Chapter Thirteen

Reid

I rolled over, feeling around for my stuffie and found something so much better. It was Kevin. He stayed. He was here. I had no reason to think that he wouldn't be. He told me he would. But still, it surprised my sleepy self.

Scooching over, I settled in behind him, draping my arm over him and holding him close. I listened to his breathing, soaking in his warmth and his scent, the heady combination lulling me back to sleep once again.

The next time I woke up, I was facing the other way, his arm around me, his body the big spoon, and in my arms was my stuffie. If I had to guess, Kevin had put it there when he woke up at some point during night.

This was heaven—just the two of us together, enjoying one another's warmth. This time, I willed myself back to sleep, not wanting the morning to arrive too soon.

Neither of us were working, and it made sense to just be lazy. I'd make breakfast later. For now, all I wanted was to sleep in Kevin's arms.

When I woke the third time, Kevin was no longer in bed. I sat up in a single swift motion and looked around to see if he'd left me a note. He hadn't, but then I heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom. He was still here.

I climbed out of bed and stretched with a yawn, grabbing a pair of boxer briefs just as he came back into the room.

"Morning." I jogged over and cupped his cheek. "Missed you."

"Missed you, too." He kissed the tip of my nose. "Sleep well?"

I nodded against his chest, and he kissed the top of my head. In response, my stomach grumbled…loudly.

"I need to use the bathroom and then it's time to eat." I scurried off to the bathroom.

I wasn't sure what I was going to make, but I'd figure something out. I had a few options, depending on what he wanted after I took care of my bathroom business. I took the world's fastest shower and threw on some clothes, not wanting to leave Kevin waiting too long. When I came out, he was fully dressed, keys in hand.

That had not been what I was expecting. "You have to leave?" I tried not to sound as sad as I felt, but I was. I'd wanted to spend the day with him, possibly the night too.

"No, you said you wanted to eat. I figured I'd drive."

"Ohh." I took the keys from him and set them on the side table. "I meant, I was gonna make us breakfast." I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I want to be selfish and not share you at all today."

He pulled my body flush with his. "You aren't going to hear an argument from me." He kissed me breathless. A guy could get used to this. "Let me know what to do to help."

"I got it. You're the guest." A peck on the cheek, and I took a step back. If I stayed in his embrace any longer, the only thing I was going to be having for breakfast was cock and, as much as I loved the sound of that, my body was needing a bit more sustenance.

"And I'm the daddy." Not to be confused with my daddy. "Shouldn't I be cooking?"

"Do you like pancakes?" I ignored his comment about doing the cooking. There would be days when I'd gladly give the reins over, but today, it felt important to me that I be the one cooking.

"Only if you let me help." He wasn't going to let it go.

"I'd love that."

The look on his face was precious when I told him he could make the batter then handed him the plastic jug that required him to fill water to the line and then shake it. I wasn't sure if he was more in shock that such a thing existed or that I had one in my house and was wanting to use it.

"Since when did making pancakes become this?"

"Years ago." I wasn't even sure, but ever since the first time I saw them, I started keeping it in stock. It was one of the first things I bought when I started staying here. "And they are just as good as the other mixes." Which, to be fair, wasn't as good as homemade, but it was close enough.

My pancakes never looked the greatest. I even tried one of those As-Seen-On-TV perfect-shaped pancake tools. All it managed to do was lighten my wallet while eating my asymmetrical pancakes. They turned out exactly the same as they always had. But what they lacked in uniformity and shape, they more than made up for in taste. Every batch was delicious, and today's was no exception.

The two of us sat at the kitchen table, talking about things we might want to do for the day while we ate our butter-and-syrup-soaked goodness. In the end, we opted for a day at the zoo. We figured being in the animal room yesterday was a sign. A sign or not, I was ridiculously excited about spending time at one of my favorite places with my crush.

Was that what he was? It felt like so much more than that. But I still got butterflies around him, so maybe the name fit.

The weather was gorgeous, and Kevin suggested we bring a picnic to take advantage of it. I pulled together a meal while Kevin loaded the dishwasher.

"We are the perfect team." I said it like I was teasing, but there was truth in my words. Whenever the two of us worked on something together, it turned out perfectly.

Kevin drove us to the zoo. The early morning crowd was starting to leave, their children falling asleep either in their arms or in their buggies, making it the perfect time to sneak in and catch some of the bigger attractions. This particular zoo ran "keeper talks" throughout the day, and we stopped at the sign to make sure we could catch all of our favorite animals.

Today had a large-cat-show talk featuring their tiger, a penguin feeding about ready to start, and a "roam with me" in the aviary featuring free-flying birds we could go and feed. And that was only the first couple of hours' worth of activities.

"What do you want to see first, Reid?"

I really thought about it before answering. Seeing the penguins eating would be fun. I'd seen it before at another zoo, and watching them get hand-fed fish was pretty cool. But this zoo had elephants, and it had been years since I'd seen any in person.

"Elephants." I opted not to think too hard on it and go with my gut.

"We can do elephants." He took my hand, not caring who saw, and led the way.

When I'd suggested we start here, I hadn't realized there was a baby elephant born this year. As ginormous as it was, it was still very much a baby, and he was a lot of fun to watch with his huge ball. We stayed there until I couldn't stand still any more.

"I'm ready." I leaned into Kevvy's side. "What do you want to see?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you, silly. You're here, too." I stepped in front of him, wanting to see his face as we spoke.

"I want to see you having a good time." He rubbed noses with me.

"So if I said I wanted to stay here all day, you'd be fine with that?"

"As long as you were having fun, I'd be more than fine with it. So, where to?"

Gods, how I wanted to say home and in bed…naked. But I was being a good boy today, and instead, I told him I wanted to see the tiger, and by some miracle, we got there in time to see most of the talk/show. And, best of all, Kevvy won me a stuffed tiger by answering their trivia question first.

He was such a good daddy. I really needed to figure out this job thing so I could keep him.