The Current Between Us (23 page)

“
Sorry, Sophia would want me to get this moment for her,” Rhonny said, looking down at her phone, sliding her finger across the screen, Trent assumed to text the photo. He was horrified, but Gage seemed to love it and walked over to Rhonny.

“
You must be Rhonny. I’m glad I didn’t miss you tonight before you went to class,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

“
I am, and I’m so happy you got here this quick. I’ve heard so much about you,” Rhonny said, her biggest grin in place.

“
Me too, about you, Rhonny. Thank you for holding down the fort last night and letting me keep Trent out later than we originally planned,” Gage said. Trent came from behind and placed the chicken on the kitchen table, only a few feet away. He watched Rhonny’s reactions, grinning until he finally chuckled. Gage had that spellbound effect on people, and Rhonny’s grin proved she wasn’t resistant to his charm.

“
Trent needed to get out of the house. It’s been too long,” Rhonny said. Trent immediately interrupted her. No way did he want this to turn into a poor Trent never got out of the house conversation. A worldly guy like Gage Synclair wouldn’t be interested in a guy who couldn’t find a date. Especially if everyone kept reminding Gage how easy it was to resist the current man he chose to spend time with!

“
You’re going to be super late. You have to get going,” Trent said.

“
Did the buyer contact you about tomorrow?” Gage asked, keeping his eyes on Rhonny.

“
Yes, we’re meeting here at three tomorrow afternoon. Thank you for helping out in that department. I wouldn’t have known what to wear,” Rhonny said.

“
Anytime. Only make sure you pick something you like and can wear again or not, whatever you want,” Gage said while tucking his hands in his pockets as he spoke. Gage had done it again, drawn Rhonny back into him, looking at her as if she were the only person on the planet who mattered to him. .

“
Rhonny,
go
!” Trent said, jerking her out of her haze.

“
I am,
old man
! Bye, everyone,” she called out, causing them all to laugh as she took off out the front door.

“
You two, wash up. Dinner’s ready,” Trent said, but neither child budged.

“
Is Gage staying for dinner?” Hunter asked.

“
Yes, now go wash up,” Trent said to the sudden cheers. They tore past him into the kitchen, Em trying to get to the sink first. He could hear their stepstools scraping on the floor. For the first time since Gage arrived they were momentarily alone, and Gage took full advantage of it, stepping in to Trent, wrapping him in his arms.

His head descended immediately, hovering above his lips as he breathed in Trent
’s scent and whispered quietly. “You were amazing last night. I thought about you all day. Just one kiss before we go in there.” Trent opened for him, meeting Gage’s tongue halfway until they were sliding and swirling together. The kiss was intense but brief, ending as the stools scraped back to their place in the kitchen. Trent kept Gage in the circle of his arms when he would have pulled away.

“
Thank you for coming out here tonight. You have to be exhausted. Feel free to bail whenever you want,” Trent said, looking Gage directly in the eye. Before, he’d always found a way to avert his gaze because Gage’s stare reached out and touched his soul. But now, after watching this whole exchange in his front room, he seemed to crave those feelings, wanting the connection Gage seemed happy to give him and his family.

“
I’m not leaving until I get some sofa time… It’s been twenty years since I made out on someone’s couch, and I think it was probably with a girl so it doesn’t count at all. That’s changing tonight,” Gage said, pulling free of Trent’s hold as Hunter and Em came around the corner.

“
Daddy made my favorite tonight. Chicken and rice! Mmmm, it’s so good! Gage, you’re gonna love it,” Em said.

“
Can Gage sit by me, Daddy?” Hunter said.

“
No, by me!” Em said.

“
Stop it, you two. You’ll scare him off before we even sit down. Get up at the table. I’ll get your milk,” Trent said, stepping away and herding them to the table. “Gage, you can have Rhonny’s spot. Guys, show him where to sit.”

Chapter 14

The table was set, loaded with the dinner Trent cooked. Gage took his seat in Rhonny’s spot with both Em and Hunter on each side of him at the small table. Trent filled the children’s glasses with milk and did a quick inventory of possible drink options. He stood at the refrigerator door looking over at Gage.

“
I have a Chardonnay, probably something Sophia left. I have Heineken, Bud Light, tea, and water, what would you like?” Trent asked.

“
The Chardonnay sounds good to me,” Gage said.

“
Got it,” Trent said. He grabbed a Heineken and the Chardonnay bottle, pouring Gage a glass in his dollar store wine glasses. He made a mental note to pick something up a little nicer in the near future. Trent placed the milk glasses on the table in front of Em and Hunter and handed Gage his wine before he took his seat.

“
It’s not much, but I hope it’s good. I’m not gonna lie. I’m not a super good cook,” Trent said as he sat, scooping spoonfuls of rice and green beans on the kids’ plates.

“
Daddy, just three green beans,” Em said.

“
No, let’s do four,” Trent negotiated back. “It’s close enough to your birthday for four.”

“
No, it’s the rule, Daddy,” Em said, pushing one of the four green beans to the edge of the plate.

“
It smells wonderful and green beans are my favorite,” Gage added, and after a minute, he smiled as Em pushed the fourth green bean back with her others on her plate. Trent put a chicken breast on each plate and started with Hunter as he began cutting them up in small bites for the kids to eat. Gage watched him for a minute, then took Em’s plate and followed Trent’s lead, cutting the pieces for Em. Dinner stayed pretty much like that through the course of the meal.

