A Little Side of Geek

by Marguerite Labbe

  He looked at Morris, remembering what he’d said. Hard conversations could come later. Today was for welcoming. He smiled at Dustin and stepped back so he could approach. “Looks like someone is here to see you and Olivia.”

  Jill’s eyes widened as Dustin stepped into the room and then she held out her arms, bursting into tears. Dustin stopped his advance with a panicked look, and Theo clapped him on the shoulder. “They’re happy tears.” For a moment their eyes met. Dustin glanced down at Theo’s shirt and a bewildered expression crossed his face. Theo smiled again. “Good to see you, bro.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  LINCOLN BOLTED out of the car with the remainder of the pizza as soon as Morris killed the car engine. Morris watched him disappear around the corner of the house with a shake of his head. They wouldn’t see him for the rest of the night.

  “You think he’s okay?” Theo asked.

  “Yeah. It’s been a busy, emotional day, and his introverted self was out dealing with all kinds of people, strangers and long-lost family. He’s probably going to steal that pizza and hole up in his room playing games and decompressing.”

  “Do you need to do the same? Recharge, I mean?” Theo asked him. “I’ll understand if you want some you time and space.”

  “When you find that right person, being with them is restful.” Morris smiled at him. “All I need is you, that couch, and something on the TV, and I’ll be good. On that note, I’m shutting off my phone. No more texts, emails, nothing. Just me and you.”

  “Don’t forget your sketchbook.” Theo tapped his bag. “That’s part of the formula. And I’m stealing that sketch you did of Olivia and putting it on the fridge.”

  “You know me well,” Morris said with a chuckle.

  Theo’s answering smile lit up his whole face. “Do you want to grab Cassie and bring her up?”

  “Yeah, it’s probably a good idea to keep getting her used to your space and you two. Then maybe there won’t be drama later when we move in for real.” Morris got out of the car, stretched, and patted his stomach. By the time they’d left the hospital, the leftovers his mom packed were a distant memory, and as a consequence, he’d probably eaten too much at dinner. “If Lincoln eats the rest of that pizza, I’m going to laugh.”

  “Don’t even joke like that.” Theo scrubbed a hand over his face. “If he manages that feat, it means he’s going through another growth spurt, and I just bought him school clothes.”

  “My mom used to say the same thing all the time.” Morris stretched, rising up on his toes to work out the kinks of the day.

  “See you in a few minutes,” Theo said with a tired wave, and Morris watched him head up to his place.

  It awed Morris that Lincoln and Theo had made him a part of their circle. He’d gotten used to being alone, just him and Cassie, except for when Felipe crashed. He was looking forward to all the changes to come, and that was a major step for him. Change usually made him a cranky bastard.

  Cassie sat in the window, giving him a measuring look as he unlocked the door. “You know you’re not supposed to be on the kitchen counter.” He leveled a finger at her, and she yawned, looking away as if what he said was beneath her consideration. Little brat.

  Morris scooped her up and gently scratched under her chin as he retrieved her bag of treats. They’d already installed another cat tree, food dishes, and litter box upstairs in anticipation of the transition. Now it was time to test it out. “Neither one of us is sleeping alone tonight.” Morris dug through her box of toys and pulled out her bear and a motorized mouse that never failed to elicit a reaction.

  Cassie’s purring ceased as Morris opened the door and her ears laid back. “Don’t worry, you’re not going to the vet. We’re going to see your buddies.”

  Cassie remained vigilant until they’d passed his car and were walking up toward Theo’s. Her ears pricked up when they walked through the door, and she twisted to be let down. Morris chuckled as she ran for the living room window and stationed herself on the ledge. She loved it there, a fluffy queen surveying her domain. Morris’s apartment was downstairs in the back, and it didn’t have the same panoramic view.

  Morris looked around with a frown at the empty living room. A glance down the hallway showed Lincoln’s door firmly closed. He peeked into the kitchen and sure enough, there was Theo, slicing strawberries into a bowl. He wanted to tell him to lay off, he couldn’t eat one more thing, but he knew this was Theo’s way of decompressing.

