“Thank you.” Dexter smiled, all white teeth and real, sheer glee. “You helped me make this whole show happen.”
After that, Dexter pulled back and Rita and Eli stepped in. Rita with a silver trophy engraved with the show’s logo and the year, and Eli with a bouquet of roses.
Once he had the flowers, Tristan stared straight at Henry and mouthed,I love you.
Henry grinned back with the most perfect grin, even if he wasn’t corrected and smoothed out by blur like he had been that first night together. There was nothing Tristan would change, from his rough, burnt-marshmallow stubble, to his peachy mouth that was maybe just a little too wide, to his 62% dark chocolate eyes.
Henry was already perfect.
Henry slipped into the back. He needed a break from the rush of customers. Ever since they started airing promo for the show, plastering Henry’s face up on TV a million times an hour, business had ticked way,wayup.
“Knock?” Tristan’s voice came from the other side of the office door. “Knock knock?”
“Come in.”
Tristan slipped into the room, carrying a Styrofoam clamshell. “I brought you something from work. Chicken cordon bleu and baby roast potatoes and pearl onions.”
“Carlita’s work?”
“Yeah. It’s for that vow-renewal ceremony. This was apparently their chicken option back when they got married the first time. But it’s good. I tested it myself.”
“Are you still planning to stay? That offer to come work with me stands.”
“If I leave, it won’t be for a while. Bills and savings come first, then new business ventures.”
“I keep telling you, you don’t have to buy your way into the shop.”
“And I keep telling you, if I’m going to partner up with you, I’m buying in. That’s the only right way to do it.”
Henry chuckled and opened the box. It was still steaming. “You really raced over here with this, didn’t you?”
“Well, I wanted you to have something nice... I mean, it’s not the most festive meal. I don’t generally care for chicken cordon bleu, but Carlita’s is excellent.”
“I thought we were celebrating tonight, though? We’ve got food coming from Veni Vidi Vici.”
“That’s still on for the premier, don’t worry.” Tristan’s eyes sparkled. “Since you’re in the office, I figure I can steal you away from here for a second or two. I’ve got something to show you.”
Henry raised an eyebrow, but he closed the container and followed Tristan out. “This isn’t like a strippergram or back-alley exhibitionist sex, is it?”
“Not today, no.” Tristan led them through the crush of people—Henry mouthed a quickSorryto Athena behind the counter—and out the front door. He gestured to his car. “Ta-dah.”
“You learned to drive like a big boy?”
“I got the money, Henry.”
“You got the money.”Jesus Christ.“Why are you showing me your car?”
“Because I... Well, okay, I did get an accountant, but I set aside a little mad money for something special.” He walked over and popped the trunk, then took out a box.
A box with a big picture of an ice cream maker on the side.
“Happy Thursday, Henry.”
“You bought this for me?”
“I bought this for us.” Tristan set it on the sidewalk between them, and his cheeks were cherry red. “I thought maybe it would make a nice housewarming gift, too?”
“Am I moving?”
