Davian took that as he cue to head to his room, bare tattooed back slipping through the connecting door.
Lake stopped to watch him leave, a small pout on his face.
Was he being difficult? Davian was perfect and attentive, maybe he was the one with the high demands.
Even if their relationship continued platonically , it was still far better than he had hoped for, but it was so easy to be greedy when Davian gave him everything he asked for.
Lake tried not to think about it too hard, taking a hot shower and throwing on a sweater when he was done.
It was already fall, if Doctor Perez caught a whiff of the news that he wasn’t taking care of himself properly, he would immediately steal the chance to move in.
While Davian made dinner, it felt more quiet than usual, like they were standing at the edge of the large kitchen with all the space between them.
For the first time, Lake didn’t fall asleep quickly when Davian pulled him into his arms.
The next morning, he was woken up by his phone ringing incessantly, Rosie waking him up with bad news.
Low-quality ammunition had made its way into weaponry circulation in Haines. And as the sole provider of weapons in Haines, and more or less the entire stretch of the country they were in, this was a big deal.
So instead of getting to spend the day in bed like he had promised Davian, they instead spent their entire day tracking down the origins of the defective ammunition.
By the time they made any headway, it was already dark, and there wasn’t even time for Davian to make dinner.
As they got ready for bed, Lake blurted out without thinking. "You must be tired after today, you don’t have to sleep in my bed tonight."
After saying that, he froze. Davian did as well and they both spent a full minute staring at each other.
Davian was the most shaken, "Y-You don’t want me in your bed?"
"No, I do," Lake quickly took back his words, "I’m just tired, I shouldn’t have said that..."
It wasn’t surprising that asking that worsened things, because, for the rest of the week, Davian was stepping on eggshells around him.
It made Lake drown in guilt, his frustration doubling. Because now, with Davian being so careful, there was even less chance of the Alpha making a move.
And he had decided that he wouldn’t make the next move. If Davian didn’t, then they would remain at a stalemate.
As they got ready for Caspian’s engagement dinner, the sun slowly setting outside the mansion, Lake absently brushed out his hair.
They hadn’t made a single progress all week!
Although Lake had only mentioned it once, Davian was jumpy at every bedtime, like he had convinced himself that Lake would chase him out of his room.
It made Lake mentally exhausted at all the overthinking he had been doing lately - it couldn’t be good for the baby.
He wanted to talk to Caspian about it but he didn’t want to put a damper on the celebrations, he planned to do that after the engagement party was well and over.
Caspian had insisted on shopping with Quinn and leaving him out of the outfit selection for the engagement, saying that he wanted to surprise him.
Lake went for creams and browns for his outfit, Davian didn’t bring up matching outfits, and neither did he. It wasn’t like there was a fixed dress code, Davian could just wear what he found comfortable.
As he thought about what he could do with his hair, there was a gentle knock on the door. Another recent habit of Davian that really ticked Lake off.
The Alpha had gone back to knocking on the connecting door when he had previously come into his room freely. After trying hard to force some progress between them, it felt like they had even regressed a bit.
"I told you, you don’t need to knock," He muttered, keeping his attention on the mirror although he really wasn’t doing anything important.
"I got you something," Davian said instead.
That caught Lake’s attention and he glanced up to find Davian staring at him with shrewd gray eyes. Sometimes, it felt like the Alpha’s eyes said more than he did.
Unable to hold Davian’s stare for too long, Lake’s eyes dropped to a familiar black box in his hand. "More jewelry?" He asked without judgment, holding out a hand.
"You don’t like it?" Davian already jumped to conclusions, a dark furrow between his brows.
"I never said that," Lake said dryly, snatching the jewelry box before the jumpy Alpha could take it away.
Lake was really wishing now that he had been content with what they used to have but he had gotten greedy and he had ruined it.
Inside the box were more necklaces and bracelets and for hair accessories, there were hair pins and clips.
Davian was always so thoughtful, it made his eyes sting. He really wanted to come clean to the Alpha right there and say what had been bothering him all week.
"Do you need my help putting it on?" Davian offered, eager.
The Alpha looked like a kicked dog, and it made Lake feel bad all over again. He wisely swallowed back his words, he wasn’t sure he could stand it if things got worse between them.
"Pick for me," He held out the box to Davian, staring at his reflection in the mirror.
Big veiny hands handled the delicate jewelry with care. Most of his trinkets were inlaid with black diamonds, and Lake didn’t mind it, he didn’t fancy flashy jewelry so he didn’t mind.
But he was curious that Davian got them without asking for his preference, it was out of character for him.
"Do you like black diamonds?" He asked as he watched Davian clip a hair pin in his hair with the focus reserved for surgery.
Davian glanced at him, looking at him in the mirror as well. "Black diamonds?"
"Yes, it’s all you buy for me." Lake said calmly, he wasn’t upset, just piqued.