Page 46 of Starts With a Bang

Janet clapped her hands softly. “I need to grab some last-minute gifts, and I’ve heard wonderful things about the restaurants and boutiques in Vail.”

“Looking forward to it,” I said.

Janet set her fork down and pushed her plate away. She’d eaten nearly three-quarters of it but claimed she couldn’t eat another bite. She looked as frail as a bird, but I didn’t push her, and neither did Dom.

“I’m going to head upstairs and take an everything shower. I’ll feel so much better afterward.” She slid off the stool and rounded the island to hug me. “Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

“My pleasure. Same time and place tomorrow?”

Janet giggled again and swatted my arm playfully as she stepped away. “You take good care of this one, Dom.” Her eyes widened, and worry furrowed her brow. “I didn’t mean that to sound like you didn’t take care of Emerson.”

Dom put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “I knew what you meant, Aunt Janet. And I will take excellent care of this guy.”

She reached for her plate, but I stopped her. “I’ll clean up.”

“But you cooked,” Janet protested.

“Okay, Dom will clean up.”

Janet laughed again and waved me off. “See you guys in a few hours.”

“Few hours?” Dom asked once she disappeared. “What exactly happens in an everything shower?”

“Depends on who’s doing it, Grizz.” I picked up Janet’s plate, but Dom snatched it from me.

“You said this was my job.”

“I was just teasing,” I said, reaching for the plate again. Dom jerked it out of reach, and I wasn’t about to throw down with him in the kitchen over a simple task. I settled in at the island and told him about what my everything showers entailed.

“Hair mask, shampoo and condition, body scrub, and a facial?” Dom repeated each word slowly, as if learning a whole new language. “That sounds like a lot of work.”

“It is,” I agreed. “But you feel amazing afterward.”

Dom finished tidying the kitchen and returned to my side. He pulled me into his arms and kissed me hungrily. “You are going to feel amazing because I am going to take excellent care of you, as I promised.” He stepped back and tugged me with him. “As soon as we get back to our room.”

We turned and froze because Emerson stood between the great room and kitchen. He’d had the decency to put on a shirtwith his lounge pants before coming down, but what made me happiest was the scowl he wore on his face.

“This isn’t your house,” Emerson said. “Others are staying here too.”

“What’s your point?” Dom asked.

“This,” Emerson replied, waving his hand up and down in our vicinity. “None of us should be subjected to your groping and making out in the common spaces.”

“I’d heard of your kind before, but this is the first time I’m seeing one in the wild,” I said.

Emerson visibly bristled. “What do you mean? My kind?”

“An uptight, fuddy-duddy gay man with a stick shoved so far up his ass that he can’t possibly make room for a lover.”

His face transitioned from pink to red and then faded to white before he managed to speak. “I don’t have to explain or justify anything to you.”

I leaned into Dom. “But buckle up because he’s about to do just that.”

Dom snickered and tried to cover it with a cough.

“You think this is funny? Your boy toy insults your husband and—”

“Ex-husband,” Dom and I said together. It wasn’t clear which of us had sounded surlier.

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