“Very. He showed me how much he loved it in a very graphic, delightful way.” Snow grinned and aimed the red dot on another wall, chuckling when Sergeant scampered across the room. “Don’t worry. You picked the perfect gift for the guy. I’m sure you’ll show up with rug burns again at work tomorrow.”
“Hey, that was only one time.” Rowe snorted. “After another.”
“Who has rug burns?” Jude asked as he came into the room, stretched out on the couch, and rested his head in Snow’s lap. “Rowe again?”
“I heard that,” Rowe yelled into the phone. “Do I need to go into how many marks I’ve seen on your bodies? Or share the incredibly weird sounds heard during various vacations? Oh, and speaking of vacation and rug burn, you never did explain how it got on your—”
“I have to go,” Snow interrupted, laughing. He hung up. “Could you hear him?”
“Our neighbors could hear him.” Jude smiled up at him. “I remember that night,” he murmured, rubbing the back of his head over Snow’s rapidly filling groin.
“How long until the food’s ready?” Snow asked, glad he’d only thrown on thin pajama pants. He ran his fingers through Jude’s thick hair.
“Just let this…” Jude turned and nuzzled his face into Snow. “Simmer a little while longer.”
Fire streaked through Snow’s body and he wrapped both hands around Jude’s head. “Simmer? When you’re turning up the heat to high?”
Jude opened his mouth, lightly bit down. “I never said I played fair.”
“I love the way you play.”
Dark eyes locked with his as the connection he felt with his man more than simmered between them. As always.
The oven timer went off and Jude bounded up from the couch. “Get naked and meet me back in bed in five.”
Minutes later, when Jude walked into their bedroom, carrying a hot pan with a wonderfully familiar smell and one fork, Snow was pretty sure his heart was going to melt along with all that wonderful Greek macaroni and cheese. During one of their first nights together, they’d shared a pan of it with one fork. It would probably always be his favorite dish—and it was usually prepared by Jude’s mother. That reminded him. “You cooked this. I heard. So what did your mom bring in that bag?”
Jude stripped off his jeans, settled into the bed, and put the hot casserole dish on a padded towel on his lap. He scooped out some and blew on it. When he held the fork out to Snow, he was shaking his head. “I asked her to make homemade pasta. Just look at it.”
Snow eyed the steaming food balanced on the fork and started laughing. Instead of macaroni noodles, each piece of pasta was shaped like a heart.Rowe and NoahTucking the long, slender box a little tighter under his arm, Rowe drew in a deep breath before pushing open the front door. His uncharacteristic jitters were shoved aside as the pounding of three sets of paws thundered from the kitchen to the front of the house. With a laugh, he set the box wrapped in red paper on the coffee table and bent to give the two Rottweilers and the German shepherd attention before they could knock him over with their heavy bodies.
“Hey, babe!”
Rowe looked up to see Noah standing in the doorway to the kitchen, drying his hands on a dish towel before tossing it over his shoulder. He was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants that hung low on his narrow hips and an old T-shirt that had its neck all stretched out because Rowe kept pulling at it to get at more of Noah’s skin. It was amazing the damn thing was still in one piece.
“Dinner’s almost ready. Another fifteen minutes,” Noah said, squeezing between the dogs to wrap his arms around Rowe and snag his lips in a quick but searing kiss. “Ribs and I picked up that chocolate cake you apparently begged Ian’s pastry chef to make.”
“Mmmm…ribs, cake, and your sexy ass. I’m a lucky man,” Rowe growled before kissing him again. Noah laughed and pushed away.
“Is that why you broke our agreement for no gifts?”
Rowe shrugged, trying to ignore the heat he could feel spreading through his cheeks. “It’s our first Valentine’s Day, and our other holidays weren’t exactly smooth.” Rowe cleared his throat and waved a hand at the wrapped box on the table. “Besides, I saw it and knew you needed it.”
Noah walked over to the massive entertainment center against the far wall and pulled down a long, slender box from the top. It was wrapped in red fire engines. “I guess we’re shit at following rules.”
“Fire trucks?” Rowe asked, nodding at the box in Noah’s hands.
“You’re hot stuff.”
Rowe groaned as he shrugged out of his coat. “That was bad.”
“You love it.” Noah stepped closer and waved the gift in front of Rowe. “You wanna open before dinner?”