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Colin blinked. “My what?”
“—and your hair is perfect somehow. You’re so damn cute, all put together like that, and I don’t know, I just suddenly wanted to blow you.”
Evan paused to glance at the clock on the stove. “But we probably don’t have time for that, huh?”
Colin reached for the strings on his apron, already hard under it. “We do if we skip breakfast.”
“I’d be willing to forego eggs in favor of a Colin protein drink,” Evan said, an impish glint in his summer sky eyes. “But when I finally get my mouth on you, I’m not going to rush it. And when I’m done, you’re not going to be in any shape to go to work.”
Colin had to take a second to find his voice, his breath. Nobody had ever talked to him like that, wanted him like that. It was more intoxicating than the most potent drug, making his head spin and his heart pound. “I could call in sick.”
Heat flashed in Evan’s eyes, along with something that might have been regret. “I can’t.”
“Right. Right.” The deep breath did nothing to calm the fire in his blood—he felt like the flame from the burner had leapt out from under the egg pan and engulfed him—but it brought enough focus to pull him back from the ledge. When the toaster dinged, he turned off the flame under the eggs and picked up the cheese again. “I guess you better get the toast then.”
“I guess I better.”
Colin plated the eggs while Evan buttered the toast—too much butter, but Colin was too flustered to care—then carried the plates to the breakfast nook. Evan followed with the toast and coffee and settled into his chair.
“This looks great, Col.”
“Thanks.” Colin picked up his fork and tried to think with his big brain. “Are you free tonight?”
Evan swallowed the eggs he’d just shoveled in. “Putting in a full day at the store, then Mom wants me to come over for dinner. She’s planning a baby shower for Liza and Claire.”
Which meant they couldn’t have date number two tonight. Colin picked up his coffee and tried to swallow his disappointment. “And she wants your help?”
Evan’s grin flashed. “She knows better than that. But Julie likes an excuse to make dinner for everyone.”
“Pasta with meatballs in red sauce?”
Evan lifted his coffee in a toast. “You got it. You should come.”
Colin paused, fork halfway to his mouth. “Me?”
“Why not? You’ve been there before.”
Colin set down his fork. “Yeah, but that was before.”
“Before what?” Evan wanted to know, then blinked. “Oh. Before. Yeah.”
“Do they know?
Evan lifted his head. “About us? I don’t think so. We haven’t talked about it.”
“Oh.”
“But Liza knows. And Claire.” Evan eyed him from across the table, his gaze oddly shuttered. “Is that okay?”
“Of course, it is,” Colin said, and ignored the little wiggle of nerves in his belly. “I just wondered.”
“Have you told anyone?”
Colin shook his head. “I haven’t talked to my folks in a while.”
“They’re still doing their road trip thing, right?”
“Yeah.” Colin’s parents had taken a chunk of their retirement money, bought an RV, and were touring the country. “Covid slowed them down for a while, but they’re back on the road now.”
