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Finn didn’t answer. He was too busy staring at the setting inside. Betty stood beaming, but even Talon was impressed at the table. All the smaller tables that were usually in the middle had been pushed to the side against the booths. The only table left was set up in the middle of the now empty floor. Talon blinked at the snowy white tablecloth and napkins, and the two candles flickering gently. The bottle of champagne he had dropped off earlier was chilling in the ice bucket. There were rose petals sprinkled over the table, and a single rose in a vase next to the candles.
Finn’s hand tightened in his, and he glanced at him quickly. The green eyes he loved shimmered as he stared, and then Finn gazed back at Talon and swallowed.
“It’s beautiful, Betty. Thank you.” Talon said, quietly.
“How?” Finn swallowed, and Talon guided him to the table. Talon didn’t answer because Betty was busy serving the soup. Finn inhaled. “My favorite.”
Betty beamed. “Of course,” and then she sniffed in thatwhat did you expectkind of way. Talon’s belly growled as he smelled Betty’s homemade tomato soup. He’d spent all day worrying about making tonight perfect and hadn’t even thought about eating anything.
“How was your day?” Talon said.
Finn’s face lit up, and Talon listened as Finn eagerly told him what he had learned. They finished their steak and Betty pulled over a cart with some tiny deserts for them to share, then pressed a set of keys into Talon’s hand. “You just lock up when you’re done.” Finn stood up and threw his arms around her, and she chuckled and left them alone.
It was immediately quiet, and Talon swallowed down his suddenly dry throat. “You would be right in thinking I forgot about Valentine’s Day…I did.” Talon watched the green eyes he loved widen a little at his pronouncement, but then Finn’s face softened, and his smile was back. Gentle, forgiving, and sexy as all hell. He was crap at sharing, but Finn deserved the truth and so much more.
“Normal life stopped for me the day I woke up with this.” Talon gestured to his face, then took Finn’s slim hands in his because he needed the touch. “Grandma and Grandad tried, but after Grandad died I stopped even attempting to fit in.” He shrugged. “I never saw anything worth celebrating.” Finn’s hand tightened in his. “No, that’s not even strictly true. It…” Talon swallowed again, searching for the right words. “It was as if normal life didn’t involve me. Other people had lives. Went to ball games, hell—even dated. So, I didn’t forget exactly. I knew it was Valentine’s Day. I had just stopped thinking anything like that applied to me.”
Finn’s eyes glittered, and Talon brought Finn’s hand up to his mouth and kissed Finn’s palm. He needed a few seconds to cover the suspicious brightness in his own eyes. Talon slid a hand into his back pocket and brought out an envelope. He squeezed Finn’s hand before he let go and straightened the envelope a little before handing it over. Finn’s lips parted soundlessly. “Yours is at home.”
Talon understood immediately. “And I bet you would never have said a word about it if I hadn’t remembered.” Finn would never try and make him feel bad. Finn’s lips curled up into the shy smile he loved. “Open it.”
Finn tore the envelope and grinned when he saw the card. He arched an eyebrow. “This is a valentine card?”
Talon chuckled. “I think it’s a birthday card, but I managed to find one with nothing written on it. He watched as Finn read the words Talon had written and saw the lump travel down Finn’s throat.
“I think this is you, not me,” Finn said quietly. “You’re the one with the super abilities.”
“Come here,” Talon ordered quietly, and Finn got up, and Talon drew him close until he was sitting on his lap. Talon gently raised Finn’s chin with his finger until their eyes met and held. “Every day. Every day you make me a better person. Every day when I can’t love myself, you do it for me. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know, and I don’t know how the hell I ever got so lucky that you make room in it for me.” Talon thumbed the moisture from under Finn’s eyes and captured his lips with his own.
He had gone to five stores before he had found the card he wanted. It had a picture of Superman on it, and Talon could hear the words as he had written them.
“You are my hero. Love is your superpower, and you save me with it every day.”
A Five Minute Bowling
“Howoldareyou,five?”
Finn elbowed his incredulous boyfriend, who was reacting to what Vance had said, and then promptly had to shake his arm out. He really had to learn not to do that. It was like poking concrete.
“You asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday,” Vance replied a little defensively.
“I think it’s an awesome idea,” Finn butted in staunchly, ignoring the dark look Talon sent him.
Talon shook his head as if words were failing him.
“What’s an awesome idea?” Sawyer asked as he walked into the locker room.
“Vance wants to go to a bowling alley on Friday,” Talon repeated slowly as if he still couldn’t believe it.
Sawyer grinned. “I haven’t been to one of those since I was about eight.”
“Exactly,” Talon replied.
“And then we can go get a burger or something,” Finn added, and Vance’s face brightened a little.
“And don’t let him fool you,” Gael, who had followed Sawyer in, said nodding toward Vance. “Junior Gold Champion.”
“Of what?” Finn asked.
