Page 83 of Carver’s Craving

Well, that was going to change.

We shot the shit through dinner—sharing stories, teasing each other and, for Styx and me, filling in the blanks for the last eighteen months. I’d have thought talking before strangers might be awkward. Nope. Simeon’s easy nature and Ryan’s dry humor made opening up easy. Plus, the couple knew so many people in Mission City. They shared lots of stories—some anonymous—to make me feel more at ease. To give Styx an idea of what he was choosing.

The decision was easy for me—I’d made it over a year ago. For Styx, though, this was all new. Oshawa had almost half a million people. Metro Toronto, right next door, was millions and millions. Styx had only ever known big. Well, I had as well…but I’d adjusted to small. He was just so much bigger than me. He shone so much brighter.

“So Nanny asked Dalton for a blue rinse. She figured that was what she should do.” Ryan grinned. “Dalton threw a hissy fit.”

I blinked.

“Ryan.” Quiet admonishment from Simeon. Or a warning—hard to tell.

“Well, when they meet Nanny, they need to understand why she has burgundy hair.” Ryan waved his hand in the air. “That hairdresser is a hoot. And he loves making the residents look their best. I swear he took ten years off Nanny with that do. Bops—who adores her to death anyway—was especially taken with her. She was the belle of the ball.”

Styx chuckled. “Okay, I definitely can’t wait to meet them.”

Simeon nodded. “We’ll m-make it happen.”

“Great.” I started to pile the dishes.

“Nope.” Ryan leapt up. “We got to enjoy that dinner—so we get to do the dishes.”

His husband rose, offered me a shy smile, and joined in the organizing.

Styx put his arm on the back of my chair. “When do we tell them about the pineapple upside-down cake?”

Ryan stilled. “Really?”

I grinned. “Or custard if you don’t—”

“We want. We so want.” He grinned. “The quicker we do these dishes, then the quicker we get our treat.” He nudged Simeon.

Who chuckled. “P-pineapple is great.”

“I happen to disagree which is why I’m having custard.”

Styx glared at me.

I shrugged.

And so it went until we were congregated in the great room with our dessert. Simeon and Ryan joined Walter on the couch.

Chia, having read the room, settled next to Poppin by the fire.

I sat in my recliner and Styx lounged in the easy chair. He stuck his long legs out and patted his belly. “I can’t believe I had room for that.”

“Given how delicious the lasagna was, I’m surprised as well.” Ryan scratched his beard. “I think it rivals Nanny’s.” He glanced at Simeon.

Who nodded enthusiastically. “Y-yep.”

Styx’s cheeks pinkened.

Good. You deserve the praise. You deserve all the good things in life. By inviting him to stay, I’d sort of made that my mission in life—to show him every day how loved he was. This is nuts. A week ago, he wasn’t even on your radar. Now you’re thinking in terms of forever. And if I didn’t know myself as well as I did, I might’ve thought this was all physical. But, nope. Even if we hadn’t made love last night, I would’ve found reasons to convince him to stay. That we were so thoroughly compatible helped. A lot.

My alarm sounded.

I silenced it. “Sorry. Meds time for the dogs.”

“And we need to be going.” Ryan rose. “I’m glad we walked. I need to work off that amazing food.”