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She did what she could to show Adam she wanted to be with him. While she wasn’t going to change how she interacted with her friends, she was perfectly happy to lean into Adam’s shoulder, to keep their knees touching while they were eating, and to hold his hand whenever she wasn’t eating. Since he was on her right that meant she kind of couldn’t eat when they were holding hands, but that was okay. Being a pretty tactile person, she liked the constant touching.
After dinner Q offered to do the dishes while Adam’s pie heated up in the oven.
“How ‘bout a Halo match?” Sam asked, looking around the table. He grinned at Angel. “Adam told us about how you impressed his friends.”
“Annihilated you mean,” she retorted, grinning back at him. Adam’s hand squeezed hers and she turned to see his eyes laughing. “Did he tell you about the game he played with me?”
“Ah no, I was trying to save myself the embarrassment,” he said dryly.
“Nothing to be embarrassed about,” Michael said, giving both Mark and Sam a look. They returned it smugly. “She’s been trained by the best. You could lose hours of your life trying to get to either of these guys’ level. Or Q’s.”
“Says the voice of experience.” Adam chuckled.
“You didn’t do too badly last time,” Mark said reassuringly to Michael. “We could have a rematch... see if you’ve improved.”
Michael groaned. “Adam? Angel? One of you want to be on the losing team with me?”
“I’m going to step into the kitchen and see if I can help Q out with the dishes,” Adam said, surprising Angel. “He might need someone to dry.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said quickly, feeling a little awkward about having him do household chores. Even though she wouldn’t mind playing Sam and Mark in Halo. It had been awhile since she and Michael teamed up and they always had fun even if they lost miserably.
“But I want to. Go play, I’ll be there to watch in a bit,” Adam said, dropping a kiss on her lips before standing.
“I’d almost rather you didn’t,” she grumbled, getting to her feet along with the rest of the group. “You don’t need to learn their secrets.”
Adam
When Adam came into the kitchen, Q gave him a wary look. The arms of his shirt were rolled back to show off pretty muscular forearms and he’d finished loading the dishwasher and had started in on the pots and pans Angel had used. From the looks of it, she didn’t follow the “clean as you go” adage.
Then again, he’d gotten the impression she did most of the cooking in the house and so the guys did the dishes in recompense. And the yard work. She had them well trained.
“Thought I’d help you dry,” Adam said, picking up a towel. “They’re going to play some Halo.”
Q snorted. “You might want to watch that, it’s pretty amusing.”
Although his tone was bland, Adam still felt like maybe there was a little bit of a bite underneath. Q wouldn’t be rude, but more and more over dinner, watching the interactions, he’d decided Q had a thing for Angel. Well hidden, granted, under the guise of brotherly vigilance, but there nonetheless.
“So they said, but I think I’ll have plenty of opportunity to see that kind of thing,” he said mildly, hinting to Q he was planning on being around quite a bit in the future.
“Maybe, but Michael won’t always be here, and he and Angel are always entertaining as a team.”
Even though Q didn’t look at him, Adam was aware of the other man’s regard. He was deliberately prodding Adam about Michael and Angel’s relationship. Adam wondered how often Q had done that to some of Angel’s exes. He bet it was a pretty effective tactic.
“I’m sure they are, they’ve been good friends for a while.”
This time when Q glanced at him, it was with a glimmer of respect in his dark eyes. Adam began drying the pot Q handed him.
“You don’t mind that most of Angel’s friends are men?” This was said with a hint of challenge, as if daring Adam to try and make her choose between himself and her friends. Not a mistake Adam would make even if he hadn’t like her friends—and fortunately for him he did. Feeling possessive was one thing, letting it ruin what he’d started with Angel was another.
“I wouldn’t say I’m thrilled about it, but I can live with it. I like her,” he stated baldly. “A lot.” Q handed him another pan. It was good to keep their hands busy while they had this conversation, allowing them to talk without having to look at each other. The running water and the chatter of the others in the next room meant their words would go unheard except by each other. A safe place.
He’d noticed Sam and Mark tended to defer to Q, and even though they liked Adam they still looked to Q for a lead. Angel obviously cared a great deal for all of her housemates. While Adam wasn’t used to being as open as he was with Q when it came to his relationships, he did want to get off on the right foot with all of her housemates. And being honest about how he felt for her was part of that.
“She’s special,” Q said finally. “A lot of guys like her. A lot. She’s the kind of girl guys feel comfortable with, comfortable talking to and comfortable hanging out with. And she’s beautiful. It’s not the easiest combination to find, especially for guys who are a little bit more nerd than jock.” A quick look confirmed to Adam that Q considered Adam to be in the latter category. Maybe he should tell Q about his sci-fi/fantasy book collection. “She deserves someone who can appreciate her.”
“That’s quite a recommendation.” Adam paused and then decided to go for it. He picked up the next pot and watched Q closely. “I’m surprised you don’t want her for herself.”
For the briefest moment, Q froze. And then his hand went back to scrubbing again. He didn’t look at Adam. “It doesn’t matter what I, or any other guy wants. It matters what Angel wants.”
