On a Roll by Beth Bolden (best historical biographies TXT) 📕

each other—but there was a crowd tonight. If anyone saw them, Gabe decided he didn’t care.

“This is nice,” Sean said with a soft sigh, as his head rested on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Really nice, actually.”

“We did duck out on the six-month anniversary party early,” Gabriel pointed out. “It feels good to celebrate that we’re still here. Still going strong.”

Sean pulled back, his eyes deep and dark in the shadows of the evening. “Better than ever,” he agreed as they moved to the music together.

It was the perfect moment—and of course Gabriel had to ruin it by opening his big fat mouth and sticking his foot in it. “Did you mean it?” he wondered, before he could stop himself.

“Mean what?” Sean asked, sliding his fingers under the hem of Gabriel’s t-shirt, making him shiver as they danced up his spine.

“That you think about it all the time?”

Sean still looked baffled.

“The name,” Gabriel said. “You told Tony you think about it all the time.”

“Oh,” Sean said. “Yeah, actually,” he added. “Sometimes I think if I could just think about it long enough, and clearly enough, I’d come up with the solution we’d both be happy with. Because . . .” He hesitated. “I don’t want to lose this.”

“I don’t want to lose it either,” Gabe said seriously.

“We’ll get there,” Sean said confidently. His entire hand pressed against the damp skin of Gabriel’s back and he tensed, then relaxed into his touch. “Fighting with you was really fun, actually, but it turns out this is more fun.”

“Orgasms usually are,” Gabe teased.

Sean’s gaze was serious. “And you give such good ones,” he said.

He was wading right into the deep end—or maybe he’d been there long enough that the shock of it had worn off already—but he leaned in and kissed Sean anyway. And Sean didn’t hesitate, he kissed him right back, their lips moving together in a woozy rush. It was hot, because kissing Sean couldn’t ever be anything else, but there was a soft sweetness to it, a lack of rushing, that warmed Gabe’s heart.

The frantic heat of the last few times they’d fucked had been glorious, but this felt even better. Not like they were just racing to the inevitable end, but like he and Sean were savoring every single moment.

Sean broke the kiss first, resting his head back on Gabe’s shoulder. They were barely swaying with the music now, but it didn’t matter. Gabriel’s heart still felt so full it might explode. “You still going with me tomorrow?” he asked.

“Of course.” Like Gabriel would let anyone else go with him. He’d already planned the restaurant supply stores they’d go to, and the really great Asian fusion place that was near one of them. They’d make a day of it. A date of it, if he had any say in the matter.

“I can’t believe I used to think you were a stubborn asshole.” Sean chuckled under his breath.

“I can’t believe you think I’m still anything else,” Gabriel retorted. It was kind of selfish asshole territory, pushing them both into this dating thing, without even telling Sean about it, especially when he’d been so clear about what he’d wanted.

But he was a grown man, wasn’t he? If he didn’t like any of it, he could pull back. He didn’t have to cuddle in closer, burrow so near that if Gabriel could tuck him inside, he would.

“You’re a lot of things, Gabriel Moretti,” Sean said quietly. “But meatballs notwithstanding, you’re anything but an asshole.”

“I could . . .” Gabriel licked his lips. It felt like such a risk, telling him now, about the name he’d picked out, about the plans he’d made, about how he’d rather cut off his own arm than take away something that Sean cared about, like he did his ex-husband.

But what if Sean was still operating under the assumption that when they figured their shit out, it was over?

Deep down, Gabriel didn’t really believe that was true. Sean had even said that what they were doing was more fun than arguing. But how long would that last?

What if he woke up one morning and knew, once and for all, that Gabriel could never fill Milo’s shoes? The same way Gabriel knew it?

Gabe couldn’t let him go, not just yet. If he did, and it ended, he was going to end up just as bitter and bereft as Ren, and that was a cautionary tale if he’d ever seen one.

“What?” Sean asked softly. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Gabe said. “I just wanted to say I could make you pancakes tomorrow. Blueberry. If you wanted.”

“How did you know that was my favorite?” Sean sounded absolutely delighted.

“I know more than you think,” Gabriel said.

Chapter Eleven

Sean didn’t think he’d look forward to the Sunday he’d agreed to go shopping with Gabriel, but it turned out by the time Sunday morning rolled around, he wasn’t sure he wanted to even let the guy out of his sight.

Especially if he kept making him the best blueberry pancakes he’d ever tasted.

And the way he’d danced . . . and the way he’d blown him later that night when they’d come back to his townhouse. Sean shivered just thinking about how wonderful it had been.

Even more shocking was the fact that this was Gabriel. Gabriel freaking Moretti.

What would he have done, way back when, if he had known that under all his stubborn bluster, Gabriel was like this? If the guy who had thrown a meatball in his direction was also the same one who left him limp and weak-kneed each and every time they touched?

Sean wasn’t sure.

Truthfully, he didn’t feel sure about much right at the moment, except that Gabriel’s pancakes were extraordinary. But even as he sat at the breakfast bar, comfortably hip to hip with Gabe as they ate breakfast, he felt like the ground was shifting underneath him.

It felt like things were changing, and he didn’t know how or why. All he knew was that when Gabriel teased him, saying he was still an asshole, a