11
The Better-Than-Sex Cook-off
“Ready?” Gage asked, cracking his knuckles.
“If you are.” O’Neil—Ulric—didn’t look too certain.
They’d discussed this last night. Early this morning, they had gone to the grocery store to get ingredients for their cook-off. They’d just gotten home, and there were still some hours to go before the visit to Phinny’s.
So, it was time for the showdown.
Except O’Neil—Ulric—looked as though he regretted agreeing to this.
Gage sidled over, nudging him gently. “What’re you worried about? The way I see it, I should be more worried about forking over the $200.”
Ulric sighed. “You’ll probably do this a lot better.”
Well, Gage had grown up learning his mom’s ribs recipe. And it was hands-down the best thing ever. He wouldn’t have suggested the bet if he wasn’t confident about winning. “We haven’t started the cook-off yet,” he said to make Ulric feel better. “For all you know, I’ll take one bite of your meat and jizz all over.”
Ulric froze, his eyes growing wide.
“Uh. I didn’t mean it that way.” Really, Gage hadn’t. “Although I did bet that this was going to be better than the best sex you’ve ever had.”
“You did.” Ulric cracked a smile. “Promise?”
“Promise.” Gage nudged him harder. “But c’mon, I’m sure your ribs are good, too. Make them good. Make me come.”
Ulric flushed a vibrant red, but he growled, “Fine.”
That thrilled Gage in a way he couldn’t explain. He knew Ulric wanted him on some level. He felt the lingering electricity between them. He wasn’t sure he wanted to reciprocate; it was dangerous.
But this friendship between them—it was nice. Last night, they’d sat together on the couch, and Ulric had cozied up against Gage’s side.
They could still be friends, right? If Gage did him a few small favors here and there? Maybe sucked his cock a few times?
As long as he stopped Ulric from doing crazy things like fall in love?
He set his ribs in a pot, added some garlic, onion, and bay leaves, and covered the ribs with water. While he brought that to a boil, Gage toasted some peppers, before soaking them in some water so their skins would peel off more easily.
Then, since the ribs had to simmer for a while, Gage stole across the kitchen to spy on Ulric’s prep. He found Ulric at the kitchen island, tenting some foil over his ribs.
“That’s basically it,” Ulric said. “Steak seasoning, and then I throw BBQ sauce on at the end.”
Gage rumbled, imagining that taste. “Sounds good to me.”
Ulric cheered up. He stuck the pan into the oven, before peeking at the rest of the ingredients Gage had laid out. “Yours looks complex.”
“Sometimes you need extra work for something to taste damn fucking good.” Gage winked.
“Sage advice for basically everything in the world,” Ulric said.
“Exactly.”
There wasn’t much else to do but wait while the meat cooked, so Gage opened the fridge, looking for a snack.
“Celery?” Ulric made a face when Gage pulled out the celery bundle—he hadn’t touched the vegetable at all since Gage brought it home from the store.
“It’s pretty good.” Gage broke off a couple of stalks, rinsed them, and sliced them into sticks. “Want one?”
Ulric looked at the celery like it had grown tentacles. “It’s awful.”
“It’s good for you.” Gage took a bite. “Have you tried it recently?”
“No. I just remember being forced to eat them when I was a kid.”
“Try it.” Gage waved the celery sticks at him.
“That’s too much.” Ulric looked positively ill.
“Half?” Gage bit off part of a stick. Ulric seemed to waver, so Gage bit off more, and held it out. “One bite?”
Ulric reached for it, looking as though the celery might grow teeth and bite him. But their fingers brushed, and a jolt of something whispered up Gage’s spine. Ulric sucked in a quick breath. Had he felt it, too?
“Eat it,” Gage murmured.
Ulric rolled his eyes. “You sound like you’re trying to tempt me into sin.”
Gage laughed, rolling his hips. “Yeah, baby. Eat my celery stick. Imagine if someone said that in bed.”
“Ugh.” Ulric stared at the bite of celery for a long time, looking torn. He studied it along with Gage’s mouth, and finally, carefully, pushed the celery bite past his lips.
“Tolerable?” Gage asked.
Ulric looked at the floor, his mouth working. Was he... feeling it up with his tongue? A blush rose up Ulric’s neck. Then he chewed and swallowed. “It’s... okay, I guess.”
“Here, try another one. You might acquire a taste for it.” Gage waved a full stick at him.
“Still too much.” But Ulric looked slightly more convinced now. So Gage bit off half the stick, and handed it over.
Ulric still made a face as he ate it, but he was eating the thing. That was an improvement. Gage bit into his remaining stick, blinking when Ulric reached for that, too. Ulric hadn’t even finished his previous stick. “Here, I’ll get you more.”
Ulric seemed agreeable to that, all the way until Gage sliced them into bite-sized pieces. Ulric made a face, turning away. “No, I’ve had enough.”
“But these are tiny.” Gage was confused. “No commitment at all.”
“Nope. Enough.” Ulric bit into the sticks Gage had handed him—he ate them from the sliced ends first, crunching through them all the way to where Gage had left teeth marks in the celery. There, he paused. Their eyes met.
“Why’re you watching me?” Ulric asked.
Gage shrugged. “Just... making sure that you’re eating your veggies.”
Ulric scowled. “I’m eating them. You don’t have to watch.”
Then he stepped out of the kitchen, and it was odd that he was being defensive now.
Gage crept after Ulric, peeking around him. He found Ulric with that half-eaten celery, except he was touching the end with Gage’s teethmarks, a tiny smile on his face.
Gage froze. Oh. “You’re not falling for me, right?” he blurted.
The celery shot out of Ulric’s mouth. “What?”
“This... This thing.” Gage wriggled his finger between them both. “We’re friends. That’s it.”
“Yeah.” Ulric darted after the celery on the floor, his ears turning pink. “I just, uh.”
“It’ll pass,” Gage said. He’d
