Page 53 of The Hookup
That made Ryder smile. “Sounds like a plan.”
Sure enough, after we finished our meal and cleaned up, we got ready for bed and slid under the covers. “This feels so good,” I murmured, as I snuggled against his chest and he wrapped himself around me.
“It really does.”
“I can’t thank you enough for dropping everything and coming here like this. It’s the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“I care about you, Hal, and your happiness is everything to me.”
His actions had already told me that, loud and clear.
The next morning, I woke to find a note from Ryder on my nightstand. It said:Hi, baby. I’m downstairs in the kitchen, come join me whenever you’re ready.
I stopped off in the bathroom to fix myself up a bit before heading downstairs. A familiar smell filled the air, which told me he’d baked his freakishly delicious blueberry muffins.
Everyone was gathered around the long picnic table in the backyard, including Logan and his husband and son. As soon as I stepped outside, Ryder stuck a cup of coffee in my hand, kissed my forehead, and said, “Good morning, baby. How’d you sleep?”
“Wonderfully, thanks to you. Did you do all of this?” The table was covered with several quiches, bowls of colorful fruitsalad, three types of muffins, banana bread, and pitchers of orange juice.
“I wanted to make sure you ate a good breakfast, so I had some groceries delivered and made enough for your friends while I was at it. Kit was a big help. I couldn’t have done it without him.” Kit smiled shyly from the other side of the table. “I didn’t know what time you were gettin’ up, so I went with stuff that would hold at room temperature.”
“Thank you. It all looks amazing.”
“Take a seat, and I’ll make you a plate.”
I slid in next to Logan and said, “I see you met Ryder.”
“I did, and he’s incredible.” I had to agree with that. “Lark messaged me last night and told me about your surprise visitor. Then this morning, Ryder knocked on our back door, gave us a basket of freshly baked muffins, and asked us to join everyone for breakfast. We’ve been invited over for dinner tonight, too. Apparently he’s making empanadas. Lucky and I are both very excited about that.” He grinned at his husband, who was cutting a slice of quiche into bite-size bits for their son. Lucky glanced up and flashed him an adoring smile in return.
I watched Ryder as he made his way around the table, selecting things he knew I liked while chatting and sharing laughs with my friends. He was perfectly relaxed, as if he’d known these people for years.
After a minute, he put a full plate in front of me and took a seat. “I made the banana bread with pecans, because you’re slightly allergic to walnuts,” he explained. “And I made sure not to include pineapple in the fruit salad, because it upsets your stomach.”
I said softly, “The way you pay attention and remember the most random things about me is nothing short of amazing.”
He grinned and kissed my forehead before saying, “Dig in. I know you’re going to tell me that’s way too much food, but Iwanted to give you a chance to try all three kinds of muffins. We can share ‘em if you want.”
Not surprisingly, the food was absolutely delicious. After we ate, Vee, Lark, and Dylan insisted on cleaning up, since Ryder and Kit had done all the cooking. Ryder turned to me and asked, “What would you be doing now, if I wasn’t here?”
“I’d probably go to my studio on campus for a while. I’m still trying to come up with some ideas for a better collection.”
“Okay. So, let’s do that.”
“Won’t you be bored?”
“Definitely not. I’d love a chance to see your campus and the stuff you’ve been working on.”
I got ready to go and invited Kit to join us, since Ryder was splurging on a Lyft. My housemate had other plans though, so we set off on our own.
On the drive, I tried to gauge Ryder’s reactions to the city. I knew there was no way he could ever move here, but I still wanted him to like it.
“This is so different than the other big cities I’ve been to,” he muttered after a while, as he tilted his head to try to see the top of a tall apartment building. “It’s like they crammed as much as they possibly could into a limited amount of space.”
“That’s exactly right, actually. San Francisco is on the tip of a peninsula, so the only way to build was up.”
“That they did.”
I had to ask. “Do you hate it?”
