Page 158 of Ghost Ribbon

Marco turned his head and saw me.

“You’re home.” He stood up and swayed, then he waddled to me and he hugged me.

I hugged him back carefully while I caressed him. “I missed you, little star.” I kissed his head. “Are you hungry?”

He nodded. “A bit.” Most of his nutrition was given through IV now and he couldn’t eat the majority of foods because the medications were too strong, but he could handle soups on most days. “I’ll make you something.”

Then I looked at the couch. Rei and Luca were glaring at me and I arched an eyebrow.

I didn’t give them much attention. What they thought of me didn’t mean anything. I walked Marco back to the couch and settled him down.

Then I turned to face the glares.

“Do you know how to cook?” Rei asked.

My eyes went harder on him. “Your boyfriend is teaching me. So if I don’t know, then it’s his fault.”

Rei tsked. “Dimitri cooks like a pro. It’s your own bad skill if it turns out shit.”

He pulled his sleeves up and stood from the couch. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll help so you won’t poison my Marco.”

“He’s not your Marco,” I nearly fucking snapped.

Rei put a hand on his hip and looked up at me. He wasn’t that short but I was still taller than him. However, he didn’t seem intimidated. In fact, it seemed he wanted to kick me in the balls. I think he liked doing that to people, considering he nearly maimed Dimitri’s dick the first time he came close to him. “He’s been mine longer than he’s been yours,” he said.

I chuckled because that wasn’t true. “I beg to differ.” Not only did I meet him when I was ten, but I fully believe Marco had been made for me by the universe before either of us were born.

He was mine.

He had always been mine.

Rei scoffed and grabbed my wrist, then yanked me toward the kitchen.

Marco blinked at both of us and watched us go, then leaned against Luca.

When we were in the kitchen, Rei released my wrist and went straight to the fridge. He opened it and surveyed the contents.

“He can’t eat anything heavy,” I reminded him, and he glared at me. “I know. I’m not dumb. How about miso soup?”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

Rei rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no shit. I’ll make it. You just help. Make yourself useful and cut that tofu into cubes.”

He pointed at a block of tofu that had apparently been in my fridge this entire time without my knowledge.

“Can you even cook? Dimitri is the one doing it for you all the time.”

“I’m decent. I can make things that are edible.”

I started cutting the tofu while Rei chopped green onions. Until the soup came together.

“It needs to simmer,” he said, adjusting the heat. “Five minutes. Don’t touch it.”

“I wasn’t going to touch it.”

“You were looking at it like you wanted to touch it.” He scoffed, and I was seriously considering drowning him. On a scale of one to ten, how mad would Dimitri be? Never mind. Marco would probably be too sad.

After we brought the bowl to Marco, Rei reached for it.