  Morris walked up behind him and slid his arms around Theo. “How you doing?”

  Theo added a little balsamic vinegar and lightly tossed the berries with some fresh basil he snipped off the plant in the window. “I’m….” He set the bowl down and leaned back against him. “I’m good. Today was a good day. I liked meeting your family. I wish we could’ve stayed longer.”

  Morris smiled as he rested his chin on top of Theo’s head. “Yeah, that went rather well, didn’t it? You survived my sisters’ reign of terror.”

  “According to them, you are the terror.” Theo stuck the bowl in the fridge and pulled out some heavy whipping cream.

  “I was outnumbered and the baby. I did what I had to do.” Vinegar and cream and strawberries? Morris eyed Theo’s activity with skepticism. True, he had yet to taste anything bad that Theo concocted, but there was always that one time. “Okay, I’ve got to ask, what are you doing?”

  Theo pulled down the mixer and smiled. “We missed out on dessert. Lincoln took the pizza. So I thought we’d have a little light sweet while we watched TV. Why don’t you put on some coffee?”

  Morris retrieved the coffee and some Irish cream to go with it. It was a spiked coffee kind of day. “I’m not quite sure if what you’re making qualifies as dessert or anything edible.”

  Theo chuckled, whipping the cream into frothy lightness while Morris made their coffees. “You’ll love it and beg me for more.”

  Morris dipped his pinkie into the bowl and sampled the whipped cream. “If you’re right, I’ll marry you.”

  “You’re already marrying me,” Theo said with a laugh in his voice, and Morris grinned.

  “True.” Morris poured two mugs of coffee and added the alcohol. “Come on. Let’s stretch out in front of the TV. I need to digest before dessert.”

  Theo stuck the whipped cream in the fridge and took one of the mugs Morris handed him. “That works. I want to give the berries a chance to macerate. By the time they’re done, you’ll be hungry again.”

  They ventured out to the living room, and Cassie was nowhere in sight. Another peek down the hallway showed Lincoln’s door cracked open. She did hate a closed door. She’d probably harassed Lincoln until he opened it. He settled on the couch as Theo clicked on the TV. “My family liked meeting you and Lincoln too,” Morris said, picking up on the earlier thread of their conversation. “God knows my dad is happy I’m settled with someone. He truly thinks I need taking care of.”

  “Well, probably the easiest way to deal with that is keep on doing what you’re doing and let him think it. You know the truth.” Theo sat back with a sigh, propped his feet on the table, and took a sip of his coffee. “No sense arguing over something that’s not going to change.”

  Morris stretched out his legs too and leaned his head back with a sigh of contentment as he realized with a smile how they’d mimicked each other. How the hell had a day off for both of them ended up so chaotic and busy? Babies, proposals, family. He didn’t blame Lincoln for hiding in his cave, and it gave him a little alone time with Theo. It was nice to have some quiet time together.

  “It was good to meet Robin and Dustin,” Morris said as Theo flicked through the channels before settling on a cooking competition show. He glanced at Theo and saw his expression go thoughtful.

  “I think that went rather well,” Theo said after a long pause, his eyes hopeful. “How about you?”

  “All things considered, yeah.” Morris slid his arm around Theo’s shoulders. “You know them better
than me. But I think it was more regret and pride that kept them away, fear of being rejected like they tried to reject you. Now that the door has been opened again, I think it’ll stay open.”

  The tension in Theo’s body relaxed. “I really hope so. I wasn’t sure, you know, but when Dustin also joined us for pizza, I really let myself start to think we could heal and be a family again.”

  “Hope is a good thing.” Morris kissed Theo’s temple, nuzzling as Theo cuddled in more. If someone had told him his summertime fling would’ve turned into an engagement, he probably would’ve run screaming. And he would’ve been an idiot.

  “Yeah it is.” Theo brushed his lips over Morris’s and turned his attention to the mad chaos on the screen. Morris pulled out his sketchpad as Cassie wandered back in, dragging her stuffed bear by its face. Poor abused thing.

