The burger joint was nearly empty – they’d managed to hit the lull before evening rush – so it wasn’t long before their waitress, a friendly redhead that reminded Micah of a younger Tessa, returned with their food.

Micah offered her an enthusiastic “thanks” before immediately plunking a straw into his milkshake and greedily inhaling the sweet ice cream. It was so good. Micah glanced over to see that Damon’s eyes were locked on his lips, where they were wrapped around the straw.

Micah felt his face heat and quickly looked away.

A moment later, Damon cleared his throat from across the table. “Thank you,” the man said before picking up his BLT and taking a bite.

Micah blinked, taken aback. “You’re welcome.” And then the mortification hit him.

Here Damon was, thanking him for buying him a ten dollar sandwich when the man had literally just finished purchasing him a wardrobe that cost more than he’d ever had in his bank account at any one time, and Micah hadn’t expressed even the tiniest bit of appreciation.

“And thank you!” Micah said, the words nearly tripping over themselves in their haste to escape his mouth. “For today, I mean – with the job offer, and all the clothes, and taking time off work. No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Just… thanks.”

Damon didn’t immediately respond, and Micah was surprised to note that the man seemed almost… uncomfortable with Micah’s obvious show of gratitude. He couldn’t help but theorize that Damon wasn’t used to people thanking him, and Micah was taken off guard by how angry it made him on Damon’s behalf.

After a moment, Damon seemed to shake off Micah’s “thanks” and set down his sandwich. “There’s actually one more thing,” he said before digging into one of his pockets. He pulled out a small, flat box and slid it across the table towards Micah. “For you.”

Micah frowned. “Haven’t you bought me enough?”

“Consider it reimbursement for lunch.”

Micah shot the man a disgruntled look. He knew damn well that that wasn’t the point of Micah picking up the tab. Judging by the way Damon crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest, however, he wasn’t about to back down, so Micah reluctantly opened the box.

He stared at the iPhone 14 – a phone so new, it wasn’t even on the market yet.

Micah wasn’t even surprised at this point, but there was no way he could accept the extravagant gift. “I can’t take this,” he said, informing Damon as much as he slid the phone back across the table.

Damon’s face did this strange thing where it was obvious the man was perturbed, but also, somehow unsurprised. (He was probably used to Micah arguing about everything at this point.) “You can and you will,” he refuted, making no move to pick up the phone. “Consider it a requirement of the job. After all, I need a reliable way of contacting you.”

“Yeah, okay, but I already have a phone,” Micah pointed out, pulling it out for good measure.