The Delicious Series: The First Volume

by Stella Starling

  “Jack did,” Emily said to Danny, confirming that Gavin’s memory was correct after all. “But that was an accident. Will did it to me on purpose.”

  “What happened?” Danny asked, his eyes sparkling. He absently reached for a piece of the strawberry wedding cake sample, and Gavin slapped his hand.

  “Those are for Em,” he reminded him with a mock-glare. Then, when Danny pouted, he relented and said, “I made some up into cupcakes for you, sweetie. I’ll send you home with them when we’re done.”

  Emily perked up, looking at him hopefully.

  “You, too,” he promised. “But I’m not pulling them out, yet. The cupcakes have filling and frosting, and before you taste them that way, you’ve got to try them separately, here, so you can decide what combination you want for your cake. And, not to rush you, Em, but you’ve got to do it in the next—” he glanced at the clock on the microwave. “—half-hour.”

  “Oh, that’s right,” Danny said, grinning. “You’re getting your cast off today. Okay, we don’t have time to waste.” He picked up his sketchpad again, flipping it open. “Emily, tell me this ring story while you pick your flavors.”

  She accepted a forkful of hazelnut-almond cake from Gavin, looking blissful, and started talking.

  “Well, Jack’s proposal happened before I was dating Will, so I’ve only heard it secondhand.”

  She paused to take a sip of water, and Gavin scooped some caramel buttercream onto a tasting spoon and handed it to her.

  “Jack had been planning on proposing to Hann for a while, and he was really nervous about something going wrong. Finally, at the end of a weekly family dinner, he went down on one knee in front of all of them, fumbled his way through this incredibly romantic speech he’d prepared, popped the box open—”

  “And it was empty!” Danny interrupted gleefully, practically bouncing in his seat. “Oh my God, what happened? Did he forget the ring?”

  “Well, sort of,” she said, laughing. “He had it, he’d just forgotten to put it back in the box. Apparently, he’d been so worried about losing it that he’d taken to wearing it around his neck on a leather cord.”

  “Hanging next to his heart?” Danny asked, eyes shining.

  “Exactly,” she said, smiling back.

  Gavin grinned. Em and Danny were clearly kindred spirits. He handed her a scoop of crème-de-menthe-infused whipped cream frosting.

  “You are evil, Gavin,” she said, closing her eyes as she savored it. “Because now I want this one, but I want the cinnamon vanilla cake, too. And they’re not going to go well together, are they?”

  “Pick as many as you’d like, honey. We’ll just do them in different tiers,” Danny said before Gavin could answer, waving an impatient hand in the air. “Let’s get back to the story. So your Will did the same thing to you? On purpose?

  Emily laughed, nodding. “He knew I loved Hannah’s proposal story, and yes, he did the exact same thing. In fact, Jack even gave him the same leather cord he’d kept Hann’s ring on. It was funny, too, because I’d noticed it around his neck earlier that night and I didn’t catch on at all, even though it’s not his usual style.”

  “Is that the one he wears wrapped around his wrist now?” Gavin asked, making the connection.

  Em nodded, blushing prettily. “He says he’s not going to take it off until he gets a ring on his own finger.”

  “Oh my God, I love it,” Danny said breathlessly.

  His eyes lost focus for a moment as he tapped the clutch pencil in his hand against his lips, then he grinned, his hand blurring across an empty page as he sketched out the vision her story had inspired. Gavin handed Emily a bite of pink champagne cake as Danny finished his drawing.

  “Okay. What if we do something like this?” he asked, flipping it around to show her.

  She set her fork down and teared up again, taking the sketchpad from his hand.

  “It’s perfect.”

  “Wedding cakes are going to be so much fun,” Danny said, grinning at Gavin over her head.

  Ben walked into the kitchen, loosening his tie, just in time to catch the tail end of Danny’s comment.

  “You guys are having fun without me?” he asked, smiling at all of them before his eyes settled on Gavin.

