on him to a point where he couldn’t even think rationally anymore. Riggs’s low voice and sheer warmth drew him closer. He’d been a frantic, nervous mess for days.
“Once I saw you again, I knew I’d never be able to leave,” Victor said softly. He yawned so wide his eyes watered, and he clung tighter to the hand still clenched in his. “I can’t breathe without you either.”
Riggs smiled, soft and sweet. It was the last thing Victor saw before his eyes closed and he finally found his rest.
18
Riggs
Riggs wasn’t expecting a knock on the door. Both he and Gus looked up at it suspiciously from their spot on the living room rug. They’d been playing quietly for the past forty-five minutes or so while Victor continued to sleep. He and Gus had only needed a power nap, but Victor looked like he had a few days of sleep to catch up on. Riggs pushed to his feet and prepared to send whoever was on the other side away. Of course, then he opened it and found a gasping-for-breath Ollie Jerrick standing there with a giant box in his hands.
“Got. Here. As…” Ollie heaved in a breath. “Fast. As I. Could.”
Riggs didn’t know what to say.
Ollie pulled in another breath. “Went to the compound. They said here. I thought office.” Ollie sucked more oxygen, heavily panting before he leaned against the side of the house. “Not the office. Took me a minute.”
“Ollie, what are you doing here?”
Ollie blinked up at him, his gasps finally beginning to settle. “Is Victor here?”
“He’s—”
“Here,” Victor said.
Riggs glanced over his shoulder to find a half-awake Victor standing at the entrance to the living room.
“Bird!”
Gus jumped and ran. Victor scooped him up and walked the last few feet to where Riggs stood in the open doorway.
“They were closed,” Ollie said quickly. “So I called Sawyer. He gave me Mikey’s number, but then they were sold out. But I told Mikey it was important, so he had to make them. Did you know the dough has to rise? Did you know it takes forever? I got here as fast as I could.”
It was about that time Riggs inhaled again and got the sweetest, butteriest, most cinnamony scent. His mouth watered. His stomach gurgled.
Gus made a happy noise too.
“Is that…?” Riggs glanced back at Victor hopefully.
“Cinnamon rolls. I believe I promised you both a snack.”
Victor smiled at him, and Riggs melted into a pile of gooey melty icing on top of a warm, buttery… “You remembered.”
Victor smiled and kissed Gus’s head before nuzzling his face.
Riggs grabbed the box from Ollie and turned to Gus. “You’re about to have a religious experience. Come with me.”
Victor handed Gus over with a laugh and turned back to the door. “Thanks, Ollie. I’m working here tomorrow, so meet me over at the office, okay?”
“Yes, sir.” Ollie smiled over at Riggs. “You have a beautiful family.”
“Yes,” Victor said, “I do.”
Riggs melted again, but this time he knew better than to stop moving. Gus had laser focused on the pastry box, and the Goddess only knew what would happen if Riggs paused on his way into the kitchen.
He left the box on the counter before snagging one of Gus’s cups from the cabinet and glasses for himself and Victor. “Now listen. This is important, Gus.”
“Nack?”
“Oh yeah, buddy. We’re about to have a snack. Snack of the Gods. Or Goddesses. Both. All the deities. You hear me?”
“Nack.” Gus nodded.
“Precisely.”
“But you gotta have milk. Well, or coffee. I’d accept either. But you can’t have coffee because you’re little and it’ll stunt your growth or something. And well, let me be completely honest with you here, it’s gonna take entirely too long to make a pot, so milk it is for both of us.”
“Juice?”
“See, now, I know juice is your favorite,” Riggs said as he grabbed the milk from the fridge. “But in this case, you’ve gotta trust me.”
“Bear.”
“That’s right. Trust your bear.”
Gus beamed.
Victor leaned against the doorway into the kitchen, watching them with a soft smile on his face.
“Come on, Bird.”
Riggs held out the milk. Victor took it and quickly poured for all of them. Meanwhile, Riggs led Gus over to the box. “You ready?”
Gus eyed the box hungrily.
Riggs opened it.
Gus squeaked and dove forward. Riggs caught him and held a wriggling Gus over the box. “Nack!”
“I know. I know. Trust me, I get it. But you gotta do this right.”
Riggs sat down on the counter and pulled one of the cinnamon rolls out of the