Erchomai [Ricochet/Adam Cole]

chapter 15: breakfast at teddy's

"I'm happy to be in it," he tells her, because it's the truth, even if he's not in it the way she thinks he is. Feeling like he's dug himself into a hole, Trevor drinks his coffee and hopes the slight burn down his throat makes him feel less guilty for lying. Then he realizes that he smells actual burning again. "Melissa, do you have something else in the oven?"

"Dammit, my second batch of brownies." She gets up from the table and hurries over to it just as Adam strolls into the kitchen.

The smile he's wearing when he sees Trevor falters as he sniffs the air. "Mom, you do know the brownies are supposed to be edible, right," he jokes, nose crinkled as she removes the tray from the oven.

"Hush, you," she warns, swatting in his direction with an oven mitt.

Adam laughs, coming over to plop down in the chair very close to Trevor, who offers him his coffee. As he takes a drink, Trevor notices that Adam smells like his shea butter and vanilla bodywash he never leaves home without. He must have left it in the bathroom. Adam drinking from his mug and smelling like him is the domestic shit Trevor didn't know he had signed up for but doesn't mind one bit.

Setting his cup down in front of him, Adam leans even closer to Trevor, one arm braced against the back of the chair and the other on the table. His smile is bright, and his voice is low. "I've brushed my teeth and I'm ready to flirt with you now."

Trevor scans Adam's face, ignoring his remark in favor of saying, "You smell good."

"I know. My boyfriend's got great taste in bodywash." He inhales deeply. "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed it."

Trevor shakes his head, picking his coffee back up to take a sip. "Not at all."

Melissa turns away from the oven, a hand on her hip while her other hand holds her burnt brownies. She looks at them with an exasperated stare. "Don't you two have breakfast at Teddy's?"

+

"Okay, you literally used to eat Toaster Strudels with a fucking fork," Teddy tells Adam with a glare that holds no heat. "Your opinion on breakfast is therefore invalid."

Not two minutes had it been since Teddy had invited them inside and told them that she and Calvin were making some type of healthy frittata, only for Adam to make a skeptical remark. Trevor just wanted to eat, so he didn't care one way or the other, but the way Teddy had whirled around and put Adam on blast was almost enough to satisfy his appetite.

"Oh, he still does that," Trevor points out as Adam holds his hands up innocently. "He uses a knife, too."

Overlooking the look of betrayal that Adam sends Trevor, Teddy replies, "So pretentious, right?"

"Tell me about it."

Adam drops his hands with a scoff. "As much as I'm enjoying my boyfriend and sister make fun of me in some type of weird way of bonding, we came for breakfast."

"And you'll get it if you wait patiently." She rolls her eyes, shaking the phone in her hand. "Honestly, the food would have been done earlier, but Cynthia from Miami thought it necessary to give a full recap of her summer and how her husband eats like a picky five-year-old before sharing the recipe."

"Someone's bitter," Adam says.

"Sure am. Too much scrolling." Trevor likes how she refuses to sugar coat it as she returns to the kitchen, telling them to make themselves at home as she and Calvin finish things up.

"You were right," Trevor tells Adam as he follows him to take a seat on the couch. "Our senses of humor complement one another perfectly."

"And somehow my greatest joy has become my worst nightmare," Adam remarks dramatically.

Trevor sends him a half-smile, then turns his attention to the coffee table. There's a photo that catches his eye of the siblings with their dad. From what Trevor can tell, it's not of any special moment. They're inside on the couch, all focused on the TV as Melissa must have taken the picture. Trevor points to it. "That's a good one."

Adam looks to where he's pointing and smiles. "Yeah, I've always loved that picture."

Trevor watches him closely, noticing the way his smile falls away bit by bit and wonders why he never asked Adam this question before. "Do you miss him?"

His answer is almost automatic. "Some days." Adam blinks, then stands abruptly. "I'm sorry, but I need a minute."

As he starts to leave, Trevor grabs his hand. When Adam looks down at him, he gives it a squeeze. "Take as long as you need."

Shortly after Adam's walked out the door, Teddy comes into the living room to tell them that breakfast is ready. She looks around the room. "Where's Austin?"

"He stepped out for a minute but should be back soon," Trevor informs.

Teddy nods, then stands in the doorway a bit longer before moseying over to sit down beside Trevor. "I thought you were too good to be true," she says after a moment.

That catches Trevor off guard and before he knows it, he's laughing. "I'm sorry?"

"Maybe not the best way to start my speech," Teddy admits. "What I meant was that when Austin told me how happy he was with you, I figured he was overcompensating. He did it a lot when we were teenagers. But then I actually saw you guys together. Saw the way he looked at you when you were talking about Fred's ascot. I've seen him happy, but this is like a whole different level."

"I'm happy being with him, too," is all Trevor can say. He hears Melissa and Teddy's words and he's not sure what to do with the facts when they're staring him right in the face. Adam cares about him, he knows this. And Trevor cares about him more than he could possibly put into words. Yet that doesn't make it any easier for him to consider what comes next.

In the midst of his introspection, he thinks about Adam tensing up at the mention of Alec. Sees Alec excuse himself from the table when discussing wrestling. There's no time to focus on what they feel for each other when there's another problem awaiting that could be just as complex. "Teddy, I care about Austin a lot. And right now, he's hiding something from me. Something that has to do with him and Alec and wrestling. I feel like it might be hurting him more than he's letting on."

Teddy looks away to stare at the picture on her coffee table, letting out a sigh. "They had this disagreement. A petty one, really, but it's led to them walking on eggshells around each other for months. Although I think it was brewing a lot longer than that." She turns away from the photo to look at Trevor. "Austin will have to tell you the rest, but I can tell you that since he became a wrestler, whenever Alec looks at him, he sees our dad."

There's no need for her to go into any more detail. Trevor understands. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

Adam comes back in and looks a little shocked at the sight of Trevor and Teddy talking on the couch, but he covers it with a grin as he gently shuts the door. "You guys talking about me again?"

Teddy stands, moving her hair to one side of her face. "I know this may come as a shock, but the world doesn't revolve around you." She pats his shoulder on her way to the kitchen. "Now hurry up, I'm hungry."

Trevor stops Adam before he can follow Teddy, waiting until she's disappeared around the corner into the kitchen. He scans Adam's face, but there's no sign that he's had any type of breakdown. "You good?"

Adam covers the hand that Trevor has on his arm, sending him a smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Always."