Sweeter than Sweets {M/M} (Dogs, Bats & Monkey Series, Book III)

Chapter 39

Luca stared down.

Bear kept staring up, eyes hopeful.

Luca kept staring down, without blinking.

Bear kept staring up... Then Luca finally blinked, jumped off the table and sauntered into the living room, Bear trotting happily behind him.

"My cat is warming up to your dog," Alec noted.

"So are you," I replied.

Alec glanced my way, a little smirk on his lips, before he said:

"He's alright for a dog."

"Not for a mop?" I asked, remembering what he'd likened Bear to before.

"You seem to be feeling playful tonight... I like that."

Alec's lips stretched wider and I licked mine.

"May-may I use the bathroom?" I stuttered and he chuckled once more.

"You know where it is."

With those words, my host headed for the kitchen and I had nothing left to do but go in the direction of the bathroom. Once I closed the door behind me, I leaned back, knocking my head on it.

There was something about Alec tonight, something inscrutable and inviting, something that had my body reacting to him in a way it hadn't in a long while.

I pushed myself off the door and headed for the sink, leaning down to wash my hands, then splashing my face with water. I looked up, gazing in yet another mirror.

"He's going through a difficult time. You are here to help him; that's all," I reminded my reflection, which looked almost convinced in my words.

Exiting the bathroom, I went into the living room. Alec was not there, but Bear and Luca were, the two of them not touching, but lying close to each other on the floor. I took the fact that Luca hadn't climbed on top of another piece of furniture as a sign that he was indeed warming up to my dog.

"Won't you sit down?" Alec's voice, as quiet as it was, startled me; I hadn't heard him come in. His non-human genes were partially to blame for that, but the other reason was that even though I was nervous about meeting him, I felt oddly at ease at his home.

"Thank you." I took a seat on the couch.

Alec placed a trey with half a dozen types of sweets and two sodas on the coffee table before he sat next to me; bodies not touching, but still close and I couldn't help but draw a comparison between us and our pets.

"Isn't your cousin staying with you?" My voice came out steady as I turned my head this way and that in search of the girl he'd mentioned in one of his texts.

"I told her I was having company so she should take the night off from babysitting me and give us some space."

"Why-why did you do that?" I was back to stuttering, unconsciously leaning a tad away from him.

"I wanted it to be just the two of us," he said so casually, the lack of flirting or teasing making it sound peculiar coming from his mouth.

"Well, the four of us," he corrected himself, nodding towards the pets at our feet, then helping himself to one of the sweets from the platter they were stacked on. Alec pulled his legs up, tucking them underneath himself as he munched on the treat, eyes focused on the other pastries as if carefully choosing his next one.

And apparently, that truly was what he'd been doing because as soon as the first was gone, he immediately grabbed another.

"Aren't you going to eat?" This time his nod was directed at the table.