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Adam didn’t like it, but he got it. He wasn’t fun to be around lately, and their place wouldn’t be a home if he jumped at every creak or stray noise. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Vic doing this without talking to him first. At the same time, he’d done it for Adam so it was hard to be mad.

“I love you,” Vic said. “I just want you to feel safe.”

He opened his arms, offering a hug.

“I love you too.” Adam stepped into it and pressed his head to Vic’s chest.

Vic tightened his hold, just a fraction, testing the edge of what Adam could tolerate. The need to pull away was there, to not be touched, and certainly to not feel restrained, but there was also desire and just . . . Vic, who was willing to delay his dream for Adam.

Because he loved him.

Yes, Adam silently thought, answering Dr. Cahill’s question. He felt loved.

He tilted to lay a kiss on Vic’s jaw, on the bit of scruff there. He lay another, then a third, working his way toward Vic’s mouth.

“Did you eat?” Vic asked when Adam paused.

“It can wait.”

Adam reached for the hem of Vic’s shirt and pulled it over his head.

With a grin, Vic reached for the buttons of Adam’s coveralls and kissed him back.

After, Adam didn’t feel hungry. He didn’t want to move. They lay side by side, staring at the ceiling fan. It turned lazily, moving just a little air over their naked bodies.

Night had fallen and a few sounds drifted in from the other apartments.

Adam didn’t mind them. It made him feel less alone, reminding him a bit of the trailer park back in Guthrie, which in turn, reminded him of Sue.

“Now are you hungry?” Vic asked, tracing a fingertip around Adam’s belly button in a lazy, tickling circle.

“Where’d you work today?”

“One shift at Cumin and Get It and one at I Love You S’more, so there’s tofu tikka masala and fancy marshmallow dessert in the fridge.”

“That’s a combination.”

“You don’t have to eat them together.”

Adam considered it. He needed to update Vic, and ask if he could have the car the next day so he didn’t have to haul Wendy and Joey’s stuff on the bus.

All of that could wait. This, the peace of their bed, in their room, was all he wanted. For just a moment, he needed to forget everything else, especially the bad stuff.

“Sounds amazing, like everything you make, but I just want to stay here a while if that’s okay, you know, while it’s good.”

Vic grinned. “We can do that.”

Adam’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Annie’s name was on the screen but she didn’t respond to his hello.

“Annie? Are you there? What’s wrong?”

“Can you come over?”

Adam didn’t know her schedule, but it was odd for her to be home on a weekday.

“I’m on my way.”

He parked on the street, and she opened the door before he could knock.