Page 13 of Tastes of Him

Brody shrugged and gave me a gentle smile. “Well, I’m not the one you need to explain that to.” I knew he was right. I didn’t know if this was the reason why there was so much tension in the house, but I knew that I needed to get to the bottom of it, and I needed to do that sooner rather than later. Whatever Sean was thinking, it probably wasn’t correct, and I didn’t want him to think it was.

“Brody, sometimes I think you’re much wiser than we give you credit for.”

“Man, I’ve been telling you fuckers that for years.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Roderick

Iwalked gingerly up to my apartment door, not sure what was waiting for me on the other side. Nothing seemed to be amiss, and the hallway was quiet, but I wasn’t taking any chances. My hand was steady as I put the key in and turned the knob, and in my head, I repeated the conversation I hoped to have. I’d been going through the words over and over to make sure I had everything down. It helped me to have some sort of game plan.

I was surprised by the continued silence that greeted me, and I paused in the foyer before slowly closing the door behind me.

“Hello,” I called out, looking around and wondering if maybe I missed that we were supposed to meet somewhere not at the apartment. I pulled out my phone, but before I could send a text, I heard Sean’s voice calling from my bedroom. I stepped further inside, not sure what I was going to find, but I definitely wasn’t expecting dinner to already be sitting on the table.

“Sean?”

He came out of the bedroom, and I tried not to stare. The food looked amazing, but Sean looked even more so, and I was struck by just how much I had missed being able to see him on the daily. It wasn’t something I hadn’t necessarily thought of before going to med school, but it was definitely something I was realizing I’d missed out on. For the first time, I regretted going so far from home and not sticking around to see how he had blossomed in just the four short years I had been away.

His long legs were on full display underneath board shorts that I was pretty sure were mine. A tattoo that started at his ankle wound its way around his leg and disappeared beneath the fabric. I had the strongest urge to reach out and trace my fingers over it, but instead, I forced my eyes up. His gaze was steady as he looked at me, and his lips quirked up in amusement as he watched me look over the spread on the table.

“What’s going on with all this?” I asked, gesturing toward the table to cover the fact that I just got caught staring. He waved a hand and walked over, pulling out a chair and sitting down.

“Don’t look at me. This was all your sister’s idea. Personally, I think that she just wanted us distracted so she and Julie could have some alone time without us around. I don’t think it was necessary since they could have just asked us to let them go out alone. They’re big girls. I’m not too worried about them.”

I nodded slowly as I sank down into the chair beside him. We hadn’t made any plans for this evening, but this was exactly what I had been thinking about after talking with Brody. Not for the first time, I wondered if maybe my sister’s and my brains were connected because, regardless of what her intentions were, she had read me like a book. This was completely needed so that I could have a moment to discuss things with Sean without worrying about her or Julie overhearing or interfering. I didn’t think they would if they knew that we were having a serious conversation, but not everything needed to be public knowledge.

“Well, dig in,” Sean said as he reached for the first serving plate of food. The scent of roasted carrots reached me, and I felt my stomach clench in hunger. I hadn’t eaten much on my lunch break as I had been too busy making my rounds and making sure I had a chance to say goodbye to everyone, but now that the food was in front of me, I couldn’t deny that I was starving. “So, how was work, dear?”

Sean’s grin was playful in a way it hadn’t been in the past three days, and I pushed my thoughts of having a serious conversation back to enjoy it just a bit longer.

“Well, babe, it was same old, same old. You know, some kid put a pea up his nose and needed help getting it out, someone decided to stick a gerbil up their ass. Sometimes, the things that people get into amazes me.”

Sean’s laughter was like the first warm ray of sun after a cold winter’s day, and I couldn’t help but lean toward him to soak everything up. “One of these days, you’ll have to sit down and tell me about all of the strange things you’ve seen so far in your medical career.”

I nodded. “As long as you think your stomach can take it, and as long as I don’t violate any HIPAA laws, I’ll share some with you. Things get wild sometimes.”

“Wild I can handle,” Sean replied before lifting his fork. He paused as he gave me a look beneath his lashes that made something clench in my chest. It was so close to the looks I imagined by myself in the dark that I almost wondered if I was dreaming. “I should tell you some of the things that go down at the café. People can be interesting when they’re jonesing for their hit of caffeine.”

“I can only imagine,” I said, chuckling to cover the fact that dinner was the last thing on my mind. Despite the earlier tension, we settled into conversation in a way that we hadn’t before. Before leaving for medical school, I was always careful not to come across as too overly interested, being that Cameran was the link between us. Even disregarding the fact that I never wanted to do anything that affected their relationship, there were four years between the two of us. I knew we were both grown ass adults, but it was still something that occasionally cropped up in my mind.

“So, what did you guys get into today?” I asked, looking over him.

Sean shrugged. “Did a little shopping and got some coffee.”

I smiled. “Oh? Checking out the competition, were you?”

“Of course, I was,” he said unabashedly. “I always check out who my rivals might be. Plus, I’m wondering if I need to change things up when it comes to the goods that we’re offering. It always helps to keep things fresh, so people don’t start getting bored with us.”

“I don’t think it would be possible for anyone to ever get bored with you, Sean.” I hadn’t meant to make that sound so serious, but I refused to take it back now that it was out there. It was exactly how I felt. Sean’s expression softened as he looked at me across the table.

“You know, you should be careful, the things that you say to people,” he replied, though the smile stayed on his face. “One of these days, your charm is going to get you locked into something you might not be ready for.”

His words reminded me of the conversation we needed to have, and I looked down at my half-eaten plate, wondering if I would have the stomach to continue once it was all said and done.

“Sean, I need to ask you something.” I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up. “Why did you get so angry when I decided to sleep on the couch?”

“Who said I was angry?”

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