Neil leaned in and kissed his cheek.
That just cemented his smile firmly in place. “Yes, you know Les. He has his own inner timepiece.” That sounded better than the man was often late.
“Neil, Isaac says the decor was your thing. I just want to tell you I love it.”
He was going to bust his shirt buttons. He’d never been so proud of anyone.
“Thank you. It feels like home to both of us, and it tells folks what to expect. Good, solid food without fuss.” Neil smiled all around. “I’m going to be bringing around beignets in a second. Wave me down if y’all need anything.”
“Thank you, boy.” He picked up his latte and took a sip.
Cyrus did the same. “He looks fantastic, Isaac.”
He nodded. “If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t.”
“Was that Neil?” Les appeared dropping into the last remaining chair with a sigh. “Sorry I’m late. He looks really good.”
“Thank you. And no worries.”
“Right. Leopard, spots, all that,” Cyrus joked.
“I wasn’t apologizing to you, Cy.” Les laughed and sipped his coffee. “Oh. Very nice.”
“La! Y’all are here! I told Chou to let me deliver y’all’s goodies.” Alain beamed at them all. “Masters. I recommend the shrimp and grits, the bourbon bread pudding pain perdu, and the sweet potato biscuits with salt ham and gravy.”
Brandon groaned. “Bourbon bread pudding French toast… Oh. My. God.”
“I had that last Sunday. I could have used your chair to roll out of here. It was so good.”
“Look at this place, Alain. How far you’ve come.” Cyrus gave Alain’s hand a quick squeeze. “I’m very happy for you.”
“Oh, Master Cyrus. I am too. I have the best life. The very best. I got me a home, men, a place, and we’re happy and working.”
Look at that smile.
“And he’s a good boy. I’m so proud of him.” He winked at Alain. “I’m going to try the biscuits this week.”
“Yes, M’sieur. Y’all?”
Les got the grits, and Cyr got an order of all three.
“I swear, Cyrus, doesn’t Dex feed you?”
“He does. Several times a day. I just have one of those metabolisms.”
“I hate you a little for that,” he said, only half joking. He had to be careful, especially with Alain feeding him. Everything was delicious.
Speaking of delicious, he reached for a beignet. “These…oh my god.”
“I’m in.” Brandon snagged one from the plate as well.
Cyrus did let Les have his before grabbing one and taking a huge bite. “Oh yeah. I need to take Dex some of these.”
He looked back toward the kitchen and caught Neil leaning in to whisper something in Alain’s ear. Alain nodded and laughed and as he walked away, Neil’s hand ghosted over Alain’s perfect ass.
For a long while, when Alain first came into their lives and this place was still a dream in his boy’s head, he’d felt like he was waiting for their real lives to start. Things would settle down once Alain trusted him, once Neil finished that investigation, once he got through flu season, once Neil was walking…once they got the restaurant going…
But all of that was their real life. They’d been through so much together and come out…with everything. Alain was right. They had the best life.
The end