  “Time for dessert,” Theo announced as the first show ended and another queued up in its place. “Do you want some more coffee?”

  “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, man.” Morris watched Theo disappear into the kitchen with a shake of his head. He knew Theo had to be exhausted, but he wasn’t going to stay still long enough to relax unless Morris made him stay still.

  “Olivia is awfully cute, isn’t she?” Theo said as he came back with two small plates. He handed one to Morris and sank back down again.

  “That’s how they get you. The cuteness. Then their personality sets in.” Morris was going to enjoy watching Theo get totally entranced by a little being not much bigger than a french loaf. He warily eyeballed the slice of pound cake covered in strawberries and whipped cream. “That’s when you’re really in trouble.”

  Theo nudged him in the arm with a roll of his eyes. “Try it.”

  Morris broke off an edge of the berry-soaked cake and popped it in his mouth. It didn’t taste like vinegar. It tasted amazing, light and summery. Like the kind of strawberry shortcake they’d serve at some fancy restaurant, not Theo’s homey place. “I swear, Theo. Do you have an altar in your kitchen where you practice magic or something? This isn’t normal.”

  Theo sat back with a satisfied smirk. “You love it.”

  “It’s unnatural, but yep, I love it. Should we share some with Lincoln?” Morris took another bite, savoring the mix of flavors. Theo had added something citrusy as well, and he couldn’t quite pin it down.

  “I left some in the fridge for him.” Theo looked over his shoulder down the hallway. “If he wants company, he knows where we are.”

  “You should have this at the bistro,” Morris said as he set his plate down on the table. “You’ve made me a convert.”

  A slow smile crossed Theo’s lips. “Oh the possibilities in that statement.”

  “For real. I’m sitting in another man’s house, not my own quiet living room. I ate some crazy unnatural dessert, and there’s a cooking show on TV.” Morris tugged Theo over so he could give him a kiss. “What kind of Canadian voodoo have you worked on me?”

  Theo shrugged. “Nothing more than what you’ve done to me. Thanks to you I’ve actually discovered a franchise pizza joint I like. I’m reading comic books, and you’ve got me hooked on reruns of Supernatural. I think you’re the one with a hidden altar.”

  “Wait until Olivia’s old enough to share in such geek fun. You have to buy your niece her first lightsaber. It’s the number one rule of being a good uncle.” Morris smiled up at him as Theo slid his arms around Morris’s neck.

  “If Laila agrees that a lightsaber is cool, I’ll consider it, but I think I’ll leave that honor to Lincoln.” Theo trailed his fingertips along Morris’s jaw, then tangled his fingers in the ends of Morris’s hair.

  Morris slipped his hands under Theo’s shirt and rubbed circles on his lower back. “Speaking of Laila, I’m told she’s already talking weddings and her plans to be a flower girl.”

  “I was thinking we could have alpacas with baskets.” Theo gave him an earnest look as Morris straightened. “Did you know there are alpaca farmers in Virgin—”

  Morris poked him in the side and Theo cut off with a snicker. “You are too much, Boarman.”

  “I’d like to think I’m just enough,” Theo said with a smile as he leaned in closer so Morris could feel his breath on his lips.

  Morris felt his whole being soften. “Yeah, you’re just right.” Theo’s eyes lit up as Morris cupped his face. “You taught me there’s more to life than the next deadline, the next show. I loved my life then. I love it even more now. Thanks to you.”

  Theo kissed the corners of Morris’s mouth, teasing and sweet. “You helped me to realize life needed to be lived again, not just gotten through.” He smiled softly. “Thanks to you.”

  Morris’s heart began to beat faster as he felt Theo’s body stir. “To quote another movie classic, ‘Theo, you big stud, take me to bed or lose me forever.’”

  Theo started chuckling as he touched his forehead to Morris’s. “Is that right?”

  “Damn right.” Morris closed his eyes and pulled Theo closer before releasing him. “Please tell me you know what movie it’s from.”

  “I have no clue,” Theo said with another laugh. He clambered off Morris and held out his hand, tugging him up as their fingers joined. “But I approve of the message.”

