I wanted a damn break too, and I was starving. Except, foolish me, I’d forgotten to save a plate, and I’d be damned if I wanted to mess up the kitchen to make anything.
Breaks always felt like something other people got, not me, not when I was still trying to earn my keep everywhere I went.
“You ready for a dinner break too?” Travis asked the question like he was invested in my answer.
He’d used a tone I’d already come to recognize from him. It was the one that meant he was concerned about the answer, but he already suspected it was one he wouldn’t like. I’d heard the same exact one the other night when the discussion of how I was getting home happened. It made my stomach flutter because it sounded like he already cared too much.
“I can grab something on my way home.”
“You didn’t save a plate?”
“Nah, we were too busy. It’s fine. I’m not that hungry anyway.”
Travis contemplated me with an impassive expression. I hated it because it provided no clue at all about his thoughts.
“Casey, please don’t lie to me. Big or small.”
Something in me tightened at that because being seen that clearly was both terrifying and addictive.
“Lie?”
“You’ve worked your ass off tonight, you haven’t had two seconds to think since you walked in the door, you’ve been sweating over a hot stove for hours, and I don’t believe for one damn minute you aren’t starving. I’d even bet money you didn’t have a Thanksgiving meal today, did you?”
Technically, he was wrong because my frozen dinner had been turkey, but I knew he’d never agree with me. How I knew that wasn’t exactly clear, but it was a fact all the same. Silence and a shrug were my answers.
“Yeah, okay. That must mean I’m right.”
Travis crossed the room and laid a hand on my shoulder. The warmth of it made my stomach flip-flop. It was pure willpower, and a little luck, that I kept my breathing even enough for him not to notice my lungs were still.
“C’mon, you’re going to my office,” Travis said.
His voice was firm, but kind, and my bones, with one exception, melted. It felt Daddy-esque. It was like he knew all the best parts of being one and then wrapped them into a boss-sized package. I wanted to ask why he wanted me to go with him or maybe even argue, but I was tired. And hungry.
His hand slipped slightly to my shoulder, but the warmth remained. His hand stayed there until we reached the hallway, and then he only moved it so he could step slightly ahead of me to push open his office door. I made a beeline for the comfy couch and tried my best to collapse in a way that didn’t show my actual exhaustion.
“Oh good, I didn’t have to tell you to sit down,” Travis said.
On the couch, I squirmed a little at his word choice. As tired as I was, it didn’t stop my cock from chubbing at the idea of him getting a little bossy with me.
“I just wanted to make the first claim on it before you could do it.”
Travis laughed the way I’d hoped he would and made his way across the room to a small refrigerator against the back wall. He rummaged inside until he pulled out a covered plate. He wrapped it in a paper towel and popped it into the microwave on top of the counter.
It seemed a little odd that he’d asked if I was hungry and then invited me back to his office to watch him eat dinner, but I stayed quiet. Everyone thought I was loud and outgoing, but if I wasn’t sure what was going on, I was more likely to sit back and watch until I figured it out. And there was a lot about Travis I wanted to figure out. Last shift, it had almost felt like he was flirting, but never quite enough for me to be sure. It was confusing, but not so unsettling that I wanted it to stop. Hell, I wished he’d go further.
Every part of him confused me in the best way, like he was offering pieces of something steady I didn’t know how to accept.
The ding of the microwave pulled me back to the present.
“Lucky for you, I stopped by a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, and they insisted on sending me home with leftovers.”
“But if I eat your dinner, what are you going to eat?”
“Don’t worry about that. You need to eat because I know you’re starving.”