Page 43 of Perfect Matcha
Chapter Sixteen
The first timeTheo woke up, it was dark outside, and Camden was sitting up in bed, his back against the headboard, watching the sleet batter the window. He was a picture of pensive handsomeness.
Theo must have made a noise, because Camden looked down at him and said, “Hey, sleepyhead.”
“Sorry. Conked out on you.” Theo’s voice was scratchy, and his eyes felt heavy. “Do I need to go?” he asked. Theo couldn’t quite remember why it was a bad idea for him to sleep in Camden’s bed, but the reason niggled at the back of his mind.
Camden brushed a hand through Theo’s curls. “No. Go back to sleep. It’s late.”
“You sure?” A wide yawn cracked Theo’s jaw.
“Positive.” Camden’s hand slid to the back of Theo’s neck, and his thumb worked some kind of magic because Theo lost consciousness almost immediately.
The next time Theo woke up, it was morning. Weak, blueish light streamed through the curtains. The night before returned to him in a rush.
His heart hammered in his chest, and he glanced around the room wildly, snatching up his glasses from the bedside table. All evidence of his night with Camden was gone. The ridiculously impressive steel dildo thing. The lube. The condom Camden had tossed on the floor. There wasn’t even evidence on Theo’s body. No lingering stickiness or dried come.
But Camden was asleep next to him, curled up on his side, his face half on Theo’s pillow and half on his own. They’d slept so close to each other. Close enough to touch. Theo was breathless just thinking about it.
Camden’s jaw was shadowed with stubble, and one of his hands was fisted next to his cheek. Theo remembered Camden sleeping with his hand up next to his face during their childhood sleepovers. The realization that Camden still slept like that sent a wave of intense tenderness through Theo.
The anger from the night before that had driven him here was nothing but a dull twinge in his stomach, and he felt … happy? Maybe satisfied was a better word. Happiness was hard to quantify, and, regardless, he wasn’t awake enough to tackle his emotions.
It was a Tuesday morning, and they both had to go to work. Theo had no idea what time it was. He slipped out of bed as soundlessly as possible. Camden had folded Theo’s clothes into a neat pile on the bench at the end of the bed. The bench that Theo would henceforth refer to as the fuck bench. When he found his jeans, he pulled his phone out to check the time. It wasn’t yet seven.
He sat on the fuck bench and tried to remember what time Camden reported for his groundskeeping shifts. On days with horrible overnight snow, he went in as early as five, but Theo had no idea if the sleet from the night before represented such an emergency.
He suspected not, which meant that he had time to … do what? His feet were pulling him toward the door, but surprisingly, it wasn’t to make a secretive escape.
Theo wanted to do something nice for Camden. Last night, Camden had welcomed him in, despite Theo being mad and reckless. Camden had given Theo everything he’d wanted. Everything he’dneeded. That was Camden to a tee. He was always taking care of Theo. Maybe it was Theo’s turn to give some care back.
He assumed Camden hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, if his foggy middle-of-the-night recollection was correct, so he took great pains to sneak out quietly. He locked the door behind him.
It was a quick drive to Bold Brew. The early morning crowd was sparse, and there was no line. Theo took his time selecting a variety of treats—donuts, cinnamon rolls, and muffins—which the barista loaded into a box for him. He also grabbed a few of the nut-and-seed protein bars that Camden was obsessed with. They often sold out of the bars quickly, and Camden got excited when he was able to snag one.
While the barista prepared the drinks Theo had ordered, he started to feel self-conscious. It wasn’t unusual for him to buy two drinks. It was especially not unusual for him to buy a drink for himself and a drink for Camden, but never this early in the morning. Would the barista assume he was buying some man a morning-after breakfast? Was it weird for him to do so for Camden?
Surely not. They were friends. And yes, Theo had left Camden in bed, asleep and rumpled from sex. And also, Theo was returning with baked goods because he felt an unexplainable impulse to make Camden happy.
But at face value, that didn’t have to mean anything other than that they were friends. Who had had sex. And were now going to have donuts together.
Theo liked face value. He thrived in the face-value realm when it came to his emotions.
Yeah, they were friends, and this was a totally normal way to start the morning.
With that minor freak out behind him, Theo drove back to Camden’s apartment. He juggled the box of carbs and the drink carrier as he reached Camden’s front door, only to realize he didn’t have Camden’s spare key on him.
“Shit,” he whispered. Maybe he could knock, but that defeated the purpose of surprising Camden with breakfast in bed—a surprise that had appealed to Theo.
The door swung open, and Theo jumped, almost dropping his Bold Brew haul. Breakfast in bed was out, but seeing Camden frazzled and sleepy made Theo smile.
“Hey, thanks.” Theo breezed through the door, his hands completely full.
As Theo neared Camden, he leaned to the side, and Camden tipped toward him, and suddenly, their lips pressed together.
A kiss.
A flyby kiss. A hello-good-morning kiss.