  Gavin was much too practical to consider himself a romantic, but something must have been in the air, because when Ben looked at him like that, for a moment, the rest of the world faded away.

  “Hi, babe,” he said, smiling stupidly.

  “Hi,” Ben said, crossing the room and wrapping an arm around Gavin’s waist. “I missed you,” he added, even though it had only been a few hours.

  He’d leaned down to whisper the last three words into Gavin’s ear, making him shiver, and it took everything Gavin had to remember that they had an audience and not jump the man.

  “I know you don’t like an audience,” Ben said softly, reading Gavin like a book. He ran a finger over Gavin’s lips, giving him that sexy little half smile that pushed Gavin’s self-restraint to the limit. “But it’s not fair that I don’t get to kiss you hello in my own house.”

  Danny cleared his throat, pulling Gavin’s attention back to the rest of the world. His friend was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

  “Well, one of us is clearly having quite a bit more fun, now that you’re here,” Danny said, replying to Ben’s earlier comment.

  Emily had a matching grin on her face. “Oh my God. I’m still getting used to it,” she said, her smile getting impossibly wider as her eyes bounced back and forth between Ben and Gavin like she was at Wimbledon.

  “What, Ben being gay?” Gavin asked.

  “That, too,” she said, waving a dismissive hand in the air Danny-style. “But I meant, seeing Ben in—” she paused with a delicate cough, taking a sip of water. “Infatuated,” she finished after a moment.

  “Mm-hmm,” Danny said, loading the sound with enough attitude to sink a ship. “And I’m not one to say ‘I told you so’—”

  “Yes, you are,” Gavin interrupted, laughing.

  “Okay, fine,” Danny conceded. “But only when I’m right. Which, in this case, means I totally get to say it.”

  “Only if you do it fast,” Gavin said, looking at the clock again and then pointing to his cast. “I don’t want to be late to get this thing off. I’m more than ready to be fully mobile again.”

  “And you’ll have it off in time for my wedding photos,” Emily said, then clapped an embarrassed hand over her mouth. “Um, not that that’s the only consideration, of course.”

  “You’re entitled,” Danny reminded her. And then, to Gavin, “Does this mean you’ll be moving back into your own place now?”

  Gavin nodded, ignoring the little pang of disappointment he felt at the thought. He and Ben hadn’t actually discussed it, but it only made sense. Even if they were a couple now, it was much too soon to officially move in together.

  Regardless of what Gavin’s heart was telling him.

  “I’m not sure I want to let him go,” Ben said, pulling Gavin against his side. “But hopefully I’ll still be able to convince him to sleep over occasionally.”

  Ben directed the last part at Gavin, and even though, in general, he wasn’t one for public displays of affection—and yes, that low, intimate tone most definitely qualified as PDA—Gavin couldn’t help but feel a little thrill at hearing it. Danny fanned himself, and Emily blushed, and Gavin ignored both of them and his own no-PDA rule, and stretched up to kiss his man, audience be damned.

  “I think you’ll be able to talk me into it,” he said, sure of it.

  17

  Ben

  “You think your wedding gives you an excuse to skip out of work early?” Ben teased Will, joining his brother and father where they stood chatting by the bank’s front doors. “Slacker,” he added with a wink.

  “Less than twenty-four hours until you’re a married man, son,” Andrew added, smiling. “Don’t go getting cold feet.”

  Will lau
ghed, shaking his head. “No chance of that, Dad. I can’t wait. I know moving the date up is stressing Em out a little, but honestly, I love that I get to marry her sooner. If I’d had my way, I would have just eloped with her the minute she said yes. But I know Mom would’ve killed me for doing it without the family present.”

  “Not to mention how disappointed your future wife would be if she had to miss out on the wedding of her dreams,” Ben reminded him.

  “True,” Will agreed. “I just want to be married, but if I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Em is more excited about getting married. She wants everything to be perfect, and she’s over the moon about Gavin doing the cake. You’ll have to thank him again for me.”

  “You can thank him yourself, tomorrow.”

