Page 56 of Painting Together a Family
“What do you like on yours? Juni wants pepperoni, Marley will want olives.”
“Just olives?” That was kind of horrifying to him.
“Olives are her favorite things. Have been since she tried them when she was ten. Silly girl.”
He shook his head. “But she wants like chicken and peppers or something on it too, right?” He moved on to the next pizza crust.
“She’ll eat anything else. She loves chicken and onions. Sausage.”
“Oh good.” He pushed the thought of an olives-only pizza out of his head. “My boys like cheese and pepperoni if it isn’t too strong. I like lots of veggies on mine, but I also subscribe to the anything on a pizza crust is good theory. What about you?” He knew they’d discussed this when they’d first made their pizza date, but he couldn’t quite remember all the details. Maybe meat lovers?
“My favorite is a sausage and onion pie, but I’ll eat whatever there is. And at the moment, I’m kind of feeling Greek.”
“You don’t look Greek,” he teased.
Dev snorted, but it turned into a laugh. “Dork.”
Bryan nodded. That sounded about right. “So chicken with some Greek spices, some olives, tomatoes, and feta?” he asked. He knew they had olives and chicken and tomatoes, but he wasn’t sure about the spices and the feta. He hadn’t thought to order those. He’d learn what Dev and the girls enjoyed best over time, though, and then he’d be able to order more effectively.
“Mmm… hell yes. I do like that, but honestly, pizza is good.”
“Yeah. The answer to ‘do you want pizza’ is always yes. Although I’m guessing if you had it every night, you’d soon get bored of it, even if you changed up the toppings.” He had all but one crust left to stretch out. “There’s a bottle of pizza sauce in the cupboard with the canned soups.”
“I’m on it. I love all the groceries, by the way. It looks so homey.” Dev got the sauce down. “What next?”
Bryan laughed. “Most homes do have groceries,” he teased. “There’s a big bag of shredded mozzarella in the fridge. I think you’ve already taken out everything else we need.” He was going to show Dev how to make one, and then he was going to let Dev make the ones for his girls and himself. It was totally doable one-handed.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t bother me with most.”
“I’m going to teach your girls to cook, and I can’t speak for Juni, but Marley is going to love it.”
“I am enjoying this with you.” Dev grinned at him. “Marley was so embarrassed about the tacos. Poor baby.”
“Her heart was in the right place, and she only made one mistake.” Of course it had been a rather monumental one, but that was okay—it was her very first attempt and she’d had no guidance. “She’ll get better.” He was sure of it. “Okay, so we put some pizza sauce on the bottom and spread it out with a spoon. My boys only like a little bit of sauce, so I’m going to keep it sparce on theirs. Then you just add the toppings, as thick or thin as you want, depending on what the person wants, and you top everything with cheese.” He made the pizza as he narrated it, so when he was done telling Dev about it, he was done actually making Micah’s cheese pizza with a couple of pepperonis dotting it.
“Juni doesn’t want soggy, so I’ll do light sauce on that one.”
“Good idea. Too much cheese can make it soggy too,” he warned. He’d learned that one the hard way. He made Dylan’s much more pepperoni and cheese pizza, then his own veggie heavy one. “You need any help?” he asked, watching Dev, admiring the lean body.
“Nope. I don’t think so. I think I’m good.”
“Yeah, you are….” He licked his lips. Man, now that he was letting himself think about it, now that they had made a date, so to speak. Yeah. Now that he could really look, he was looking and liking what he saw. A lot.
“Yeah? So… are you a pitcher, a catcher, both?”
“I’ve kind of always been a catcher, though I pitched sometimes. But I like all of it.” He could feel his cheeks were going red, but he continued on. “Hands, mouths, rubbing. You know?” All physical contact with a lover was good. Hell, he lovedjust cuddling when orgasms weren’t feasible. Grant hadn’t been a cuddler. It should have been a red flag for him.
“I do. I’m an all-around type of guy. I just like contact.”
He beamed at Dev. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.” He moved in close and snuck his arms around Dev’s middle, giving him a full-body hug.
“Mmm… damn, babe. I like that. You make me hungry.”
“I can make you a snack before I go get the kids,” he offered. The pizzas would go into the fridge until suppertime.
“That’s not the kind of hungry I mean…”
“Oh!” His cheeks went hot. “I guess I might be hungry too.” He pressed closer.
