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“Fuck yeah! Bite trade.”
Billie assembled the perfect bite onto their fork and held it out for me to eat. Their French toast was stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese topped with yet more strawberries, whipped cream, and syrup. The sweet flavour exploded on my tongue.
“I think I'm going to get a sugar high just from this one bite. It's so good.”
“I pretty much live in a state of sugar high.” Billie chuckled.
I couldn't help but giggle. They were so cute with their bright smiles and easy laugh.
I gathered up the perfect bite of benny and fed them like they’d fed me, tidying a smear of hollandaise from the corner of their mouth with my thumb. Billie’s gaze ignited when I licked the sauce away.
We chatted through the meal, and it was surprisingly a lot easier than I was anticipating. Whenever I struggled to come up with something to say, Billie was right there to fill in the space, or give me a chance to think by focusing on their food.
My stomach regretted my exuberance by the time we were finished eating. I patted my food baby and leaned back contentedly. “I'm not going to have to eat for a week.”
“Cannot relate.” Billie laughed. “I'm pretty sure I'm always hungry. I eat my three squares, plus snacks, no matter how much food is involved in any of them.”
I giggled. “You need all that energy to keep up with socializing. Maybe that's my problem. I just need to eat more.”
“More snacks are always a good idea.” Billie nodded. “Could I entice you on a walk?”
“I can be enticed into most things when I’ve been well fed.”
Billie winked. “Good to know.”
6
BILLIE
I’dlostcountofhow many times I’d made the cute-ass librarian laugh over breakfast and our walk afterwards. She let me hold her hand the whole time, and her cheeks were perma-pink.
We passed a tiny florist on our way back to the car and I pulled her to a stop, dragging her inside.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“Pretty girls deserve flowers,” I stated. “How do you feel about sunflowers?”
“I love them, but you don’t have t—”
I pressed a finger to her lips. “I want to get you a gift that’s as bright and beautiful as you.”
Nicky sucked in a sharp breath. I slid my hand to the side, cupping her cheek, and she angled towards my wrist, breathing in the subtle mix of Gabe’s scents overlaying mine on the bond mark there. “Okay.”
I picked her out a bunch of mini sunflowers in a fat purple pot, and she cradled them to her chest as we walked back to her car. We paused next to it when we arrived.
“Do you…” Nicky fidgeted, kicking the ground with her toes, “...want to come over for some tea or coffee?”
A cozy warmth filled my chest. Being invited over seemed like an excellent sign, regardless of what intentions she might have. “You bet your sweet ass I’d love to come over for anything you have in mind.”
Her shoulders dropped down from her ears, and she gave me a shy smile. She clicked the auto-locks on her car for us both to get in. I slid into the passenger seat and chattered at her for the short drive to her apartment. The place was a bit older than I’d expected, but it seemed to be in decent repair as we rode the elevator up.
“You don’t hate cats, do you?” she asked as we paused outside of her door.
“Heck no. I love kitties.”
“Okay, good. I forgot to mention Spud. He's usually not too bad with strangers.” She unlocked the door and a ball of grey floof came galloping towards us. He skidded to a stop and looked at me warily.
“Hey there.” I crouched down and held out my hand for him to sniff. “Who's a handsome boy?”