  “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to think straight during the actual wedding. Honestly, with everything Em has planned, I’m expecting the whole day to pass in a blur. But as long as she’s happy when it’s done, then I’m happy.”

  “Smart man,” Andrew said, clapping his son on the shoulder. “Keeping your wife happy is a great way to start your marriage off on the right foot.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Will said, grinning as he fidgeted with the leather cord around his wrist. “And, Dad, thank you, in case I forget to say that tomorrow, too. I can’t believe how much you’ve done to help us make this happen. I don’t know how we would have pulled off the change in dates this smoothly without your connections.”

  “I’m happy to do it, William,” he said, squeezing Will’s shoulder. Then he tugged him in for a quick, one-armed hug. “Love you, son,” he mumbled gruffly. “Emily’s lucky to have you, and you know your mother and I can’t wait to have her as part of the family.”

  Andrew was the least demonstrative member of the Edwards family, and he looked a little pink as he pulled away, glancing around the bank as if he’d just realized where they were. Ben stifled a laugh. An aversion to public displays of affections was another of the many things his father and his boyfriend had in common, although both could be persuaded when it was warranted.

  “I’m off,” Will said. “Em’s got a whole list of things I’m supposed to do before I show up at the church tomorrow. I’ll see you both there?”

  “Of course,” Andrew said.

  “I can’t wait,” Ben added, grinning. He glanced at the wall clock as his brother took his leave, remembering that he’d promised to call one of the organizers for an upcoming bank event before the woman left work for the day.

  “Ben, hold up,” his father said when he turned to head back to his office. Andrew glanced around the bank lobby again, then gestured toward the doors. “Step outside with me for a minute?”

  “Sure, Dad. But I’ve got to get on the phone with Christa O’Connor before she leaves for the day.”

  “This won’t take long.”

  Ben followed his father out, waiting for Andrew to speak as they walked toward a small, shaded bench set back from the parking area. A favorite break spot for the tellers during the summer.

  “Dad?” Ben prompted when his father stayed silent.

  “I wanted to ask you about tomorrow,” Andrew finally said, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “I assume you’re bringing Gavin to the wedding?”

  Ben felt his stomach clench, but forced himself to relax and not assume the worst. So far, his father had refrained from commenting on his relationship, and even if it wasn’t ideal, Ben would be the first to acknowledge that at least silence kept the peace—both between the two of them, and, no doubt, between Andrew and Charlie.

  “Of course,” he said now, raising an eyebrow to invite an explanation for his father’s question. Hopefully one that wouldn’t put them at odds.

  Andrew grimaced, and Ben sighed. No such luck.

  “Have you thought about how that will look?”

  Ben crossed his arms, trying to come up with an answer that he wouldn’t regret later.

  Before he could, Andrew added, “It might take attention away from Will and Emily, and I assume you wouldn’t want to do that to them.”

  “Both Will and Emily want him there,” Ben reminded his father tightly.

  Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a slow breath. He’d never been one for confrontation, but apparently he considered this subject worthy of going outside his comfort zone. Ben waited, not willing to make it any easier on him. Not about this.

  “Look,” Andrew finally said after a tense silence. “I‪ like Gavin. We all do. But there will be a lot of people at the wedding. Bank customers, old family friends. What will they think?”‬

  Ben clenched his jaw. He already knew what they would think. Some wouldn’t care, but some would, and his father was right that the ones who did might be ugly about it. Hopefully, not at Will’s wedding, but he wasn’t naive enough to think it couldn’t happen. It had been eye opening—and in some cases, distinctly uncomfortable—to be out in public with Gavin as a couple over the last few weeks, but it was something Ben was getting used to. And, in his opinion, the occasional run-in with bigotry was a small price to pay for getting to be with the man who’d become so important to him.

  “If any of the wedding guests are going to waste their time passing judgement on me and my date instead of helping Will and Em celebrate their marriage, then I’d say that’s their problem, Dad.”

