Page 128 of False Comeback

After climbing out of the car, I grabbed the bag of Lady Potato’s stuff from the back seat and waited for Crossbody to get out, carefully holding the cat carrier. He looked nervous, which made me smooth my hand over his lower back as we started walking across Rob’s front yard.

“Hey, Rob.” I gave my uncle a grin.

“Hey, Vin.” He looked at Crossbody, who cleared his throat.

“Hello, Rob,” he said politely. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m—”

“I know who you are.” Rob grinned and stuck out his hand. “High Lord Crossbody. Great to meet ya.”

“Rob’s a big fan of the wrestling,” I murmured as Crossbody gripped his hand.

“You bring a real touch of class to it,” Rob told him, then scrubbed a hand over my hair with a cackle. “Not like my boy Vinnie here, waggling that tongue at people’s asses all the time.”

Crossbody’s cheeks flushed pink as I chuckled, trying to smooth down my messy hair.

“Anyway, come in.” Rob turned and pulled the screen door open. “I’m all ready for the little princess. My buddy Jim gave me a cat tree. It’s scratched to shit but looks clean enough.”

“I appreciate you doing this,” Crossbody said as we followed him inside. “Very much.”

“Hey, Rob, why are you covered in powdered sugar?” I asked, having already clocked the fine white layer speckling the front of his shirt. “Been baking again?”

“Yeah, I’m getting real good, Vin.”

“You bake?” Crossbody asked, looking around as we followed Rob into the kitchen.

“Learnin’.” Rob grinned at him and gestured proudly at a platter of oddly shaped pastry tubes, covered in a thick layer of powdered sugar, which was also all over the countertop.

“For his fancy new lady friend,” I said with a sly grin, which made Rob shoot me an unimpressed look.

“Cannoli.” Crossbody nodded politely. “Very nice.”

“Aren’t they Italian?” I asked with a frown. “I thought you said she was French.”

Rob grunted, picking up his coffee mug to have a sip. “She said she was from Florence. I thought that was in France.”

I burst out laughing as Crossbody’s mouth twitched.

“So you’re learning to make Italian desserts for her?” he asked Rob. “That’s lovely. I actually—” He darted a quick look at me. “I enjoy baking myself.”

“You do?” I asked. He gave me a tiny grin.

“Yes.”

“If you really wanna win over my boy here, make him some monkey bread,” Rob told him. “That’s all he keeps fuckin’ asking me to make.”

“I’ll make you monkey bread,” Crossbody said quickly as a flush crept up my neck. I grinned at him, aware Rob was watching us.

“Thanks.”

I hadn’t outright told Rob that we were… a thing of some kind, but he wasn’t stupid. The fact that I was suddenly going to Otherworld with the colleague I used to complain about all the time, and I was asking my uncle to look after his cat while we were gone, made things kind of obvious.

“When we get back, I’d be happy to show you how to make some Italian desserts,” Crossbody said to my uncle. “And I actually speak Italian, so… I could teach you some phrases, if you really want to impress your… lady friend.”

Rob’s face lit up. “Yeah?”

“Of course.” Crossbody glanced at me. “Assuming Vince doesn’t… mind.”

My brows twitched. “Why would I—”