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He smiled at Jay, and Jay felt positively spoiled with the number of those smiles he was getting from his stern regular. “Like I said,” Alexei murmured. “Gorgeous.”

Jay felt too good to protest this time. So relaxed. So content. So full.

He smiled back at Alexei, probably a little goofily. “I think you’re the nicest human I’ve ever met.”

Alexei laughed then. A full laugh, easy and smooth. “I’m really, really not. But I like being nice to you.”

Jay liked it too.

Jay loved when family dinner fell on a Monday.

It made up for him not having any work to do, no café to go to, even to pop in and check in on his coworkers.

He did that sometimes, and Alicia always made sure to give him a free coffee drink, winking and warning him not to tell Colin, and then Colin would always make sure to give him a free pastry, frowning and warning him not to tell Alicia.

He wasn’t allowed to bring any food to family dinner, of course, but he was allowed to bring the wine. Roman had admitted, after extensive taste tests, that Jay knew how to choose a wine.

Because I taught you so well, Johann.

Vee’s voice in his head caught Jay by surprise. He hadn’t heard it in…well, not since he’d seen Alexei in the alleyway. How funny, that he didn’t really hear her in his head when Alexei was around. Too many other things to focus on, he supposed.

Alexei’s scrumptious smell. The way it felt touching him. The way it felt being touched by him. Jay did a little happy shimmy at the memory, pressing Danny’s doorbell even though he knew he was welcome to come in without doing so, just because he liked hearing the little chime.

Maybe by next week, he’d even be able to bring something he’d made himself! Syrniki. Wouldn’t that be nice.

He was ushered in by Danny, who let Jay open the wine and fill up glasses while he and Roman put the finishing touches on dinner—some creamy French chicken dish that smelled like yummy garlic.

Jay liked that Danny insisted on a weekly family dinner with human food, even though none of them technically needed it. He liked even more that Danny included Jay in it, even though he wasn’t technically family, neither a Kingman brother nor significant other.

Soren and Gabe arrived not too long after Jay, holding hands like they always did anytime they were in the same room.

Danny liked to tease that they were Velcroed together, but Jay could tell it made him happy to see it.

Danny always got this glowing, pleased look, seeing his older brother so content.

Gabe and Danny hugged while Soren—who was the most dressed up of all of them, wearing some elegant silk blouse and tapered black pants—shot Jay a smirk. “Jaybird, what have I told you about arriving fashionably late?”

“That I’m terrible at it because I’m too eager for everything all the time.”

“Exactly,” Soren said, but he gave Jay a kiss on the cheek anyway, which was unexpected and extra nice.

Gabe gave Jay a little shoulder squeeze in greeting, looking like he’d let Soren dress him again; his shirt was much too tight for it to have been his own choice in clothing.

Jay beamed up at him. He liked Soren’s mate.

He was very nice to Jay and also quite handsome.

He might even have been Jay’s type—tall and strong with nicely large hands—if he weren’t so perfect for Soren already.

Gabe’s presence in Soren’s life had made Jay’s old friend kind of…

soft, in a way he’d never been before. Jay approved.

Soren deserved nice things. He’d had too much bad in his life before, and it wasn’t really fair at all, because underneath all the snark and the sass, he had a big, giant heart.

That was a little secret, though, just among the family. And Jay.

They all sat down to eat, catching up on hospital gossip (in the case of Danny and Gabe), and Ferdy updates (in the case of Danny and Soren). Roman mostly watched his mate, his every reaction to the conversation in tune with what made Danny smile, or frown, or wave his fork around in excitement.

And Jay watched everyone , happy to be surrounded by such nice vampires. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve it—or rather, he did know he hadn’t done a single thing—but he felt very lucky anyway.

He waited until dessert—a flourless chocolate cake Danny had baked—to make his announcement, setting his fork down next to his plate and folding his hands in the way he’d seen serious businesspeople do in movies. “So. I’m seeing someone.”

The surrounding conversation halted immediately, and three pairs of eyes blinked in astonishment—practically in unison, which kind of made Jay want to giggle. But he was busy making a serious announcement, so he took a sip of wine instead.

“You’re dating someone?” Danny finally asked, reaching a hand out to grab Roman’s arm for some reason.

Jay cocked his head, considering. “Well, I’m not sure if it’s dating, exactly. I’m biting him, and he’s teaching me about sex and also some cooking. Or maybe baking?” Jay wasn’t sure, actually, if pancakes counted as cooking or baking.

Danny gave a strangled cough. “He— I’m sorry, what? I could have taught you that, if you wanted.”

At Roman’s, “Not fucking likely,” Danny clarified, “The baking. I could teach you the baking . I’ve gotten pretty good at it.”

“Oh God, this is that mobster, isn’t it?” Soren asked, shooting a weird look at Danny, whose eyes widened.

“The one you like the smell of? Oh .” Danny shot his own meaningful look back at Soren.

“Stop doing that,” Jay snapped, then slapped his hand over his mouth in horror. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. He did not snap at his friends. That wasn’t acceptable behavior. Not one bit.

Rude boy. Not fit for company . Vee’s voice in his head sounded almost gleeful chastising him. Of course it did. She’d always loved finding fault. And there was so much fault to find.

Jay’s chest felt tight, his stomach a strange, solid rock. “I’m sorry, everyone. I’ll go.” He pushed his chair back from the table.

“What? Why would you go?” Danny’s brow furrowed, and he looked around the table, seeming to search his dinner companions’ faces for answers.

