Page 7 of Tangled in Red

“Hmm. You make me wish I was on that menu, pajarito,” he murmured in Brett’s ear.

“You want to be fried chicken?” Brett blinked at him, but the longing in his eyes showed he knew exactly what Diablo meant.

With a low, playful growl, he gently nipped Brett’s ear. “No tienes por qué tenerle miedo al lobo gigante. Prometo no devorarte, pajarito asustado.”

“What did you just say?” Brett grinned and fuck if Diablo didn’t want to go back on his promise and devour him. He’d never smiled so much in his life or wanted someone so badly. Diablo hadn’t felt this good since his parents died, and maybe not even before then.

“It’s our turn to order.” He winked just to see his pajarito blush.

“Somehow I doubt that’s what you said.” Brett stepped to the window as Diablo chuckled. The male threw a playful scowl at him, which only made him chuckle harder. Fuck, he loved that feeling.

“I’ll have a two-piece chicken with a side order of fries, please,” Brett told the woman behind the counter. “And a Coke. Thanks.” He turned back to Diablo. “You said you’d teach me Spanish, not use it to mock me.”

There was genuine hurt in his beautiful green eyes. Diablo’s smile faded, his wolf snarling at the pain his dumbass human side had caused. It hadn’t been his intention.

Ignoring the people in line behind him, Diablo trailed his knuckles gently over Brett’s rosy cheek. “I would never mock you, cariño. You’re the reason my sun rises every morning.”

Brett’s breath hitched, lips slightly parting. “I am?”

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Diablo shot the guy a glare before turning back to Brett. Reassuring his pajarito was important, even if it meant pissing off everyone in line.

“Every single morning I hear your voice, beautiful.” He ran his thumb over soft skin, holding back from kissing him right there. Their first kiss wasn’t going to happen in front of a crowd of annoyed customers.

Diablo didn’t care, but he wanted it to be special for Brett.

Another cleared throat.

“I’m having a goddamn moment here,” he snarled at the guy behind him, knowing he was being the asshole, not the human who needed a throat lozenge. But fuck him. Brett needed reassurance, which mean Diablo would be the biggest asshole in town to make sure his redhead felt safe with him.

Brett nudged Diablo’s arm. “Order your food before we have a hangry mob on our hands, cariño.”

He did not just call Diablo sweetheart in his native language. Jesus. The male was practically begging to get bent over the counter and fucked into oblivion.

“Only because you insist.” He would gladly obey Brett’s little demands. He hoped the fiery twink was just as bossy in bed. “I’ll have two cheeseburgers with the works, two dozen barbecue wings, the spicier, the better, and a side of fries, coleslaw, and baked beans. And a bottled water to wash it all down.”

The look of disbelief on Brett’s handsome face made Diablo smirk.

“You can eat all of that?”

“I’m a growing boy,” he teased while moving them aside so others could order. “You would be amazed at what I can devour, hermoso.”

“As long as I don’t have to pull a mooing cow out of your mouth.” Brett grinned, his eyes sparkling in the evening light.

Diablo paused, a strange sensation stirring deep in his gut. “You would risk your life to save me from a fierce cow?”

His laugh hit Diablo right in the feels. He was being disarmed without a single weapon drawn.

“I’d be saving the poor cow from your crazy appetite. No wonder you’re so...” Brett bit his bottom lip, looking way too tempting.

The guy was seriously driving Diablo insane. “Gonna finish that sentence?” Because he was dying to know what Brett was about to say. The guy might be shy and easily triggered into blushing, but Diablo didn’t doubt for a second that Brett had dirty thoughts about him.

And damn if he didn’t want to know every single fantasy that had played out in his mind.

“Our food!” Brett moved quickly toward the counter, accidentally bumping into Diablo in his haste. Pain flashed across his face, gone as quickly as it appeared.

That look wasn’t from sleeping wrong on his arm. That was a mix of pain, anger, and helplessness.

Diablo knew how to size up any given situation, read body language, and catch details others missed. That skill was what saved his life in that warehouse when he was hanging by a hook.

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