Page 90 of Soren

“Well, we’ve got time now,” Danny said. He laughed then, clear and bright. “We’ve got so much fucking time.”

“Yeah.” It was a nice thought. More than nice.

“I want to tell Mom about Soren.” Gabe surprised himself with his own words.

“You do?” The hope and happiness in Danny’s eyes were like a knife to the gut. Gabe had been so resistant to anything involving their mother for so long.

“Yeah.” Gabe nodded. “I know she might not— I know it might not mean anything to her. But it feels…important. To tell her.”

“She’d have liked Soren,” Danny said earnestly. “I mean…before. He would have made her laugh.”

“She might have been confused by it. I never got to tell her I was bi. I don’t know why I waited.”

Danny shrugged. “She wouldn’t have minded. She would have wanted you happy.”

Happiness. It had become such a foreign concept over the years.

“Should we go home to our guys?” Danny asked.

Their guys. Gabe grinned at the thought.

Happiness didn’t feel like such a foreign concept anymore.

Gabe stood in the doorway of his one-bedroom apartment, watching Soren closely as he took it all in for the first time. He’d been intending to stay in Soren’s room again, but Soren had warned him that it could get…uncomfortable.

(“You might find there are drawbacks that come with the combination of excellent vampire hearing and sharing a house with your brother and his insatiable husband.”)

They’d left Danny’s quickly after, promising to come to brunch that weekend. When Gabe had pondered aloud why they were having brunch when now literally none of them needed food to live, Soren had elbowed him in the ribs and told him to hush.

And now Gabe had Soren here. In his home. For the very first time.

Looking around with new eyes at the blank walls and cheap Ikea furniture, Gabe realized it wasn’t much of a home at all. There was no character to it. No sense of comfort. No style. Nolife.

“Uh-uh,” Soren said from his spot in the living room, crossing his arms. “No way.”

Despite the fact that he’d been thinking literally the same thing, Gabe went on the defensive. “It’s notthatbad.”

Soren widened his eyes, waving a hand around himself in demonstration. “It’s tasteless. A ridiculous bachelor pad.” He pointed to the TV area. “You have an Xbox, but you don’t have a singlerug.”

Gabe shrugged. Who needed rugs? “My living area wasn’t really a priority before. I worked and worked out and tried not to be here more than necessary.” He walked into the living room, tugging Soren closer when he reached him. “We’ll get a house.”

Soren arched a blond brow. “I choose.”

Gabe wrapped his arms around his mate, pressing a kiss to his neck. “You choose. I’ll get you any house you want.” Gabe couldsort ofafford it. He was still paying off the massive student loans he’d accrued in med school, but…well, he’d make it work.

Soren shot him a haughty look. “Oh, Highness. No, no, no.I’mthe rich one in this relationship.I’mthe vampire sugar daddy.”

Gabe’s brow furrowed. “Vampire sugar daddy?”

Soren giggled to himself. “Inside joke. Point is, I pick the house. Ibuythe house. You just sit there and look pretty.”

Gabe’s frown deepened. “I’m adoctor.”

Soren shrugged. “Be a doctor and look pretty, then.”

Well, Gabe already had that covered, more or less. If Soren wanted to be the big spender in their relationship, Gabe had no qualms about that. He pressed another kiss to Soren’s neck, unable to help himself. “Want me to give you a tour?”

Soren gave a theatrical shudder. “No need. I’m nervous to even see your bedroom. It’s going to be double-digit thread-count sheets and crusty tissues everywhere.”

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