Page 56 of Gratification in Gluttony

“You have a real ear for music. It’s insane that you never learned.”

“Pops never let me,” Toni confessed before he could stop himself, and Jude frowned. “It was one of those girly things he said I shouldn’t do.”

That made Jude frown deeper. “Then fuck your dad. He sounds like an asshole.”

“He is,” Toni agreed.

“You’re really, really good, Toni. With training, you’d be amazing.”

For some reason, the way Jude was looking at him made Toni’s throat tighten. “Thanks, Jude,” he croaked, and Jude beamed at him.

Releasing his death grip on Toni’s shirt, Jude leaned back and cleared his throat. “I could teach you, if you want. I mean, not piano. I was never that good, and you’re better at it already than I ever was. But I could teach you how to play guitar.”

“You would do that?” The tightness in Toni’s throat moved south, clenching his chest until he almost couldn’t breathe.

Jude nodded. “Yeah. I’m a bit rusty, but I took guitar lessons for most of my life. I could totally teach you. I bet you’d pick it up really fast.”

It was Toni’s turn to grab Jude by his shirt and haul him into a kiss. The keyboard bit into Toni’s stomach, but he ignored it as he dug his fingers into Jude’s hair and kissed the shit out of him. They were both breathless when they parted.

“I would really like that,” Toni said thickly. “I just… That really means a lot, Jude.”

The smile Jude gave him this time was soft and lovely. “It would be a crime for me not to.”

“Can we play it again?” Toni pointed to Jude’s phone. “And pull up the lyrics. There was the part at the end, where they sing different things. I could do that.”

“Okay. I’ll take the bridge lyrics, if you take the—”

“Theautumn leavespart,” Toni finished. “I know.”

They played it again, and at the vocal split, Jude repeated the bridge as Toni continued the chorus, reading the lyrics off Jude’s phone. At the end, when the song got soft again, Toni gentled his fingers on the keys as Jude sang the last few phrases. Because he could, Toni harmonized. His voice was rougher than Jude’s, but it didn’t sound half bad, not to Toni’s ears.

When the final note faded, Toni and Jude just stood and grinned at each other. Then they started to laugh.

Someone clapped, and they turned to find Gem in the doorway, beaming at them both. “That was beautiful,” he said, blinking moisture from his two largest eyes. “Like, really. I’ve never heard you play like that, Toni.”

“Thanks. Jude’s gonna teach me guitar,” Toni said, and Gem turned several eyes to Jude while keeping the others on Toni.

“That’s really great, Jude. He’s always wanted to learn,” he said.

“He’s gonna be great at it,” Jude said confidently.

“Yeah,” Gem agreed, voice cracking. “Yeah, he will be.”

When Gem’s expression crumpled, Toni furrowed his brow and took a half-step toward him. “Gem?”

“You two should kiss or something,” Gem said, laughing wetly. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave so you can do it in private.”

With one last, almost broken smile, Gem left, leaving the door ajar but mostly closed. Toni thought he heard a muffled sob drift quietly from the living room, but then Jude was rounding the piano until he stood right in front of him. He angled his head, and who was Toni to refuse such an opportunity? He leaned down and kissed him, and it was good. So fucking good. Toni never wanted that moment to end.

Chapter fifteen

Unclenched Assholes

“Fisting!” Gem shrieked asOliver—who was clearly pantomiming the action of digging a hole with a shovel—threw up his hands in dismay.

“How is this fisting, Gem?” the human demanded, repeating the action.

“How is thatnotfisting?” Gem retorted, copying the movement. “You’re clearly going in, then following through, and then—whoop.” He finished the movement with a horrifying punching motion. “Clearly fisting!”

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