at Ira before she walked back into the apartment, and I headed down the stairs to start preparing for dinner.
I had a feeling it was going to be a great evening, and for once in my life I was excited to put Ira to bed and hope he would sleep in it all through the night.
Rooney
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous to eat at his place once again.
I enjoyed breakfast, and after a long day of studying, homework, and writing assignments, a nice dinner with Wells and Ira was what I needed.
I put away my things and headed over to the kitchen to grab the bottle of wine Evie never opened and thought it would be a nice little dessert for Wells and me.
Not sure what he had planned exactly, but I wouldn’t mind spending more than just dinner with him.
No, sex wasn’t what I wanted, but I liked our talk this morning, and I could use someone who was capable of keeping a conversation going.
I wouldn’t have anything better to do anyway.
When I arrived at his apartment, I noticed that the door was open, and after pushing on it, I looked inside.
“May I?” I called out.
“Oh, yeah, come in! We’re in the kitchen!” I heard Wells say.
I closed the door behind me and walked down the hall and to the kitchen where Wells was standing by the fridge and Ira on a chair at the table.
“Hi,” I greeted, smiling at both of them.
“Hi!” Ira said with a wave, then he held up half of an avocado. “I make guacamole!” he announced before continuing to mash the avocado in a bowl with a kid’s fork.
“Hey. You eat meat, right?” Wells asked.
I nodded, then held the bottle of wine out to him.
“I brought you something. Maybe we can have a little later tonight?”
Flirting.
No.
No, I wasn’t flirting, right?
The way Wells smirked at me told a whole other story though.
He looked pleased but surprised.
“Sounds like a plan.”
He grabbed the bottle and placed it onto the counter, then nodded to the table. “Wanna help Ira cut up the vegetables? I’m cooking some chicken.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Look!” Ira said, his sweet voice full of joy as he pointed to the bowl. “It’s Hulk color!”
I sat down next to him and reached for the kid-safe knife to start cutting up the bell pepper.
Wells definitely knew how to cook healthy and it was a good thing he invited me over or else I would’ve simply put another pizza in the oven.
“Is green your favorite color?” I asked Ira, and like I had imagined, he nodded.
“And I like blue because it’s daddy’s favorite color,” he explained.
“I see. Those are both pretty colors. And what’s your favorite food?” I asked, keeping the conversation going while Wells listened.
“Everything,” Ira replied.
“That’s a really good answer. I like everything too.”
“Lucky me,” I heard Wells mutter.
I chuckled and turned to look at him. “Easier to cook that way, right?”
“Oh, so much easier. He even likes spicy food. I don’t let him have too much of it because it can cause stomach aches, but he enjoys some drops of hot sauce with his meals.”
That was surprising.
I didn’t like spicy things until I was sixteen, and this kid was already eating full meals with hot sauce.
“That’s amazing,” I chuckled.
We continued to prepare all the vegetables while Wells cooked the chicken, and once we were all done, he came to the table and sat down next to Ira.
“Wanna put together your own taco, buddy?” he asked.
“Yes, please!”
We watched him grab one of the soft taco shells and place it into his plate, then he put the guacamole he made on it, then some vegetables, and at the end he tried to roll it up.
“You do it, Daddy.”
Wells helped, and once he was done and Ira was ready to eat, we assembled our own tacos.
“Thanks for inviting me again, by the way. I’m really starting to like spending time with you two. It’s a nice distraction from everything going on upstairs.”
“You mean Evie and her shenanigans? Still not sure why you’d move in with her in the first place. Where did you live before?” he asked.
“On campus. I had a dorm, but that was so much worse than having an actual apartment. Besides, there won’t be much noise in the future thanks to me. You can count on that.”
He let out a soft laugh. “You’re heaven-sent. And you can come over whenever you feel like it. We’re here every night anyway, and you promised to