  More from Marguerite Labbe

  It only takes one night with Ash Gallagher to make Eli Hollister think he’s finally met the right man at the right time. Good thing he doesn’t bet on it, because Ash turns out to be a student in Eli’s class at the local college. Eli can’t deny he’s attracted, but now it’s complicated. He’s already in enough trouble with the department head, a man who would like to see Eli denied his tenure and fired.

  Ash is looking forward to taking his life in a new direction. After serving one active-duty stint in the Marine Corps and another in the Reserves, he’s ready to put his military life behind him. The last new experience he’d planned for this semester was to fall in lust with his English professor, but the more Eli resists, the more Ash is determined to have him. Then he discovers Eli’s playing for keeps, and Ash is only interested in a fling… or is he? Between these two, when it comes to life and love, all bets are off.

  Andrei Cuza and Dean Marshall celebrated their tenth anniversary only to have their happiness shattered by a random, insane event: On his way home from closing a business deal, Dean stops on the parkway to help a young mother with her flat tire, and her ex arrives, murders them, and takes off with his two kids.

  Ghosts have haunted Andrei all his life. He bears the guilt for his sister being stuck in limbo, because ghosts are frozen at the moment they died, unable to adapt to the changes in their living loved ones. When Dean returns to Andrei as a ghost, the double punch of losing him and having to watch him founder if he doesn’t move on is almost more than Andrei can bear.

  Despite dangers in limbo—Jackal Wraiths that devour souls are hunting him—Dean isn’t going anywhere until he helps Andrei track down the missing children. Andrei is in danger as well when he pays dearly to feel Dean’s touch one last time. Time is slowly running out as Dean and Andrei try to say good-bye while they track a killer who’s more than happy to kill again.

  After a grueling battle in ancient Greece, lovers Dexios and Lykon committed their lives to each other in the name of Goddess Cythera. After the war, fearing the strength of his love for Dexios, Lykon abandoned his vow and returned home. Heartbroken, Dexios called on Cythera, who changed him into four unfinished statues. In that form he would wait for his fickle lover to return, break the curse, and make him whole.

  Thousands of years have passed when Galen Kanellis finds the disassembled pieces in the storeroom of a Seattle museum and makes them the focus of his new exhibit. Needing information, he contacts his ex-lover Nick Charisteas. Nick has a lifelong dream of finding the Dexios Collection, and the last thing he expected was for it to wind up in the hands of the man who broke his heart. As both men search for answers about the statues, worries of abandonment and fear of loss test the
ir renewed relationship, threatening to separate them again—this time permanently.

  Book One of the Triquetra Trilogy

  The power of heart and soul holds the key to the survival of the last of the ancient vampires. Kristair is running out of time. His race has faded away, prey to delusion and deterioration, and his only chance to live long enough to find a cure is to bind his psyche to a human vessel in a long forgotten ritual.

  Kristair’s chosen vessel is Jacob Corvin, a man of passionate stubbornness and fierce loyalty; he has captured Kristair’s fantasies so completely that he is both the vampire’s greatest strength and most crippling weakness. Drawing upon Jacob’s spirit and Kristair’s resolve, they each bind a portion of their souls to one other. For as long as Jacob carries Kristair’s heart within him, the vampire can continue his quest.

  Just when they have hope, their mission is threatened by The Syndicate, a group of younger vampires who attempt to force Kristair to teach them his secrets before he disappears like the rest of the ancients. Battling both The Syndicate’s attacks and his unexpected need and love for Jacob, Kristair’s strength begins to fade, forcing him to make a decision that will change his and Jacob’s lives forever.

  Caleb Hudson and Hal Zimmer became best friends the day they stood up against the schoolyard bully together. Life’s complicated enough with their friendship crossing racial lines in 1960s Charleston, South Carolina, but as time passes, they realize it’s more than their friendship that sets them apart from other kids. At first, Caleb denies his feelings for Hal could be more than companionship. He supports his friend when Hal admits he’s gay, but Caleb isn’t ready to face his own truth.