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‘Because I can’t think of another single reason for you to have that look on your face.’
Shiloh scoffed quietly as Benjamin took a seat across from him at the table. He’d been wrist-deep in a bowl of runner beans, pinching off the edges so he could put them into a pan. Dom was coming for tea, and Shiloh had been trying to perfect the recipe they’d had at Chinese the last time they’d gone down to Brighton for a long weekend.
In reality, it was just busy work. It was him trying to keep his mind on anything except the upcoming party, and the dress he had waiting for him, and the fact that he was pretty sure Dom had a date with Kellen that he planned to cancel because he couldn’t help but ask Dom to attend the party with him.
Like,withhim with him.
Like an arsehole because Dom deserved to have a nice date and a decent shag at the very least. But Shiloh had panicked when he came to realize that Dom probably was going to go with someone else, even if he’d spend the entire party ignoring his date and entertaining Shiloh.
‘Ever do something really shitty to someone you care about?’ he asked his dad after swiping his damp fingers on his jeans.
Benjamin raised a brow at him. ‘What did you do?’
‘I think I made Dom give up a date to Sarah’s Halloween party for me.’
His dad gave him an old, familiar look of both disappointment and pity, and it hadn’t gotten any easier to bear, even after all these years.
‘I don’t need a lecture,’ Shiloh told him. ‘I feel shit enough as it is.’
‘Was he upset about cancelling the date?’
Shiloh scoffed. ‘No. He never is. He’s too nice.’
‘Yes, I’m sure that’s what it is,’ Benjamin signed back, his perfected nonverbal sarcasm almost a damn artform. Shiloh had never been able to replicate it, but he knew it well. With a tiny sigh, Benjamin rose and walked around the table, touching his son’s cheek gently before drawing his hand back to sign, ‘Is he coming for tea?’
Shiloh laughed. ‘He only doesn’t come round for tea whenBake-Offis on.’ And only because Shiloh went over to his so they could watch it together because Dom hated shouting at the telly without a real, live person to keep him grounded. Or so he always said.
Benjamin’s smile softened, and he shook his head. ‘I think you have your answer then. Don’t make any food for me. I’m going out tonight, and I won’t be back until late.’ Then he turned on his heel, leaving the kitchen.
Shiloh glared at the bowl of beans. “I didn’t ask a bloody question, then, did I?” Of course, no one was around to hear him, which he was grateful for because he felt a bit like he was losing his mind to pining-induced madness. If there was such a thing.
Rolling his shoulders back, Shiloh forced himself up from the table and grabbed his tofu press, peeling off the top and setting the block on the cutting board. He ran his knife through it until he had perfectly even cubes—at least as far as he could tell since he had his glasses off and was going mostly by feel—then he grabbed the five-spice and little bowl of sauce he’d put together and began to season everything.
He had a good char going on both the beans and the tofu when he heard the front door open and shut, and when Dom didn’t immediately appear, he knew his dad had apprehended him. It was just as well. Shiloh was feeling off-kilter since his afternoon with Sarah, and he wasn’t quite sure how to shake it. He didn’t want to be a burden to Dom.
He didn’t want to be the lonely, sorry hermit who didn’t get along with anyone except his chickens and his childhood best friend, who was indulged only because he was so pathetic. He wasn’t used to being so self-pitying, but he supposed with forty creeping up on him, that sort of thing happened.
He really ought to start investing in more cats than just his dad’s little mouser.
“Oi. You didn’t,” came Dom’s voice from behind him.
“I might have,” Shiloh said without turning around. “Depends on what you’re asking.”
Suddenly there were two soft yet powerful arms wrapping around his middle, turning him to place a wet kiss pressed to his cheek. “You’ve made that tofu thing?”
Shiloh laughed, resisting the urge to melt into Dom’s embrace. “Yes. I had to cook this up before it turned.” A total lie. He’d bought it at the shop three days before, but Dom didn’t need to know that.
“You know how much I love you, right?” Dom said, slowly drawing away.
Shiloh swallowed back a sigh. He did know. It was too much and not enough all at the same time. “Of course I do.”
Shiloh felt Dom’s gaze zero in on him, and then his thumb reached up, brushing something at the corner of his eye. “Were you painting?”
Shiloh’s breath hitched just once before he could get control. “Er. Yeah, I was. Did I have something on my face?”
“Bit of blue right here,” Dom said. He swiped at Shiloh’s skin once more before pulling his hand away. The look he was giving Shiloh said he didn’t quite believe him, but Shiloh wasn’t about to poke the bear. Not over this. Not when there would be questions he didn’t want to answer.
He cleared his throat. “Do you need to wash up before we eat?”
