Chapter 81

Back in the kitchen, Barry opened the oven door and lifted out a couple of cookie sheets of roasting carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and garlic.

“Oh, veggies,” Jake said.

“You sound disappointed,” Barry said, looking over his shoulder at a pouting Jake.

“I just thought…with it being my birthday…I wouldn’t have to eat any vegetables.”

“Careful, you’re starting to sound like Jimmy.” Barry well-remembered the way Jimmy had wanted everything done his way on his birthday.

“Yeah, right.” Jake folded his arms over his chest.

Barry stood on tiptoe and kissed his man’s lips. “Trust me, beautiful, you’ll like these veggies. Think of them as oven fries.”

Jake didn’t seem convinced, so even though the veggies needed a few more minutes, Barry plucked a clove of garlic from the sheet, blew on it, and lifted it to Jake’s lips.

Jake opened his mouth and Barry slid the morsel inside, making sure to brush the man’s lips with his fingers as he withdrew.

Barry got a hard on. He’d have to introduce hand feeding into their foreplay. He could so see himself popping strawberries dipped in chocolate into Jake’s mouth. Jimmy would be fed blueberries coated in whipped cream. Okay, so maybe it would be taking the color thing a bit far, but his men would get a kick out of it.

Barry’s musings were interrupted by a garlic-flavored kiss. “Tastes great.”

“Yes you do,” Barry replied, returning Jake’s kiss.

Barry was treated to one of Jake’s playful smiles. The man seemingly had an endless variety of them.

Barry got lost in Jake’s deep blue eyes. Whether it was the face cream Barry made him apply every morning and night, or just his good genes, Jake was one hell of a beautiful cowboy. Next thing Barry knew, he was laying a firm lip lock on the man.

“I knew something was going on in here. It was way too quiet,” Jimmy said, bursting into the kitchen.

“Well, you sure fixed that,” Jake said, turning to Jimmy.

“Screw you.”

“Boys. You promised, remember?” Barry said.

He’d asked them, as it was Jake’s birthday, to tone down the insults. They’d pushed at the boundaries but so far hadn’t leaped over them.

“Sorry,” both men said.

Jimmy looked around. “Why is the oven door open, and more importantly, why were you two kissing without me?”

“Barry was letting me taste the food,” Jake told him.

“Looks like that wasn’t all you were tasting,” Jimmy replied.

Barry put the veggies back in the oven, closed the door, and was kissed by Jimmy.

Pulling away, Jimmy asked, “Don’t I get whatever it was you gave him?”

“You only get garlic kisses when it’s your birthday,” Jake said, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Barry knew what Jimmy would say next.

“I didn’t get garlic when it was my birthday.”

Barry smiled and reached into the oven, stabbed a garlic clove with a fork, blew on it, and hand fed it to Jimmy.

Outside, Rex barked.

“The steaks!”

When he reached the deck, Barry saw Rex tearing off around the corner. Thankfully, the meat wasn’t burned to a crisp. Although it might not have been quite as rare as the guys liked, but if they complained, Barry would blame Jake for distracting him.

Leaving two steaks to cook longer, Barry removed the four larger steaks.

Back in the kitchen, plate of steaks in hand, Barry saw they had a visitor. “Zane?”

“Uh, hi, Barry.”

“Is everything all right with Bess and—”

“She’s fine. I was, uh, just hopin’ that there might be room for little me at your table.”

“You ain’t little, Jake said.

“Nope.” Zane smirked and patted his crotch. “Never had no complaints from the ladies.”

Barry had always thought Zane a little slow, but clearly not in all things. “Yes, you can stay, but you might have to wait a bit while I cook you another steak. How do you like it?”

Zane opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Jimmy growled, “He means the steak.”

Back came the smirk. “Rare, please.”

Why wasn’t Barry surprised? As he laid Zane’s steak on the grill and checked on those for himself and Rory, he mulled over what Zane had said about the ladies. So he was straight. But at least he didn’t have any problems being around so many gay guys. Maybe there was hope for humanity after all.

* * * *

The hands came into the dining room, and Barry watched Rory’s eyes light up when he saw Zane at the table. Barry hoped his young friend wouldn’t get hurt. No good could come of mooning after a straight guy.

“Little dude,” Zane said, smiling broadly and pushing out the chair next to him for Rory.