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Bodhi’s smile was bright, and his hands flowed easier through his response, which told Caleb that whatever his struggles with communication had been before, he wasn’t feeling them at the moment.
“Good morning. That smells good.”
Caleb grinned back at him, opening his arms so he could take Bodhi’s warm, pliant body against his own. He smelled like soap, and he licked the taste of it off the crook of Bodhi’s neck before tilting his lover’s chin up to kiss him slow and thorough.
Bodhi rumbled in satisfaction against Caleb’s lips. “Burritos?” he asked when he pulled back.
Caleb shrugged. “I figured they won’t upset your stomach before we head out to the beach.”
Bodhi stared at him for a very long time.
“What?” Caleb eventually asked, not sure if he’d fucked up again.
Licking his lips, Bodhi shrugged. “Not a lot of people notice that. Thank you.”
Caleb wanted to sigh and tell him that it was the bare goddamnminimum—but that wasn’t helpful. Because even if it was, people didn’t act that way. Instead, he just cupped Bodhi’s cheek and stole another quick peck before pressing the plate into his hands and gesturing at the table.
He fixed his own breakfast, then poured them each a cup of tea before taking a seat across from his lover, and he nudged him gently with his toes. “Can we talk?”
Bodhi nodded, frowning with his cheeks puffed out from his huge bite. It was another oddly endearing thing—the way Bodhi took down food like if he didn’t eat in seconds, it was going to disappear on him. He wondered if that was a shitty grandparents thing, or just part of his personality.
“Did I do something?” Bodhi asked.
Caleb quickly shook his head. “No. But I couldn’t help thinking about what you said on campus Friday. About me and Anthony being a better fit.”
Bodhi bit his lip, his gaze moving down to his plate. His fingers danced in little patterns beside the ceramic, then they stilled before he lifted them to answer. “I know you said that you want me. And I believe you. But I still worry.”
Caleb waited, but Bodhi said nothing else. “About what?”
Bodhi flicked his fingers between Caleb and himself.
“Sweetheart,” Caleb signed as patiently as he could, “I want to be able to make sure you never feel like that again.”
Bodhi’s shoulders rose and fell with his sigh, then he lifted his chin and nodded. “I know you like me.”
It was far more than like, but Caleb wasn’t going to go down that road. Not yet. “But?” he pressed.
“I’m not your type,” Bodhi pointed out.
Caleb froze. It was…maybe true? But he couldn’t agree to that with any sort of confidence. He was so fucking happy with Bodhi, he was starting to wonder if he’d been dating outside of his type this entire time.
“I don’t know if I have a specific type,” Caleb finally admitted. “I dated people in the past who seemed like they all fit a certain idea that I thought I wanted in a partner. And none of the relationships ended well. And I never felt about them the way I feel about you.”
Bodhi’s eyes got a little misty and he nodded, his jaw tense and trembling very faintly. “I like you so much.”
Caleb wanted to walk around the table and gather Bodhi into his arms, but he didn’t. Not yet.
“We’re more than just friends, right? Who sleep together?” Bodhi asked.
Caleb’s heart gave a painful throb of regret for ever saying that shit to Bodhi. He hadn’t meant it back then. He was just trying to protect them both from his own bad decisions. But even in doing that, he’d fucked it all up.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I should have made that clear when we talked on Friday. I want you to be my boyfriend.”
Bodhi let out a breath through slightly parted lips. “What does that mean?” He repeated the sweetheart sign. Caleb spelled it and Bodhi’s mouth rounded into a tiny o. “Me? That’s…me?I’myour sweetheart?”
“That’s you.” Jesus, how could he not know? Caleb was so bad at this.
“And you want me to be your boyfriend?”
