Deal With the Deviled Eggs

Chapter 1 “What’s the deal with the deviled eggs?” Kiko looked up from the sink at Dom’s words, unable to hold back a frown. He was elbow-deep in suds, scrubbing a pot that was too big to fit in the dishwasher, and the kitchen was a mess. Dom peered around at the cluttered counters, the bits of boiled egg and shell crumbs, the hideous trays of deviled eggs sitting in the breakfast nook. “Not mine,” said Kiko and turned back to what he was doing. He knew he shouldn’t be so short with Dom—the mess specifically wasn’t his fault—but Kiko could not help blaming him just a little for it. It didn’t help that he was tired, it was late on a Friday night, and he had a big day planned at Yolks on You, his niche store, in the morning. “I’ll help,” said Dom, pulling a dishtowel out of a drawer and grabbing the pot’s lid to dry it. Kiko was only mildly surprised at the action; Dom had been helping around a bit more since he’d been afraid he’d lose Kiko a few months ago. Kiko liked it; he felt it made them more of a team. Dom pointedly neglected to make eye contact. Every time Kiko looked over at him, he was focusing intently on drying the lid to the pot, then when he was finished with that, very determinedly sweeping the floor. Kiko moved to put the leftover chili in the refrigerator and gather up the dirty bowls and spoons cluttering the counter. “He’ll be gone soon,” said Dom at last, as close to an apology as Kiko knew he was going to get. It irritated him. Since Dom had offered to let a former roommate crash with them there had been nothing but issues. Nothing major, but Kiko found himself doing more chores, spending more of his own money on food for the man, and he was running out of patience. “He’s been here three weeks,” said Kiko. “Has he even applied for a job?” Dom sighed. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.” “Tell him he needs to clean up his s**t when he cooks, too,” said Kiko, wiping down the counters. Somehow egg yolk had been smashed across the side of the toaster oven. “I’m going to start documenting how many extra hours I spend cleaning up after him and write him a bill for it.” “Kiko, don’t,” said Dom. He paused in his sweeping to shoot Kiko a pleading look. “I’ll handle it. Tomorrow. Really.” Kiko made a noise of agreement but was secretly liking the idea of slapping Travis with a fat bill at the end of his stay. The man would never pay it, of course, and Kiko knew any satisfaction he’d have would be short-lived, but at the moment as he was scrubbing hard-boiled egg yolk from his appliances, he wanted nothing more than to make Travis feel uncomfortable. “He told me yesterday he had an interview,” said Dom, sweeping eggshells into the dustpan. “He should be out of here soon and then we can get back to screwing regularly again.” “Good. I’ve missed you.” Kiko knew some of the tension was because he and Dom hadn’t really had a good f**k in close to a month now. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but rather that it was a bit awkward to go wild when Travis was in the guest bedroom down the hall. Encounters in the kitchen or on the couch were over now, too, and it seemed like Dom’s former roommate never left the house. They had kept up before work in the mornings when Travis wasn’t yet awake, and occasionally late at night, but having to be conscious of the man being there killed the mood far too often. “Me too,” said Dom, relaxing somewhat now that they were talking about s*x. “My ass is so lonely that I—” “Any more beer in the fridge?” asked Travis, walking in. Kiko ignored the scrawny, mouse-haired man with perhaps the whitest skin he’d ever seen and instead shot Dom a hard look. “Trav,” said Dom, full dustpan in hand. “Maybe you should start buying your own.” Travis pulled a bottle of Mount Angus Brewing Company’s Death and Taxidermy beer out and twisted the cap off. He took a swig and gestured to Dom with the bottle. “I see what you’re saying,” he said, and Kiko went back to his scrubbing. Travis had already had three and Kiko very much doubted he’d be buying anything to make up for how much he drank anytime soon. “And wow, look at you, broom and everything. Never thought anyone could get you to clean.” Travis made his way to the door to return to whatever show he was binge-watching and Dom stood there staring at him. Kiko spoke up. “Hey, get your eggs in the fridge. And the recycling container for those bottles is underneath the sink, not on the counter.” “Yeah, Mom, right on it,” said Travis, but he kept walking. “I’ll talk to him,” said Dom again, and Kiko sighed. He was too tired and it was too late to do anything but go to bed. He had too much to do at the store tomorrow.