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He doesn’t trust you…

The reutted oal I needed to acco forould be about baby steps

To what end? What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

I ignored my inner voice and said, “Tell me about breakfast at home”

Aleks’s eyes lowered to the menu and he seemed to remember where ere and ere there The distress came back quickly but didn’t seem as intense this time around

“Magnus cooks when he isn’t working If he is, Dante and I eat cereal Neither of us can cook very good”

“What does Magnus make?”

“Everything,” Aleks responded “He’s good at cooking”

“Is there one thing in particular that you look forward to when he’s cooking?”

Aleks nodded “On Sundays… he rits I don’t knohat it is, but I like it I always eat too reen in it A pepper, maybe?”

I sreen?”

Aleks nodded and ss and bacon too, but I eat soelse When Dante and I are done eating, we do the dishes and then we just lay on the couch until we can ain”

I chuckled at that, then reached for my menu I scanned it and said, “Look here” I handed him the menu and pointed to one of the items “They don’t have jalapeños in theet you so else”

“Oh no, I will eat the a little bit of food was the worst thing in the world

To him, it probably was, since food had been such a commodity for him

I didn’t respond and instead waved the waitress over I was pleased when Aleks ordered for hian rattling one item off after another Aleks’s eyes went coh dishes to feed a dozen people When the waitress left with a broad smile on her face, Aleks eyed me