It surprised him at how easily Gage fit into his family. After last night, he
’d tried to push Gage mentally away as best as he could. Making Gage something fun to play with until the socialite got tired of playing with the regular folk, but Gage transitioned between the worlds easily. There was no awkwardness as they sat in his small, outdated kitchen, and conversation flowed easily. The kids settled down with their excitement of having someone over and fell into their normal, comfortable conversation, as well. The whole thing pleased Trent, and he pretty much thought his kids were about the most well-mannered, easy to be around children in the world.

“
Do you like my daddy?” Hunter asked Gage.

“
I do, very much,” Gage replied, looking up at Trent, giving him a wink.

“
Why?” Hunter asked.

“
Hunter,” Trent began, but Gage cut him off.

“
No, it’s a fair question. I like him because he’s smart, funny, handsome, and very strong. He can lift…” Gage said, and Hunter cut him off.

“
He’s the strongest dad in my class and he has the biggest muscles. He can beat up all the other dads. I know it,” Hunter said, looking straight at Gage. Hunter’s face remained serious as he spoke.

“
Hunter,” Trent said again, completely reevaluating the whole perfect kid theory from a few seconds ago.

“
I’m sure he could. I watched him working today and he can lift very heavy things,” Gage said. Hunter started to speak, but Em turned to Trent, a huge smile on her face.

“
I told my teacher at school that my daddy’s in love and gonna get married. Daddy, did you decide if Gage can come to my birthday party?” Em asked. Trent stared at her for the briefest of seconds just blinking, having no idea how to respond to the first part, so he chose to ignore it and concentrated on the second part of what Em said.

“
Em, baby, you’re supposed to ask me in private, with no one around. But I don’t think he can come this time. He has to go out of town this weekend, right after the grand opening we’re all going to,” Trent said. Em’s excited face fell with disappointment in her eyes as she looked back at Gage.

“
Sweetheart, my plans might change. I
might
be able to be back early Sunday. If you can get me invited, I’ll try to come, but please don’t be upset if I can’t be here,” Gage said, tossing a green bean in his mouth.

“
Daddy, please! In private, please say yes!” Trent kept his eyes on Gage, surprised. This was completely different than what he and Gage talked about last night. “Of course, you’re welcome to spend the day with us, but be warned, it’s an all-day deal. Em has us going to lunch, a movie, skating, and ending at Chuck E. Cheese,” Trent said.

“
I’d be honored to be there. Just please promise me not to be disappointed if I can’t come. My flights might not work out right. Promise me and if I’m not here, we can all go out for the day when I get back,” Gage said.

“
Yay! Gage is coming to my birthday, Hunter!” Em yelled across the small table and did the happy dance in her booster seat.

“
Em, he said
maybe
,” Hunter said from across the table.

“
Em, settle down and eat, your dinner’s getting cold,” Trent said, tapping the side of her plate with his fork. She did and managed to get all four of the green beans down, showing Gage every time she ate one.

****

The television played quietly in the background as Gage sat on the oversized, slightly outdated sofa waiting for Trent to get the kids to sleep. He reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote control, muting the volume in order to hear better as the children tried to talk Trent into letting them stay up a little while longer. Hunter was the negotiator and Em the closer. They double-teamed Trent with such success, he wondered if he should bring the Chicago Police Department out to learn their negotiation skills.

Hunter successfully bargained for both he and Em into Trent
’s bigger bed, with the bigger, better television, and got a full fifteen minutes more of cartoons before the television turned off for bedtime. Trent tried to get them down, but they were wound up. Gage could tell his presence added to the problem tonight. The kids wanted to stay up, be with the company in the house and Trent was determined they were to stay in bed and go to sleep. Gage laughed because it seemed the three of them shared a common goal. They all wanted back in here until Gage left for the night.

After a minute more of listening to the bedtime exchange, Gage got up and went back into the small kitchen to begin washing the dishes from their dinner. Apparently the Cooper family ate dinner together at the kitchen table every night. Hunter wasn
’t so keen on that plan; he explained how his friends got to eat dinner watching television, but Trent made them sit together as a family and share their day.

It seemed dinner time also came with cleanup time because the kids celebrated not having to clean the kitchen tonight.
This little family ate together every night, and then cleaned the kitchen together afterward before getting ready for bed. They did it all like a little team, which made this scenario another on the long list of reasons endearing Trent to him, driving him deeper inside his heart.

Now, as he looked down at the dirty dishes in the sink, he admitted he wasn
’t an expert on this whole dish cleaning thing, but surely he could clean these dishes without making a bigger mess. He looked around the kitchen and spotted the few things he needed. There wasn’t a dishwasher, but a dish rack sat to one side, soap and sponge on the sink. He took a couple of steps forward to the sink and saw a disposal and then spotted the switch he thought might turn it on. Okay, well maybe he did have this…

Filling one part of the sink with water, he began the process of washing the dinner dishes. He dumped the food in the disposal, relieved when the switch turned on the device, and dish by dish, washed their plates, cups, and silverware. It didn
’t take long, and surprisingly, it wasn’t the terrible chore he always thought it would be. There was actually something appealing in knowing he helped Trent in the heavy load he carried.

“
What are you doing?” Trent asked from behind Gage. “No, don’t do that. I’ll get it later. No really, Gage. You’re our guest, stop…”

“
I’m on the last dish, and I believe it’s only right, you cooked, I’ll clean,” he said from over his shoulder, but Trent would have none of it. He came to him, taking the dish from Gage, handing him a hand towel for his wet hands.

“
No, really, please just stop. I’ll do it after you’re gone. There’s something terribly wrong with
the
Gage Synclair in my house, doing my dishes,” Trent said, rinsing the dish and placing it on the rack before sticking his hand in the sink and pulling the plug up, letting the dish soap run down the drain.