Page 51 of Tall, Dark, & Ginger

“I’ll let you know when it arrives and you can check it out.”

“Cool.”

Bane and Jerryn exit the kitchen and I dig into my breakfast. “You were saying?”

Wren nods, lifting a piece of bacon and biting it before answering me. Once he’s finished chewing, he fixes his gaze on me. “I’m not ashamed of what we do. I’m just not sure how I feel about the guys knowing. They are technically my bosses, and I know you are too, but I don’t want them to…” His words trail off as he shrugs.

“Don’t want them to what?”

“Treat me differently, I guess. See me differently.”

“I respect that, but this isn’t high school. We’re both adults and so are our friends.”

“Your friends. My bosses. It’s different for me.”

“You don’t think of us as friends?”

His expression goes blank for a second. “I… Maybe?”

My gut twists with guilt, knowing I already told Indy. Should I fess up now or would that just make it more awkward for him?

“No one would treat you weird. They’d probably be happy for me,” I admit.

He opens his mouth, but closes it before looking down at his plate again. “You meant it about having a crush on me?”

Chuckling, I use my fork to cut part of my fried egg. “Uh, yeah. Ask around. They’ll tell you.”

“They did,” he whispers. “I just didn’t believe it.”

“You must have on some level since you hit me up on the couch.”

He laughs softly, picking at his toast. “It wasn’t that I believed it, it’s that I thought you were cool and hanging out was comfortable. The rest of it was just hope and a trickle of bravery.”

“Well my ‘yes’ was a thousand percent based on my crush.”

“That’s really sweet, Rid.”

Before we can continue, our resident fuck bunnies, Indy and Salem, burst into the kitchen.

“Oh my god, it smells amazing in here,” Salem says, reaching over to my plate and stealing a piece of bacon.

“Hey,” I complain.

“There’s plenty on the stove,” Wren says.

Salem moans with appreciation, marching to the stove to grab another strip of bacon. Indy grins, his eyes practically filled with hearts as he watches his man pick through food with his fingers. I wonder what it’s like to be that in love with someone, to have your whole world revolve around one person. Based on the look on Indy’s face, it’s fucking nice.

“Want some, lover?” Salem asks, offering bacon to Indy.

Indy nods, stalking over to the stove and letting Salem feed him. It’s an intimate moment, and Wren is watching too, but I can’t read his expression. After a few seconds, he drags his gaze back to his own plate.

Indy and Salem stumble out together a few minutes later, leaving me and Wren alone again. We eat in silence, and when I finish, I grab a few plates to load into the dishwasher. Wren joins me in cleaning up, glancing at me like he has more to say, but he doesn’t.

Once we’re finished, we walk up the stairs, and Wren doesn’t hesitate to follow me into my suite. He sits on my couch, tucking his feet under him and studying me with sultry eyes.

“What’s on your mind, rabbit?” I ask, settling next to him.

“You. This. My life.”

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