  “Ben, I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m just trying to look out for you. Once you go public with this… relationship, it won’t be forgotten. Even after you move on from this phase, there will be people who will always see you as a gay.”

  Ben shook his head, momentarily at a loss. How was it that the man who had known him for all twenty-nine years of his life—who he’d looked up to in countless ways, modeled himself after when it came to the best of them—could so completely fail to understand him? As if his father’s entire view of him had suddenly been eclipsed by this one, newly revealed facet of himself.

  “It sounds like you’re the one who’s having trouble seeing me as more than that right now, Dad,” he said quietly. “I’m still your son. Nothing about me has changed, and I hope at some point you remember that, because one thing I know for sure is that my feelings for Gavin aren’t a ‘phase.’”

  “I didn’t mean it that way,” Andrew said, shifting uncomfortably.

  “Is there another way to mean it?”

  “Look, I’m not saying Gavin shouldn’t be there,” Andrew backpedaled. “Just—please—consider being discreet.”

  “‘Discreet’?” Ben asked, feeling his temper rise. “What, exactly, does that mean? Pretend he doesn’t matter to me? Not hold his hand in public? Not dance with him at my own brother’s wedding? How would you feel if I asked you not to do those things with Mom, Dad?”

  “That’s different,” Andrew said, frowning.

  “Is it? Maybe that’s the problem: you think it is different. But you know what? You and Mom are exactly the standard I’ve held every relationship I’ve had up against. The example the two of you set is how I knew I couldn’t settle for any of the women I’ve dated in the past—because no matter how great they were, they weren’t great for me—but you and Mom are also how I know that what I’ve got with Gavin isn’t a ‘phase.’ The way you two love each other isn’t ‘discreet.’ Your feelings for each other are obvious in everything you do, even—no disrespect intended—when you’re being an ass, Dad. Every look the two of you give each other, every time you steal a kiss from her when you think no one is looking, the way you’ve always just worked together, like you were two halves of a whole. Even after thirty years—”

  “Thirty-two,” Andrew interjected, the mention of his wife making him smile, as always, despite himself. “And a half.”

  “Right,” Ben said, relaxing a little. Taking the smile as the peace offering it was. “See what I mean? And I see it in Hann, with Jack. And with Will and Em, too. And all my life, I’ve thought that that piece of me was just missing, that I wasn’t wired the way
the rest of you were. And that was okay, because as nice as it looked from the outside, I couldn’t really miss what I’d never had. But now that I’ve found it? The only way I’m giving it up is if I screw it up and stupidly do something that makes Gavin decide he doesn’t want me anymore.”

  Andrew sighed, but this time without the pinched expression on his face. After a minute, he shook his head, his lips twitching up into a smile again. “Well, that would be foolish of him,” he said, reaching out to squeeze Ben’s shoulder. “And I think the boy is much too smart for that.”

  “You like him,” Ben said.

  “I never said I didn’t,” Andrew reminded him. “I just… don’t understand.”

  “And it makes you uncomfortable.”

  “That, too.”

  Fair enough. But still, Ben wasn’t willing to give up on his family any more than he was willing to lose Gavin.

  “Well, Dad—and I hope you can hear this in the spirit I intend it—get over it.”

  Andrew started to turn red, but Ben wasn’t going to apologize for that. His father’s hand tightened on his shoulder for a moment, but then he chuckled, shaking his head. “You are your mother’s son,” he accused, pulling Ben in for a quick hug.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ben said, grinning.

  “Trust me,” Andrew said, clapping him on the back before he let him go. “It was very much meant as one.”

  Ben laced his fingers through Gavin’s as the lights dimmed in the reception hall, smiling when he saw his mother dab at her eyes. Weddings always got to her, and given that this one was for her own son, Ben fully expected her to go through a few boxes of tissues before the happy couple finally escaped for their honeymoon later that night. A spotlight picked out Will and Emily as they took the dance floor for the first time as husband and wife, and Ben’s smile widened as he watched his father lean over to whisper into his wife’s ear.