“Understand what?”
I gestured between us. “This.”
Eddie set the piece of bread aside. “Then explain.”
Where to even start? “You taste better than anyone I’ve ever been with.”
He frowned.
“That’s not accurate.” I took a deep breath, and fool that I was, I told him the truth. “Your blood tastes like a miracle to me. It’s like a drug. I can barely describe it. It’s not just how it feels in my mouth and stomach, but what it does to my brain. It’s like drinking distilled joy and passion.”
Eddie looked at me with his lips parted, his breakfast seemingly forgotten.
“After the very first bite, I knew you were unique. I tried to catch up with you at the club, but the bartender stopped me and you got away before I could ask for your number.”
“We waved down a cab,” he murmured, looking stunned.
“During that weekend, I searched for you. I left a message at the club on Twenty-third and scrolled through every single queer man in the metropolitan area on three different dating apps, hoping to spot your face somewhere. I couldn’t find you. And then you were there, at the office, within arm’s reach, and I couldn’t touch you. I told myself I needed to feed so I could face you at work, but I kept putting it off because I just couldn’t imagine drinking from anyone else. I still can’t.”
“So all of this is because…I taste different than others?”
Leaning across the table, I cupped his cheek and held his eyes. He looked scared, and that wouldn’t do.
“No, Eddie. It’s everything about you. You’re brilliant; you blow my mind whenever you open your mouth. And beautiful. God, you’re so beautiful that I sometimes feel I should protect my eyes. When you laugh, it’s like looking into the sun. I’m not hungry now, not at all, but I still want to be near you for as long as you will let me.”
The mix of fear, excitement, and hope on his face was irresistible, and I blurted out the next question.
“Can you stay one more day?”
Glassy and a little dazed, Eddie’s eyes roamed my face.
“Okay,” he murmured.
Clearly, I had more luck than sense. I gestured to the plates on the table. “I should let you eat in peace.”
Smiling, Eddie picked up the ciabatta and took another bite. His cheeks gained an adorable shade of pink again, but I knew better than to stare at him during his breakfast.
Straightening up, I eyed the dishwasher.
“I should finally learn how to work this thing,” I muttered more to myself.
“Do you even have dishwasher tablets?” Eddie asked from behind me.
I frowned as I pressed the start button. The machine blinked to life. “What tablets?”
Eddie burst out laughing.
I did the dishes by hand, which Eddie commented was impressive. Now, he was openly making fun of me, but I was happy to be his clown as long as he was laughing.
“I wash my wineglasses,” I clarified as I ran the dish towel around a plate.
“True, I forgot about the wine. By the way, since I’m staying the weekend, I should buy stuff for lunch and dinner. You can just point me in the direction of the store.”
“Absolutely not. You’re my guest. You choose, and I’ll order in.”
I wanted to take him out for dinner, dammit. The weather was nice, cloudy but no rain, but we couldn’t even risk going out for a walk in the evening. A clandestine affair wasn’t at all the adventure it was rumored to be.
After I put the last plate into the cupboard, I turned to find Eddie leaning with his butt on the kitchen table, dressed in the cotton T-shirt and boxer briefs, looking at me somewhat coyly. I dropped the dish towel on the counter behind me and moved to cage him in. He tilted his face up and grazed his lower lip with his teeth.
