“Morning,” Seth greeted. He flashed Liam a quick smile that seemed more nervous than happy before turning his attention to the stove and shutting off burners. “You’re just in time.”
“This looks amazing,” Liam murmured, his eyes sliding over the impressive spread. As he reached to snag a strip of crisp bacon from the plate, a new idea slammed into his brain, leaving him gasping. “Oh God, you didn’t get more bad news, did you? Is this how you soften the blow?”
“What?” Seth jerked around to face Liam again, his eyes wide. “No! Of course not!” A shaky smile left Seth’s lips and he shook his head. “You’ve cooked us dinner the past two nights, and I felt bad because I haven’t been doing my part. I’m not a great cook with some things, but I can manage a pretty decent breakfast.”
Liam stared at the food again in shock. No one had ever done this for him. In all the years he’d been with Ford, his ex had never cooked for him. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if the man knew how to make toast. A little knot formed in Liam’s throat, and he had to grip the edge of the breakfast bar to keep himself from walking into the kitchen to wrap his arms around Seth.
Sure, maybe Liam had done a lot of the cooking each night, but Seth had always stepped up and cleaned the kitchen afterward. They found a balance in an equal partnership that Liam had been reveling in for more than a week. Seth didn’t require someone waiting on him or near-constant entertaining if he was bored. If he was bored, he read a book. And if he was in need of companionship, he started a conversation with Liam.
Seth grabbed a plate and held it out to Liam. “Start loading up while it’s still hot.”
“Thank you. It all looks amazing,” Liam murmured as he accepted the plate from the smiling man. He stepped around the breakfast bar and piled on the delicious food. He didn’t usually eat like this, but there was no way he was passing it up. Seth had gone to so much trouble cooking.
“I’m going to need to spend some extra hours at the gym for this,” Liam joked. “But it is so going to be worth it.”
Seth snorted. “You look amazing and you know it.”
Liam glowed under the praise to the point where he could feel his cheeks heating. “Only through a lot of work. This old body doesn’t like to burn off calories. But then, it never really did like burning calories.” Even so, he piled two pancakes on his plate along with a lot of meat.
“I would have made fresh whipped cream, but you didn’t have any heavy whipping cream in the house.”
“Thank God I don’t have that in the house!” Liam said with a laugh. “I’d never be able to move from the table.”
“I usually only make it with Belgian waffles and serve it with a side of fresh fruit.”
“We’re making a stop at the store after work tonight. We need whipping cream, fruit, and a waffle maker.”
Seth dropped his head back and laughed. “Sounds like a good plan.”
They finished loading up their plates and dropped down at the breakfast bar where they usually ate dinner together each night. Liam hadn’t bothered to get a dining room table. He’d sold his last one when he sold his house, because it had been big enough to seat all of his family. That monster would never have fit in his new apartment.
Digging into their food, Liam found himself smiling in the companionable silence. Seth really was a fantastic cook, and he was adorable with his bedhead. He’d pulled on his jeans from the previous day and a T-shirt. The poor guy needed to make a run home for fresh clothes. As it was, they were regularly running the laundry to keep him in clean garments.
It was only when they were both finishing that Seth finally spoke up, but his words came out slow and hesitant. His eyes remained locked on his plate.
“So…um…about last night…”
Liam made a soft noise. “Don’t worry. I already gave myself a good talking-to before climbing out of bed. Last night was just sex. I was in a bad place. So much has been going on. You helped me forget about things for a while. In the morning, it’s clear we’ve got a lot going on. You’ve got major plans for returning home, and my life…fuck, my life is a mess.”
He looked over to find Seth wincing.
“Geez, I sound like a dick.”
Liam’s fork dropped to his mostly empty plate with a loud clatter. “No! I didn’t mean it like that! You’re not a dick. You’ve been amazing through all of this. My life has been blowing up around me, and you’ve been this rock for me to lean on. I-I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here. No one has ever done this for me.”