I realized however Teo’s plan started, Chris had been nowhere in the room with us that night. What had happened between the two of us would always remain between the two of us. It was something special that had nothing to do with Chris Banks.
I threaded my fingers through his hair over and over, enjoying the way the thick waves felt in my hands. “So what now? How do you plan on getting his head out of his ass?”
Teo leaned in and rested his head on my upper chest. “That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? He said if I came to work for Banks Consulting, he’d consider asking me out on a real date.”
I bit my tongue to keep from snapping about that being blatant manipulation. I hated this guy more and more. He obviously didn’t have any idea what a sweet, kind man he was passing over in order to continue a life of indulgence.
I held Teo to my chest while I leaned over and grabbed the rum and Coke I’d poured over ice. After taking a sip, I handed it to him.
“I wonder what he’d do if you had a boyfriend,” I mused. Chris Banks seemed like the kind of guy who didn’t share.
“Well, he did kind of freak out when I mentioned having sex with you.”
I tried not to preen, but I had to admit the information made me feel good. “What did he say, exactly?”
Teo took two more swigs of the cold drink. I could tell the rum was finally taking effect since his speech seemed like it came through softer lips.
“When I said it was just a hookup, he said, ‘Good.’”
“Why?”
He shrugged and handed the drink back before snuggling into my chest some more. “Guess he doesn’t want me to get hurt. And hookups don’t have expectations of more.” He picked at the blanket threads again. “I’d like to think it’s because he doesn’t want to lose me to someone else, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
“Do you want to know?”
Teo leaned his head back to look at me. “Why wouldn’t I?”
I loved the feel of him in my lap. I loved hanging out with him in this hotel room at the edge of the world. It was a little bit like time out of time.
“What if you lay it down once and for all and he doesn’t pick it up? Are you ready for that?”
He thought about it for a little while before straightening up and looking at me. “Yes,” he said with a firm set to his jaw. “I’m tired of being alone, Jack. I want a partner. And if Chris isn’t ready, then it’s time for me to move on. I’ve waited long enough.”
I leaned in and kissed him hard before pulling back. “That’s the spirit. Reach out and take what’s rightfully yours. You deserve happiness and love.”
Maybe Teo wasn’t the only one feeling the effect of the drinks.
“Let’s make a plan to find out once and for all,” I suggested. “But first, more shots.”
By the time we cobbled together a plan, we were both three sheets to the wind and the plan involved mandatory sushi date nights.
“For me or for you? I mean him? For you and me or for you and him? I mean you and me? The sushi,” Teo asked.
“I don’t understand what you’re asking me, cutie.”
He waved his drink around so much it would have slung little rum-and-Coke puddles all over the place if the glass hadn’t been half-empty. “The sushi nights.”
“I think when we talked about pretending to be boyfriends to make Chris jealous, you said I’d need to take you to sushi because he knows how much you love it and that would be a thing boyfriend Jack would do.”
He giggled. “Boyfriend Jack. I’m calling you that now. The whole thing, like a title.”
Teo had moved so that he was leaning against the far side of the couch with his feet on my lap. I massaged his feet while we talked through the details of our evil plan.
“But if we’re going to do this fake-boyfriend thing,” I explained, “I need you to come fake it at my sister’s house at least once. Maybe then she’ll stop setting me up with Jefferson Plenty.”
“You made that name up.”
“Did not. In fact, Jeff was the one who helped me get this job.”
“Mpfh.” His nose crinkled adorably when he frowned. “Sounds like a douche.”
I laughed. “Not a douche. In fact, he’s a very nice man.”
His eyes narrowed accusingly. “Then why not go out with him?”
“Who says I didn’t?”
Teo’s mouth dropped open. “What? When? Why? And… why?”
I pulled his slender foot up and began sucking on his toes. His eyes widened to match his open mouth. “Because part of my goal in changing jobs was to get a personal life, remember?”
His full bottom lip poked out in a pout. “And was he good in bed? Experienced with lots of advanced moves?”
I laughed against the smooth skin of his foot. “I didn’t sleep with him. But I’m curious, can you give me an example of an advanced move, Tee?”
He waved his hands around again, nearly spilling more drink. “No! Jesus, if I knew advanced moves, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t… I’d…” He seemed distracted by his own thoughts. “Can you teach me some advanced moves? Maybe we can do that while we’re fake dating. That would be amazing. Like… like sex lessons. Sex sessions. Sexions.”
“I want to eat your entire foot.” When I scraped my bottom teeth against the tender arch of his foot, he yelped and pulled his foot back.
“Ticklish. Rude.”
I thought about his sex lesson proposal. He clearly didn’t need any kind of lessons, but if agreeing to it gave me the ability to return to his bed several more times before parting ways…
“Yes. I will teach you the advanced moves,” I said solemnly. “But you must agree to be an enthusiastic and thorough student.”
“I was top of my nursing class,” he said absently. “I’ll do you proud, Teach.”
Teo’s feet snuck back onto my lap, and I began massaging them again. “Maybe I need a grand gesture,” he said after a while, looking up at the ceiling. “Like in those romance movies.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you… haven’t you ever wanted someone to swoop in and just, like… flash mob you or something?”
“No. Definitely not.” The very idea of a public declaration made me sweat. What if the person rejected you right there in front of the fucking Bean? No. No, thanks.
“I want a grand gesture one day,” he said dreamily. “I want Chris to… just… forget about everything else for one shining moment of… of Teodor Parisi is the center of my world. Maybe write it in flowers on the Sky Deck or something, I don’t know.”
He was so cute. I could watch him all night long with his quirky grin and bright eyes. “And what grand gesture would you do for him?”
He snorted. “He’d be happy if I got him a chili dog and cold beer. It’s the secret indulgence no one’s allowed to know about.” His eyes went wide, and he clapped his hand over his mouth. “Wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”
I rolled my eyes. “A Chicago boy likes a hot dog and beer. That’s espionage-level classified shit right there.”