get you a new color." I would've promised anything to wipe that sad look off Storri's face. I reached for the glasses. He didn't have to wear these. He could see well enough, and we'd get him to an optometrist.
"No!" Storri lunged for the case. "I love them. They're perfect. It's just…this was the sort of thing that… It's hard to know how I should react."
"Storri, breathe." I let him keep the glasses but rotated his body so he could nestle deeper into my chest. "It's okay. What are you trying to tell me?"
"Mr. Grouse."
I stiffened at not just the name, but his name on Storri's lips. I didn't want any part of that man touching any part of Storri ever again.
"Until the end, he would do stuff like this. Anticipate my needs, give me gifts. I don't think you two are the same at all, but it's still hard for me to convince myself I can trust what I feel again. Mr. Grouse was nice to me so I'd be more easily controlled. You're nice to me because…" He blinked and stared up at me. "I don't really know why. But I know you're not like him."
"I'm nice to you because you deserve people to be nice to you, Storri. No ulterior motives other than to see you happy and safe."
Storri smiled. I knew now it wasn't that he didn't believe me when I spoke like this; it was that he couldn't understand why. Words wouldn't help convince him. I'd have to show him with my actions.
"If you want to try them on, we can give them a maiden voyage to the kitchen. Jazz has something planned that is supposed to be a surprise."
Storri pulled the lenses free from the case, setting everything aside as he slipped the pair on and blinked. He looked at me. "You look the same."
"Because I'm right in front of you, silly. Look here." I used my index finger to turn his head toward the window, and he gasped.
"This is much better than a blurry blue mass." His nose pressed against the window, and I grinned while pulling him close.
"I'm glad to hear it, but we should get going, or else Jazz will be unhappy, and if Jazz is unhappy—"
"We should be sad," Storri offered.
That wasn't at all what I was going to say, but I didn't correct him. "That's right."
Knox, Hallie, Diesel, and Angus were already at the table.
"Hey Storri," Hallie called out with a wave.
Storri responded with a wave and a hello while hiding only part of his body behind me. Progress.
"What's this all about?" I pulled Storri's chair out, sitting him next to Hallie. Until now, he'd stayed close to Dog and me, keeping his distance from the others unless they initiated it.
He wanted to interact with them more. I saw the proof of his curiosity on his face whenever they were in the same area together. Storri watched the others interact with earnest intensity.
"Jazz has some meal planned," Hallie replied clearly trying to sound nonchalant, but the trill in her voice gave her away. Add that to Jazz's pounding heart, sounding so loudly I heard it easily from one room over, and I'd say both were excited.
"It's ready! Is he here?" Jazz yelled from the kitchen.
I watched Storri peer around the table as if looking for the person Jazz was asking about.
"He's here," I called back, making my sexy prince jump.
The kitchen door burst open, and Jazz came out holding a tray of pastries. White flour dusted the right side of his face up to his red hair, while pink frosting dotted his chin. "It's late in the day, but I wanted you to have them while they were still warm."
Jazz set the dish down on the table in front of Storri and then stood back like a magician on a stage. "Fresh strawberry Pop-Tarts."
Storri jumped to his feet with a gasp. He braced his hands against the table and peered over the tray full of small pastry rectangles, covered generously with a frosting the color of Pepto-Bismol.
They were lumpy and uneven, and many had charred marks that Jazz had obviously attempted to scrape off, but Storri didn't see any of that. His eyes filled with tears. He blinked, setting a drop free with a sharp gasp. I caught it before the droplet could reach the tray.
"Thank you," Storri breathed. He turned to Jazz. "They look amazing! How did you do it?"
Jazz grabbed a chair and slid it into the