JJ looks scandalized. “What’s the point of a churro if it doesn’t have cinnamon and sugar?”
“Because you dip it in the chocolate, Jackson. Keep up.” As casually as possible, Cass loops his arm through JJ’s as they step from the cracked pavement to the grass, sidling in close next to him.
JJ tenses the slightest bit, but he otherwise doesn’t react. And, unless Cass is mistaken, it looks like a faint blush is rising up his neck, too.
Cass really hopes he isn’t mistaken. Ever since his conversation with Ez and Obie a few weeks ago, he’s been carefully trying to get closer to JJ, carefully trying to test his boundaries?—
Carefully trying to see if there’s any chance that JJ might be open to a potential relationship.
So far, Cass is surprisingly optimistic. JJ doesn’t seem to mind when Cass flagrantly invades his personal space, even when there aren’t witnesses around, and he’s reacted with predictable shyness to Cass’s flirting attempts, and?—
And hedidget Cass that pocket watch two weekends ago. The one he bought because it reminded him of Cass.
The one Cass has kept tucked in his pocket every day since then, the gold chain hooked to his belt. JJ’s grin when he first saw it there made his eyes crinkle in the corners and nearly gave Cass a heart attack on the spot.
He wants to make JJ smile like that all the time.
Just one of the many little goals Cass has adopted recently—his newest one, obviously, being to introduce JJ to his favorite dessert. Purposefully, Cass pulls him over to Churrería’s window. “Buenos días! Tres raciones de churros con chocolate, por favor,” he says, handing over their money, and Ana gives him a pleased smile before ducking away to get their food.
JJ shoots him an amused look. “Showoff.”
“What?” Cass asks defensively.
“You always order food in everyone’s native languages,” JJ says. “Meanwhile, I only know, like, two words in Spanish.”
“Nonsense. You know plenty of Spanish words. ‘Taco,’ ‘guacamole,’ ‘pico de gallo,’ ‘queso,’ ‘salsa’…” Ana appears with their tray, three cups of gooey chocolate surrounded by three containers of hot churros, and Cass reluctantly disentangles his arm from JJ’s to pick it up. “And now you know two more! ‘Churro’ and ‘chocolate.’ How many more words do you realistically need?”
JJ squints at their plunder as Cass leads them towards an empty picnic table. “Those donotlook like churros, Cass. And—” He wrinkles his nose at the cups of chocolate. “Is that, like, hot cocoa? Or chocolate pudding?”
“It’s like a thick hot chocolate,” Cass says, and he sets the tray on the table, grabs Desi off JJ’s shoulders, and hands her one of the churros. “Here. Convince JJ that they’re good.”
Desi obligingly takes a bite. Her eyes light up.“Ooh!Yummy!”
“See?” Cass says to JJ, and he delicately places one of JJ’s churros in a cup of chocolate. “The trick is to let it absorb the chocolatey goodness for a few minutes before eating it.”
JJ watches skeptically as Cass settles his own churro in chocolate. Once Cass deems their churros to be sufficiently soaked, he gestures for JJ to pick his up, and they both take a bite at the same time.
JJ blinks twice, surprised. “Huh,” he says, and he dunks his churro back into the chocolate. “This is actually really good.”
“Told you,” Cass says smugly.
Apparently, neither JJ nor Desi possesses the slightest modicum of self-control, because they both devour all their churros before Cass has even started on his second. Desi chugs the rest of her chocolate, sets the cup down, and bounds to her feet. “That was super tasty! Thanks, Cass! Can I go build a sandcastle?”
“Of course, sweetie.”
“Just stay close,” JJ adds, pointing at a sandy patch nearby. “We need to make sure Cass can maintain the glamours.”
“Okay!” Desi skips away without further ado, plopping down in the sand to start digging with her hands. Within minutes, a few other children wander over to join her, and they’re quickly absorbed in making a giant castle—or giant pile of sand, more accurately—together.
JJ’s smile is fond. “We have a good kid.”
Cass’s heart shivers at the casual phrasing. “We do,” he agrees softly. Feeling bold, he pushes himself to his feet, strolls around the table, and sits down next to JJ, almost close enough to touch. From the small smile JJ gives him, Cass figures that he’s welcome. “So how was your first experience with churros con chocolate?”
JJ looks forlornly at his half-empty cup of chocolate. “I wish I had more churros.”
Amused, Cass holds out his last one. “Your wish is my command.”
JJ’s eyes light up. “Thanks!” he says, and he busily sets about soaking the churro in chocolate.
