“I gave him too much stress relief,” Hades said dryly. “He’ll be back on his feet in no time.”
Olson wrinkled his nose. “Please scrub your hands with soap, Aaren.”
“I was planning on it!”
In the kitchen, Hades set Aaren down on his feet. “How are you feeling?”
Aaren wobbled again. “Still a little shaky.”
“Sorry. I might have gone... overboard with you in the car.” Hades grimaced.
Aaren coughed. “Are you serious? That was the best kind of overboard anyone’s ever gone with me.”
Hades lit up. He looked younger like this, pleased and proud of himself, and Aaren wanted to see him smile like that again. Hades pulled Aaren into a quick, firm hug, trailing his wrists all over him. “I should leave before Olson kicks me out,” he said. Aaren whined. “But before I go... What’s your favorite entrée in this place? Something you love, that you don’t get a chance to cook very often.”
“Oh. It’s actually not on the menu,” Aaren said, happy to share this with Hades. “It’s a burger with an extra omelet stuffed into it, topped with cooked mushrooms, and onions that were sautéed with Worcestershire sauce. And garlic mashed potatoes on the side—I have to stir garlic powder into warm milk before adding that to our regular mashed potatoes, to ramp up the flavor and spread it more evenly.”
“That sounds delicious,” Hades rumbled.
“Do you want me to cook that for you?”
Hades shook his head, running his hand down Aaren’s back. “I should be leaving. Have some work to catch up on.”
“Aww,” Aaren said, disappointed.
Hades huffed. “I don’t want to distract you, sweetheart. Olson’s going to yell at me in a few seconds.”
“Fine. I’ll see you after work?”
“I’ll pick you up,” Hades said.
“You can’t go to the house immediately,” Aaren hurried to say. “Ballus will be there. But if you wait a while, he’ll leave for work. You can come in then.”
“Okay.” Hades dropped a kiss on Aaren’s head. “See you later. Have a good rest of your day.”
“You too.”
Hades gave Aaren’s ass a quick squeeze. Then he smiled and left the kitchen, leaving a warm fuzzy feeling in Aaren’s chest.
Aaren washed his hands and got started on the orders. It wasn’t long before Olson came into the kitchen again, with a twitch in his eye.
“Here,” Olson said, placing a handwritten note next to the order printing machine. “Fit this around the other orders. It’s for you.”
“For me?” Confused, Aaren went over to squint at the note.
Omelet burger, mushrooms, Worcestershire onions, garlic mashed potatoes.
His eyes almost popped out of his head. “Really?”
“He paid for it and left,” Olson said dryly. “Left a big tip too—” Aaren choked “—after saying he owed you lunch.”
“Oh,” Aaren squeaked. “Um, thanks?”
“You already had your lunch break,” Olson said. “But I need you to eat so you don’t faint on the job.”
“I said he had to feed me, but I meant his, um. Oh gods, I need to shut up.” Aaren clapped his hands over his mouth.
“Too much information,” Olson said. Then he dropped his stern tone and grinned. “I’m happy for you, kiddo. It’s about time someone good stepped into your life. Even if the rest of your life is a mess.”
