Page 62 of Love Lessons: Expanded Edition

Landon huffed. Dustin had no idea why he found that so adorable. Yes, really. Can you leave some of them without chocolate?

Dustin gathered him close and gave him a slow, tender kiss. Of course. Zhong doesn’t like it much either. So we’ll leave plenty for the two of you. If he’d known, he would have made something else tonight. He’d just have to remember for next time.

Landon nuzzled in closer, fitting perfectly into his arms.

Dustin reminded himself that even if this ended, he could use this time to let Landon know that he saw him. That Landon was desirable and desired. That he could be himself.

Dustin wanted to leave an imprint.

Eventually Dustin went back to coating the strawberries and bananas while Landon chopped vegetables. They couldn’t talk with their backs to each other. But it was a comfortable moment. A calm togetherness.

Dustin was starting to regret inviting other people over. Even though he wanted Zhong to meet Landon, and for Landon to make more friends, he wished he hadn’t chosen their second date/not-date for it.

And that was the moment when the doorbell rang. Dustin startled but Landon, of course, didn’t even look up.

Doorbell, he explained. I’ll be right back.

Zhong and Ash happened to arrive at the same time. Dustin gave Zhong a full body hug, feeling the larger man melt into him, and then greeted Ash.

Ash was carrying a six pack of fancy, natural sodas, but they were busy taking off their coat and Zhong was helping them get untangled, so he didn’t intrude.

Beneath the coat, Ash was wearing another work of art, a sort of dress-suit-thing with newsprint fabric and what looked like singed circular holes. It was probably supposed to make some sort of statement, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Zhong asked something about it that Dustin couldn’t see.

Dustin was going to make introductions, but it looked like they’d already taken care of it.

Ash passed Dustin the sodas. I don’t drink, they explained, but I thought everyone might enjoy this.

They looked pretty good. Absolutely. We’re not big drinkers anyway. Well, he and Zhong weren’t. He actually didn’t know about Landon, except that he hadn’t seen him drink in the few times they’d been together. Another thing to discover.

A buzzer went off and Dustin made quick apologies, then returned to the kitchen.

While the other two dawdled in the hall, Dustin gave Landon one more quick kiss. Just because he was irresistible. Then he started pulling things out of the refrigerator for dinner while Landon tried to fit in the chocolate-covered fruits.

He heard footsteps, but needed a few more minutes to get all the platters settled so there weren’t any avalanches.

By the time he turned around, Zhong was already introducing himself to Landon, and Ash had joined in.

How do you pronounce your name? Landon was asking.

Zhong chuckled. Deaf people asked him this surprisingly often if they thought they were going to have to voice it. My name’s Z-H-O-N-G, he turned to include Ash in the conversation, and I’ve been Deaf since birth, so I really have no idea what it sounds like. But if you ever had a speech therapist make you say “azure” or “garage,” he held a hand to his throat to demonstrate, until you wanted to punch them, apparently it sounds like that.

Everyone cracked up, and after that the evening just flowed. They carried out the finger foods they’d made and set them up around the coffee table.

Behind the cheer, though, Dustin could sense that Landon was still nervous. Or at least he thought he was. Landon faked it so well. And there was still something humming between them from their interactions in the kitchen, something that wasn’t so easy to shut off.

Dustin gave Landon a bit of space, but not much. He desperately wanted Landon to like his best friend. He also wanted to be there to soothe Landon’s worries.

They started out playing Scrabble and Dustin kept his foot pressed to the outside of Landon’s ankle. They didn’t talk about it, but Landon looked up at him and smiled whenever he ran his toes along his calf.

After a few minutes, Landon seemed to relax. Ash told funny stories about their patients that Landon matched with anecdotes about his students. Zhong added witty comments and openly praised both of them for their work.

As the game started to draw to a close, Dustin thought he was getting to see a glimpse of a less guarded Landon. It also meant a lot to see Landon and Zhong getting along so well. Watching the two of them made him feel warm inside, and boded well for the future he hoped for.

The game ended with Zhong and Ash competing to spell dirty words, which… How did they even do that? Was it some kind of tile wizardry? Dustin could barely make one word each turn, let alone choose his words.

Zhong teased Dustin about whipping, right there in front of everyone, but Ash and Landon just seemed to eat it up. Apparently Dustin was the only one in the room who still felt the littlest bit uncomfortable talking about kink.

Even though he was the one who would actually be doing the whipping. Or, you know, the spanking and flogging and cropping. When he worked his way up to it. He really shouldn’t be squeamish about it. Which, of course, was why Zhong was teasing him.