“I was rude,” Jay admitted, biting his lips hard enough to sting. “I should leave. Rude people shouldn’t be around company.”

“Fucking Veronique,” Soren muttered, taking a gulp of his wine.

“It’s not— She just—” Jay knew how Soren felt about his old companion.

That she had a cruelty to her, that she hadn’t treated Jay as well as she should have.

All of which may have been true, but also…

she’d taken care of him. She’d kept Jay at her side for centuries, his only consistent company for so long.

“Don’t start on her, please,” he begged.

Soren’s pale eyes—harsh and cold in his old anger toward Vee—softened at Jay’s plea, and he let out a long sigh. “Okay, Jaybird. Just stay, please. You’re allowed to be rude sometimes. Christ, I’m rude ninety-nine percent of the time.”

Some of that tight pressure in Jay’s chest released at Soren’s words, and he found himself letting out a weak giggle, pulling his chair back into the table and straightening his fork. “I just don’t like when you talk around me instead of to me. Even when you do it with your eyes.”

“Who, us?” Soren gave Jay his most innocent look, which wasn’t very innocent at all.

Danny waved his napkin at Soren in admonishment, turning to Jay with his big brown eyes all sympathetic and apologetic. “I’m sorry, sweetie. It’s just…we worry a little.”

Gabe cleared his throat. “Like, should you really be dating a human? Isn’t that dangerous, if they’re not even your ma— Ow!” Gabe glared accusingly at Soren. “What are you doing?”

Soren lifted his head from where he’d been peering beneath the tablecloth, arching a golden brow at his mate. “Just looking to see how you could possibly manage to fit such big feet into your mouth at every opportunity.”

Gabe smirked at him. “You know what they say, baby brat. Big feet, big—”

“Please, for the love of God, don’t finish that sentence,” Danny begged.

Gabe only laughed, his anger apparently instantly forgotten, and stole a kiss from Soren, who pretended to be annoyed but whose fingers, Jay noticed, twined around Gabe’s, holding hands even as he fussed.

Then all the attention in the room was once again on Jay.

Danny cleared his throat. “Sweetie, we just worry. You know, if you don’t, um, have a lot of experience, and you get worked up…”

Jay nodded, immediately understanding the direction of Danny’s concern. “Don’t worry,” he reassured his friends. “He already knows I’m a vampire. He saw me feeding on Colin.”

Soren gave a sharp bark of laughter. “Your manager ? Please tell me you were able to compel him to forget.”

Jay cocked his head. “But I never compel people. That’s why I’ve been feeding on Colin.”

“ Been feeding on Colin?” Danny asked. “Colin…knows? About us?”

“Just about me,” Jay reassured him. “I wouldn’t tell him about you all.

” He bit at his lip, considering. “But I kind of slipped with Alexei in that regard.” Technically he’d only told the human about Roman, but Jay had a feeling it wouldn’t be his only slipup.

He’d rather just have it all out in the open now and not worry about it later.

Roman, silent up to this point, sighed heavily, folding his napkin carefully on the table, then looked to Soren. “We’ll need you to do some cleanup. At the very least compel the manager.”

Soren was nodding along in agreement.

“No.” Jay didn’t snap this time, but he did make sure his voice carried. “No compelling. Colin and I have an agreement.”

Soren looked at Jay like his words from earlier were finally sinking in. “You never compel humans? But— How have you been feeding all this time, Jaybird?”

Jay fidgeted with his fork. “Vee always got me my blood, before. And after she died, I had a…friend. I don’t judge you all for it, but I don’t like doing it. It’s a lie.”

“You think I’m a liar?” Soren’s voice held a dangerous note Jay knew all too well—one he didn’t use very often with Jay—but for once, Jay refused to back down.

He held Soren’s gaze. “I think you don’t mind using deception in order to get what you need. That’s fine. I just don’t work that way.”

“Fucking Veronique,” Soren muttered for the second time.

Jay resisted the urge to raise his voice. “You can’t blame her for everything.”

“Can you honestly tell me it has nothing to do with her?”

Jay couldn’t, and it made him almost angry that he couldn’t. So much of his personality could be attributed to one person. One person who hadn’t even loved him. Not really. He knew that, somewhere underneath the loyalty and the long-standing habit of his devotion.

Jay wanted to be his own person. To be independent. He really did. But it was hard, and it was lonely, and he just didn’t want to mess with poor humans’ brains to do so.

“Okay. Let’s take stock.” Danny was using what he called his stern nurse voice. “The manager of the café where Jay works knows he’s a vampire and has for some time. Is that right, Jay?”

“Right.” Jay nodded, glad they were all finally getting on the same page.

“And now your new…regular…also knows, and maybe also about some of us too, and he’s seducing you with his body and his blood and maybe also his baking prowess. Is that right, Jay?”

“Right,” Jay agreed, although with a little less certainty this time. He wasn’t so sure it was a seduction going on, not when Jay had agreed so readily. “Just hand stuff so far, but I’m hoping to get to mouth stuff very soon.”

“How is this my goddamn life?” Roman muttered, downing the rest of his wine in one swallow.

“And we’re just going to support the revealing of all our secrets so Jay can get some action?” Gabe asked, sounding pretty cranky about the whole idea.

Soren and Danny looked at each other, once again communicating something without words. Jay didn’t protest because it seemed like this time they were talking around everybody, not just him.

Also, it was kind of funny to see Gabe and Roman so put out about it.

Finally Danny nodded, and Soren cleared his throat. “Yes, Highness. Yes, we are.”

Jay beamed at each person seated at the table in turn.

All in all, that had gone better than expected.