Honestly, Ry and Jo wanting to split ownership of the club meant a lot to me, and I know it took a lot of consideration for them to agree to do something like this. We all know you should never mix business and family, and while Ry and I may not be genetic family, he’s absolutely someone I consider a brother. I have a lot to think about with this offer. Maybe I should ask Owen for his opinion… or maybe I shouldn’t bother him with something like this.

“Oh that’s understandable. I mean, I knew from the moment you set your sights on Owen, your dancing career was on the line.” Vinny laughed. Apparently everyone thought it was love at first sight for me.

“It’s funny you say that, because Mama literally just told me the same thing. Do I really give off that ‘I’d do anything for him’ type of look?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Oh without a doubt, Old Man. And it’s different with him. Like with Roy, I can tell you care deeply for him, but with Owen… the way you look at him. It’s like your world made a huge shift and you can’t see anyone but him.” Vinny told me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it sounded like he was jealous… or maybe sad?

“I had no idea… Well anyway, I’m headed home. Mama is letting me skip my shift tonight because I told him I don’t feel like dancing today.” I told him, “You guys coming over sometime this week?” They usually made unannounced visits, and somehow it always managed to be the worst timing, but they were never unwelcome in my home.

“Don’t we come over every week?” He smiled.

“Fair point.” I answered.

I reached out to give him a hug goodbye, he surprised me by leaping into my arms and hugging me back tightly this time. I almost lost my balance from the momentum of his leap.

“Shit, kid. Warn a guy before you do that.” I chuckled as a steadied myself.

“Love you, Old Man. See you later.” He whispered.

“Love you too, kid. Tell Roy I love him too. I’ll see you both later.” We released one another from the hug, and I left the club.

It was almost dinner time now, and I’d been cooking since I got home from the club earlier. I wanted to cook something nice for Owen, to make sure he’d eat good since he wouldn’t be staying the night tonight. Honestly, I really want Owen to move in with me, but I agreed that since it was his first time being in a relationship like ours, I’d take things at his pace. I didn’t want to overwhelm him and scare him off. So for now, I’m making things work as is. I guess I really would do anything to make him happy. I did, however, tell him that I want to be able to bring him meals and make sure he’s eating well. I enjoy taking good care of my partners, inside and outside the bedroom. He agreed to that much, which I was very happy about.

I packed up the meal in a glass meal storage container, then placed it into a small lunch box to keep it warm while I drove to Owen’s apartment. It was about thirty minutes away, but about half that drive was just on my property alone. So really, it was like he only lived fifteen minutes away.

When I got to Owen’s apartment complex, I parked in the guest parting lot, and sent him a quick text letting him know I was here. He didn’t want to introduce his roommate to me, because he thinks his roommate is the trashiest type of ‘loose guy’. He made it explicitly clear it wasn’t that he didn’t trust me, but he didn’t want to risk his roommate trying to make a move on his man, because then ‘he might have to do something stupid that might put him in jail’, as he put it. The thought of my sweet little treasure in jail definitely made it easy to never go inside their apartment. I never wanted to put Owen in a situation where he wasn’t comfortable, and if his roommate being near me made him uncomfortable, I’d do whatever I could to avoid the roommate.

“Hey there, hot stuff.” Owen greeted me with a cheeky smile.

“Hey, Mio Tesoro. How was work?” I pulled him into me to hug him.

“Nothing too crazy happened. I joined the NEMT crew today, because I wanted to see if that might be something I’m more interested in. It was so much less stressful. I got to help provide the Carmel Valley Manor residents with some of the care they need. It was fun talking to them about growing old and all that.” Owen told me. I knew the community, it was one of the elderly living communities in the area, and I’d been there for emergency cases a few times in the past.

“Oh and I guess I have ‘gay man’ written on my forehead,” Owen continued, catching my attention.

“I’m sorry, what?” I furrowed my brows in confusion.

“This older man, like old enough to be my great grandpa, was telling me all about how when I get to his age I could join the group of gay men who get together regularly. UGH! Do you know how much sex happens in an old folks home?! That is the last thing I wanted to know… it’s like hearing my grandparents still have sex.” Owen ranted on.

“Um… Sweetheart - ”

“Oh no, don’t even think about going there! You have a very long fifteen plus years before you’re the youngest you can be to join that specific community. You’re not even fifty yet, so stop pretending like you’re some ancient man. Sheesh.” Owen continued to rant. I gave him a stern look. He knew what he’d done.

“Sorry.” He huffed.

“For what?” I urged. I preferred specific apologies over vague ones.

“I’m sorry I interrupted you, Papà.” He answered after dropping his forehead against my chest with a soft thud.

I lifted his chin to make him look at me, “So did you have a good day?” I asked.

“Yeah, I guess it wasn’t too bad. It was cool learning about the NEMT side of stuff.” He looked at me with ‘kiss me’ eyes.

“Is that something you might want to consider doing then?”

“Maybe. I might ask if I can tag along on a few more trips before I decide if I want to stay with emergency or go non-emergency. What about you, Papà? How was your day? I’m honestly surprised you’re here since you had a shift tonight.”

“Well. I didn’t really feel like dancing. So Ryota told me I could just head home because he didn’t need me for anything else tonight.” I told him, skipping the part about Ry offering me half ownership of the club. I didn’t want to bother him with that since I was sure he didn’t like me working at the club anyway.

“Oh, are you not feeling well?” Owen asked, sounding concerned.

“I’m fine, Mio Tesoro. I just didn’t feel like dancing tonight. I’d rather cook dinner for my sweet boy, than dance for a bunch of strangers.” I gave him a sweet smile. Though I couldn’t quite read the look he gave me in return.

“So what’d you bring me then?” He asked, sounding almost spoiled, which is completely my doing of course. I absolutely loved spoiling him.

“Baked ricotta and spinach stuffed rigatoni with a ground chicken tomato sauce. I hope you like it.” I told him, turning to pull the small lunch box out of the front passenger seat of my car.

“That sounds incredible. Did you make enough for you too?”

“Yes, my sweet. I have my severing waiting at home for me.” I smiled at him for worrying about me eating too.

“Okay good. I’ll go eat my dinner now. And I won’t forget to send you a picture when I’m done. I’ll see you tomorrow, Papà.” He leaned up on his tip toes to give a quick kiss goodbye, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more than a quick peck. So I wrapped my arms around his waist and prevented him from running away, so that I could take my kiss. When I’d gotten enough to at least hold me over ‘til tomorrow, I released him. His face was bright read, and he looked rather salacious.

“We can continue tomorrow,” I smirked, “Eat, sleep well, and come see me first thing so I can make you breakfast.”

“Yes sir.” And with that, he was headed back to his apartment. I watched until he made it to his door before getting in my car and headed home to eat dinner too.