I waved a hand at that. Tsehay’s team had the farthest to go today, so it made sense for her to need more time. And she would probably not forgo a hot shower because she was rushing to catch Elias alone like I had. “Oh, I’m fine to wait. That’ll give me time to check my email.”

He gave me an assessing look, as if he were making sure that no body parts had gone missing in his absence. Or maybe that was just what I wished he were thinking. “You had time to shower.”

I dipped my head and stared freely, since he was doing the same to me. He looked freshly showered too. He had on a gray sweatshirt and tan linen pants, and as usual in the evenings, his Birkens. “I was glad to get back to the hotel today.” I refrained from blurting out that was mostly due to my thirst for him.

“Did anything happen?” he asked, all commanding. Like he was ready and able to deal with whatever it was. A shiver ran down my spine, but this one took the route that went straight to my dick.

“Nothing bad happened,” I reassured him as I got my laptop plugged in. “Although I may have to take a hiatus from coffee.”

I was making a show of arranging my stuff on the table, but kept an eye on him to get his reaction. He actually jumped in surprise at my words, and his puzzled expression almost made me laugh. “No bunna? Something must have happened.”

You would’ve thought I’d said that I going to start working buck naked, but I still felt all warm and fuzzy at how seriously he took my caffeine obsession.

I shifted so I could face him, ready to fill him in. “Well, in part I blame you,” I said, barely able to keep from grinning.

He read my expression, and I saw when he realized that this was going to be one of our jokes. He could do that, just tune into my moods. I thought about how Miguel never quite got my humor. I’d come home with a funny story from work or my commute, and he’d stare at me blankly until the smile died on my face. I’d told myself again and again that maybe it was lost in cultural translation. And yet with Elias, from the first day we’d found a million things in common to laugh, talk, or even rant about. Even after just one week it felt completely natural.

“How could I be blamed for your coffee hiatus? I mostly drink tea,” he said in feigned disgruntlement.