Page 16 of Gratification in Gluttony

“And what am I in yours?”

Again, Toni tilted the screen so Jude could see it as he typed in, “The Hottest Human I Know A.K.A. Jude.”

Jude released a noise of disbelief. “You’re full of shit.”

“Only on days that end inY.”

Toni tucked his phone away and settled his head at an awkward angle on the edge of the couch cushion. Jude sucked his bottom lip into his mouth as he studied Toni’s face sleepily. Toni did the same, trying and failing to resist the urge to reach out and touch.

As Toni tucked a curly wave of hair behind Jude’s cute, rounded ear, Jude circled his wrist with his fingers. “Toni—”

“I like you, you know?” he blurted, and those ochre eyes widened.

“You don’t know me,” Jude whispered.

Toni shrugged. “I know enough to know I like you. You should come around with Ollie more. We can, you know, hang out or whatever.”

Using the hand still captured in Jude’s grasp, Toni traced the swell of Jude’s cheek with the back of his knuckle. The human blushed, his heart beating faster, and Toni pressed the back of his hand to the blood-flushed skin, marveling at the warmth.

Jude didn’t pull Toni’s hand away, but he didn’t lean into the touch either. “I have finals coming up. And I’m doing a summer course for my master’s. It’s gonna be pretty intensive.”

Disappointment trickled through Toni’s chest, even though he didn’t understand half the things Jude had just said. But he knew it meant Jude was rejecting him. Which sucked.

“I don’t really have space for hanging out.” Jude’s brow furrowed as he shook his head. “Shit, I’m really drunk. Um, what I mean is—”

“It’s okay,” Toni whispered, giving Jude’s earlobe a gentle tug before he pulled away. Jude’s fingers slipped off his wrist, but their warmth remained for several seconds after.

“I like you too, though,” Jude added so quietly Toni would have missed it if his hearing wasn’t impeccable. “For what it’s worth, I like you too, Toni.”

Unable to stop his smile, Toni wiggled his head. “I mean, how could you not? I’m pretty much the best.”

Jude coughed out a laugh, and Toni rested his temple against the front of the armrest and settled his hands in his lap. Cautious fingers glided over his jaw until Jude was cupping his chin. When he added pressure, Toni turned to meet the human’s gaze.

“I’d like to be friends,” he said softly.

“Friends?” Toni echoed, and Jude nodded. “Okay, baby. I can do that.”

He offered Jude his hand, and the human rolled his eyes but slipped his smaller one into Toni’s. They shook on it, both of them smiling like drunken idiots.

Friends. Toni liked having friends, and while beingonlyfriends with Jude would be a lesson in torture, he was definitely up for the challenge.

Chapter five

Horrible

Toni’s hangover the nextday was one for the history books. Usually, he held his liquor pretty well. But the next morning, Toni spent what felt like years bent over Gem’s toilet, puking his guts out. Once there was nothing left inside his body, he managed to transfer to the living room, where he joined Gem on the floor, lying face-down beside the couch.

Willow and Zef were outside on the fire escape, soaking in the sunshine and fresh air. Oliver and Jude shared the couch, Oliver’s legs propped on the back while Jude’s arm hung over the edge, his hand dragging along the length of Toni’s spinal fin. In any other situation, that type of caress could have sent him into outer orbit, but he was too miserable to be in any way horny.

Tad had woken without a hangover at all, like it was just another day, and she sat on the kitchen counter sipping a coffee as she hummed off-key under her breath. Curled into the fetal position, mostly under the coffee table, Gem moaned pathetically, eye mask covering half his face, a cool, wet towel draped around the back of his neck.

As the only one unaffected by last night’s shenanigans—except for Tad, apparently, who was impervious to hangovers—Rusty checked on each of them periodically, fetching pain killers, water, and coffee. It would have annoyed Toni, allowing Rusty to be nice to him, but he was too miserable to put up a fight when the Pyclon slipped some pills into his hand.

“I’m never drinking again,” Toni groaned.

“Shh,” Oliver shushed him from the couch.

“You always say that,” Gem whispered, “but then you still drink. You don’t have good self-control.”

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