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“Well, it’s my professional opinion that after a long day of studying, you need a steak and potatoes dinner.”
His eyes went wide. “You got steak?”
“I got steak, baby. I’m going to fire up the grill after I hop in the shower.”
He groaned. “I forgot to have anything but coffee all day, and I’m not kidding when I tell you I’m already drooling over the idea of steak. Fuck, you’re my favorite.”
I heard a little mew sound from right beside him, and a moment later, a tiny little head popped out from behind the rumpled blanket on the couch.
“Donut!” I said, smiling immediately. “I didn’t know you were hiding there. Hi, little bean.”
“She’s been extra cuddly with me today,” Jax said. “And guess where Luca is?”
“Laundry basket?”
“Laundry basket.”
Luca had taken a strange and sudden liking to the old, empty basket over the last few weeks, leaping inside it at all hours of the day and night, tumbling around in it, and one time, even managing to make it to the top of the basket, walking around its edges for a minute.
“You know, one of my favorite things I’ve discovered about you is that you’re an excellent cat dad,” I told Jax. “Like, really, the best.”
“That’s because Donut and Luca are more easily entertained than any other creatures on the planet. I saw Donut play with a single shoelace for three hours the other day. No breaks, no distractions. Easiest cat dad duties of all time.”
I snorted a laugh. “They love you just as much as I do,” I said, pressing a few more kisses to the top of his head. “God, you fucking smell good. And I probably smell like a construction site. I’m actually going to go shower now.”
My shower was quick and hot, and I mulled over tonight’s meal in my head. I was going to go for simple grilled steak with rosemary and butter, and fully loaded baked potatoes on the side. I’d fallen out of cooking as much over the last few years, because I’d never loved cooking for just myself. But since being with Jax, it had reinvigorated my love for great food.
And Jax’s reactions to it were always pure gold. Growing up, he’d usually ended up with cereal most mornings and boxed mac and cheese most nights, so he had a way of being impressed with any home-cooked meal, no matter how simple it was.
I fucking loved taking care of him. Over the past year, Jax and I had fallen into such a comfortable, easy place with each other that sometimes I still pinched myself. It felt like a dream, every time I came home to him. After he moved out of the frat house right before summer, it had been the easiest decision in the world to ask him to move in with me.
And I hadn’t regretted it for one moment.
It was almost disorienting, having a relationship feel so right after so many had gone wrong. But that’s what it was, with me and Jax. It was easy, being completely in love, when I knew he felt the same way.
Like I’d never really been broken, all along. I’d just been waiting for him.
After a dinner that was way better than it had any right to be, Jax and I sat at the small dining table, basking in the glow and kicking back. I’d grabbed a small box full of mail that our TV show production company had received for us—every once in a while, fans sent in little gifts, photos, and letters, and I loved opening everything up with Jax.
“This is a big one,” he said, looking at the stack of envelopes.
“People are very happy with the start of season two,” I said, giving him a grin.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “Season two is even better than the first one was.”
It had just premiered a few weeks ago, and our fan base was steadily increasing. Season one had been a hit, and Kim had been very pleased with the Fixer Brothers in general. The show had been renewed for another couple of seasons right away, and Jax and I made plenty of appearances as a couple.
“Holy shit, look at this one,” Jax said. He’d just opened up a pink envelope covered in glittery heart stickers, and inside, there was a big, folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded it, bit by bit, until it opened up to reveal a collage of photos, poems, and at the center, a selfie of the sender with us on either side of her.
A simple letter accompanied the collage.
Jax and Charlie, I love you guys more than you can ever know. I’m eighteen, just starting college, and watching the Fixer Brothers show is the ultimate comfort getting me through my first semester of college. I never really fit in anywhere in high school, but now I’m studying architecture and my goal is to design houses one day. Seeing your show gave me the courage to come out to my parents, and I just started dating my first girlfriend a month ago. Thank you for everything, xo, Jenni Mariscote
