Teo rested his head on my chest and lazily ran his fingers across my skin while my own found their way into the messy waves of his hair. I half expected him to fall asleep on me. He’d had a long week trying to balance looking after Mr. Banks with also finishing up some of his consulting work. But after a few minutes, he surprised me.
“I was trying to think of what to make to bring to your sister’s tomorrow night, and I realized they’re probably going to have birthday cake, right? So I shouldn’t do dessert. What do you think about a big greek salad? I put olives and pepperoncini in it. Sometimes I put little strips of salami in it too, but I don’t have to do that if there will be vegetarians there.”
He tilted his head back to look up at me with those gorgeous eyes.
I ran a thumb across one of his dark eyebrows. “You don’t need to bring anything.”
“Jack, I’m Italian. We bring food. It’s kind of a requirement. Normally I’d bring cannoli or these tiramisu cupcake things my mom always made for bake sales. But if there’s going to be a birthday cake, I should bring something else. Oh! I could put together an antipasti tray. Like cheeses and meats, olives and stuff. Would that be better?”
He settled his head back on my chest. “I don’t want to show up empty-handed.”
“The salad sounds great. I know my mom especially would love it since she never likes to eat heavy things at a family get-together like this.”
“Oh good. Then we’ll have to go to the market in the morning and pick up what I need. I already have a big plastic bowl with a lid we can take it in, but I might need to find something to put the dressing in.”
“Doesn’t it come in a bottle?”
He leaned up again to meet my eye. “It’s homemade. For shame, Jack Snyder. For shame.”
I laughed and kissed the top of his head. “Sorry. Mine has always come in a bottle. I thought that’s how dressing was made.”
Teo chuckled. “It’s plucked from the bottle tree just like that.”
“Exactly.”
A comfortable silence descended as we continued sharing soft touches and enjoying the quiet together. Socrates had jumped up and made a new nest on a side table in front of the window, burrowing down into one of Teo’s T-shirts that had been left there. There was no sign of the other cat.
“Jack?”
“Mm-hm.”
When he spoke, Teo’s voice sounded surprisingly dejected. “When do you know it’s time to walk away from someone you love?”
21
Teo
I hadn’t really wanted to ask Jack’s advice on relationships, but he was the only person I knew with enough history to maybe know the answer to my question. My friend Jay never really dated anyone seriously, Hannah kept her love life private, my sister was… ugh, I wasn’t even going there. So that left Jack.
His hand was in my hair as usual, and it made me want to purr like Socrates during a good scratching session.
“Well, that’s a tough one. It’s different for everyone.” Jack shifted me off him until we were lying on our sides facing each other. “One of the things you might consider is making a list of the things you want in a relationship, and then make a list of the ways in which being with Chris would match up with those needs.”
I thought about it. “I want to settle down.” It was one of the reasons I knew better than to fantasize about a relationship with Jack himself. He’d broken up with his last boyfriend for that exact reason. “And I want someone to take care of. I know that sounds stupid, but—”
“Doesn’t sound stupid,” Jack said in a gruff voice. “Sounds nice. You’re a natural caregiver, Tee. It makes sense you want to find someone to care for.”
“And I like to cook. Maybe I learned it from my mom, but cooking for people is kind of a way of loving them, you know? Chris loves it when I cook for him. So I already know that matches up.”
“What are some other things you need in a relationship?”
I thought about it for a minute. “I like spending time with family. I like visiting his great-aunt and his grandpa and my own family. If I have an off weekend with nothing else going on, sometimes I’ll go home just to catch up with my mom or my sister or help my dad with stuff around the house.”
“Does Chris like to spend time with his family too?”
“Well, it’s different for him because he works with his family all day. So on the weekend, he usually wants a break. He’s more of a partier than I am, but sometimes he’ll come home with me and visit his mom while I visit my family.”
“What about hobbies and things? What else do you enjoy doing besides cooking and visiting family? And what does he like doing in his free time?”
“I like running. I know you told Chelsea that was one reason you settled where you did. Same with me here by the shore. Here, I’ve got Washington Park and Jackson Park. It’s tough to motivate in winter, but the rest of the year I love it. I like seeing shows when I can afford it. Funky music offerings and trying different types of restaurants. Things like that. In the summer, I grow tomatoes and herbs out on my little balcony, and I help my mom with her kitchen garden at home.”
I felt like I was boring as fuck.
“One of my clients recommended the Taming of the Shrew production going on right now at the Shakespeare Theater. I have a friend I used to fly with who can usually get me last-minute deals on tickets if you’re interested in—”
“Yes!” I blurted. “Yes, I would love that. I never have anyone to go with. That…” I tried to take a breath and not sound like such a desperate freak. “That would be amazing. Thank you.”
Jack’s eyes were wide, but his lips were quirked up in a smile wide enough to show off the pointy canine that made my dick hard.
“If only you were the one I’d met all those years ago,” I murmured without thought, leaning in to kiss that silly vampire tooth. Jack’s arms wrapped around me as he pulled me on top of him.
I could have sworn I heard him mutter No shit under his breath. But then again, I’d always been a dreamer.
Hands down, the best part of having a fake boyfriend was waking up in his arms on a Saturday morning. I stretched against him and grinned like a lunatic. Yes, I’d woken up with him in Goose Bay, but this was different. He was in my bed in my apartment with my cat curled up on top of his head.
“You look maniacal,” Jack mumbled. “And why is there a Waffles paw on my forehead?”
“She’s petting you. Waffles is very snuggly in the morning. I like to think of it as her mea culpa for all the bullshit she gets up to during the day.”
“Mpfh.”
He dozed again for a few minutes until I couldn’t keep my hands off him and began touching things. I started by tweaking his nipple just a little bit. Then I ran a finger down the center of his chest to his happy trail. God, he was sexy as fuck. I still couldn’t believe he’d rather be in my bed than literally anyone else’s.
“You could be on the cover of Hot Pilot magazine,” I mused out loud. “Or Hot Thirty-Somethings. Or Hot Chicagoans. Or Hot—”