Page 48 of Dad Next Door

“Let’s get you a drink too.” Ignoring Jace and Simon, I trailed the backs of my fingers down his cheek. “Are you getting warm? Do you need to step outside for a bit?”

He shook his head. “I’m okay.”

I could feel Simon’s glare as I leaned in and brushed a soft kiss against the corner of Tristan’s mouth, not quite on the lips but close enough to look like a full lip lock from Simon’s vantage point.

Thank you, theater tricks.

“It was nice to meet you.” I didn’t bother looking at the other couple and kept my gaze on Tristan. “Come on, babe. Let’s get something sweet to tide us over until we get home.”

Tristan let out a nervous giggle that could have been a reflex or a choice. Either way, it played perfectly into our exchange. “See ya,” he said, never taking his eyes off mine and effectively dismissing his ex.

Just to drive the point home, I brushed another kiss against the side of his mouth. He parted his lips and let out a shaky breath as I pulled away.

My own breathing hitched at the sensation of his smooth cheek against my lips.

He smelled good, like a mix of cinnamon and lemons, with a hint of something musky. He’d told me he didn’t wear cologne or aftershave when he was working, and the intoxicating scent of whatever he’d put on mixing with his shampoo and deodorant was both novel and somehow familiar.

Shaking myself out of my stupor and trying not to read into why I was thinking about how soft Tristan’s skin was or how good he smelled, I took his hand and led him away from his ex without a glance back at them.

“Holy shit.” Tristan gripped my hand so hard my fingers cracked.

“Is that a holy shit, I want to punch him in the face squeeze, or a holy shit, I need to escape because that was too much squeeze?” I asked.

“The first one.” He quickened his pace. “I’m not a violent person. I abhor violence in any form. I’ve never hit someone, never been in a fight, but holy hell, I want to put my fist through his stupid face so bad right now.”

“I know. And he deserves that and so much more. I saw the mask slip. He tried to hide it, but we got under his skin.”

Tristan snickered. “That used to terrify me, the mask slipping. Every time I saw his rage face, I knew it was only a matter of time before he turned that rage on me. I can’t count how many times I had to listen to him rant and scream about something that had nothing to do with me but was somehow my fault. Now he’s Jace’s problem.”

“He is. And he’s never going to yell at you or use you as his emotional punching bag again. I’m not violent either, I’m about as much of a pacifist as they come, but I will end him if he ever mistreats you again.”

We slowed as we came up to the dessert table. The spread was impressive, but the serving sizes were tiny. Most were barely a mouthful.

Tristan reached for one of the plates. I got to it first and shot him a sly grin. “Let’s really give him a show.”

Tristan arched his eyebrow curiously, an easy smile on his full lips. “What do you have in mind?”

“We should share a plate. Let me be the good boy toy and get a sampling while you stand there looking gorgeous.”

A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed that Simon was still watching us, or rather, glaring at us. I filled the plate with pieces of cake, a few monogrammed chocolates, and some fruit skewers.

Moving off to the side, we found an empty table and parked ourselves at it.

“Is it weird that I love cake but hate icing?” Tristan asked.

“Not weird at all. I used to love icing when I was a kid but can’t really stomach it now. My dad would always let me have the corner pieces at birthdays or whenever we had cake to celebrate something because they had the best icing to pastry ratio. Now I’m the guy who scrapes the icing off cupcakes.”

“I do that with Leo.” He smiled and cut the icing off a piece of cake with his fork. “He gets the corners and I eat from the middle.” He fit the square of cake into his mouth and chewed.

“What do you think?” I asked when he’d swallowed. “I can’t even tell what flavor that was supposed to be. It just tastes dry.”

“I think Kim is going to lose her mind on the boutique bakery she ordered these from.” He picked up one of the chocolates and examined it. “Did you try one of these yet?”

“They’re pretty good, but I’m not really a chocolate fan.”

“No?” He popped the chocolate in his mouth and chewed.

“I like it enough, but I’m more of a savory person. I prefer muffins to cupcakes and pie over cake any day of the week.”