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“I finished the floors this morning.”
“You did?” Spencer halted and looked at Emilio in surprise.
“Yup. We were pretty much done last night. I just needed to wait for everything to dry so I could mop on another coat of finish in the living room.” Emilio walked over and swatted Spencer’s backside. “You have enough time for a shower, but then we need to get going.”
“Are you saying I smell bad?” Spencer scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, pretending to be mad.
“I’m saying you smell like spunk.” Emilio raised his eyebrows. “Ain’t nothing bad about that, but I figured you wouldn’t wanna see my mother that way.”
Spencer looked down and rubbed his hand over his belly, encountering a crusty reminder of the previous night. Heat rose up his neck as he thought about how hard he had screamed when he had made that particular mess. He had been on his back with Emilio on top of him, holding his legs wide open and slamming inside over and over again.
“Wait!” Spencer jerked, Emilio’s words finally penetrating his foggy brain. “Did you say something about your mother?”
“Yup.” Emilio sauntered over and took Spencer’s elbow, leading him out of the bedroom and into the remodeled bathroom. “We’re gonna have lunch with my parents, so we gotta hurry.”
“We are?” Spencer shook his head, trying to clear away all remnants of sleep.
“Yeah.” Emilio turned the shiny platinum shower handle and then held the glass door open for Spencer.
“I don’t remember talking about this.” He stepped into the shower and, as he did every morning, admired the white marble penny tiles Emilio had laid over the ceiling, walls, and floor.
“That’s because I didn’t tell you,” Emilio explained as he clicked the door closed.
Spencer’s jaw dropped and he flipped around, staring at Emilio through the glass. “You intentionally kept this from me?”
“Yup.” Emilio nodded and waved his hand toward the water. “Gotta hurry, Spence. We don’t want to be late.”
Spencer ducked his head under the showerhead and then reached for the shampoo. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” He lathered his hair. “Why would you do something like that?”
“Because every time we go to my parents’ house, you spend at least three days before fretting about it.”
“I don’t fret,” Spencer said stubbornly. He leaned back, started to rinse the shampoo, and jolted when he realized there wouldn’t be time to make anything. “Emi—”
“Nobody else brings food,” Emilio said, correctly predicting his concern. “Finish rinsing your hair.”
Spencer grumbled but rinsed the shampoo out. It wasn’t the first time Emilio had said they weren’t expected to bring anything when they visited his family, but Spencer resolutely refused to arrive empty-handed, so he always made sure to make a side dish or a dessert anyway. He scrubbed his body hurriedly, turned off the water, and yanked the door open. Emilio was waiting for him with a towel.
“I just need fifteen minutes and I can make….” He stopped midsentence when he remembered the state of their kitchen. Emilio had installed the new cabinets and appliances a week earlier, and they were waiting for the countertops to arrive on Tuesday. Until then, every kitchen utensil and the entire contents of the pantry were packed away in boxes.
Just when Spencer was about to go into full-scale panic, Emilio wrapped the towel around him and said, “I ran out this morning and bought brownies from that fancy bakery down the street.” He kissed Spencer’s cheek and then dried his hair. “Everyone loves brownies.”
“You did?” Spencer looked up at him in relief.
“Yeah, I did.” He cupped Spencer’s cheek. “But I’m telling you we really don’t gotta do that. Nobody expects us to bring something every time we come over.”
“I know.” Spencer ducked his chin and rubbed his toe back and forth over the soft bath mat. “I just want them to like me.”
“Ah, cariño.” Emilio kissed him gently. “My family loves you. My brothers think it’s great you can teach them that angle shit to help with pool, my sister wants to be your best friend, my mother won’t stop feeding you, and my father has taken to doing math problems he finds on the Internet and showing you how he solved them. You gotta stop worrying.”
“I’ll try,” Spencer promised.
“Good.” Emilio kissed him again, then hung up the towel and tugged Spencer out of the bathroom.
“But you got brownies, right?” Spencer asked.
Emilio laughed, so Spencer pinched his ass.
“Hey!” Emilio shouted, rubbing his hand over the injured area. “Right, right! I got brownies.”
Spencer laughed and walked over to the bedroom. He opened the closet, pulled out his underwear drawer, and froze.
“You like them?” Emilio asked from behind him.
Spencer ran his hand over the pile of brightly colored fabric and landed on a bright-blue pair. He picked it up and looked back over his shoulder.
“That one’s my favorite,” Emilio said huskily. “Check out the back.”
