“Buzz and Woody are without a doubt the best bromance! The enemies to friends’ journey and how they work together at the end of the movie? True brotherhood. Every little man needs to watch and learn from those toys.”
“What?! You’re crazy. Cogsworth and Lumiere are absolutely the better bromance. They are the perfect bitchy older gay couple. They love each other deep down but are annoyed to no end by everything the other one does but still humor one another. It’s rather beautiful actually.”
“What the hell are you talking about? A clock and a candelabra are gay icons now? Did you fall and hit your head? Fine. I have a better one anyway.”
“Aww, the cat-fighting gay couple hit a little too close to home with you and Goldilocks? Whatcha’ got, you social justice warrior, you?” I say with an eye roll.
“Not even gonna ask about the Goldilocks comment. Not sure my ego can take it at the moment. So, Moving on to the most epic bromance of all… Miguel and Tulio. Nothing, and no one, can beat those con men. Their love is pure, lyrical, and perfect,” he says dramatically mimicking a vigorous lute strum but a little less confident than before.
“I’ll give you the fact that they are wonderful. I even concede they win Best Bromance Overall Award. But that’s not what we were talking about. Technically they’re not Disney, they’re DreamWorks, so they don’t qualify for the ‘Best Disney Bromance’ category,” checkmate motherfucker, a smug grin lands on my face.
“Are you serious? You’re gonna get that technical with me? Dear Christ woman. Fine. Mr. Incredible and Frozone. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t go gaga for a buddy cop flick with the two of them from their prime crime fighting days,” He says leaning back, clearly thinking he’s pinned me down.
“Only if Edna is in there somewhere. Edna gives me life. But fine, that’s a damn good one. Although, how can we forget the classic and maybe truest bromance… Timon and Pumba.”
“Touché. It takes a damn good bromance to pull off singing about farting and dancing the hula in drag. Fine. I concede Best Disney Bromance, but I still claim my Spanish boys take the title of Overall Best so… technically I still win. I can accept that,” he says with a cheeky smirk before he takes a giant bite of his pizza.
I roll my eyes at him as I queue up the Lion King on the TV and hit play. I will take my victory, even if there is a caveat to it. He lets out an audible groan as he chews his ridiculously large bite and I can’t help but look over and watch the muscles of his jaw work as he chews.
How does he even make chewing sexy?! Jesus Christ woman, get a hold of yourself you thirsty bitch!
I’d like to get a hold of something… NO! Don’t you dare! SAGGY MOTHERFUCKIN’ BALLS GODDAMNIT!
When he swallows his bite, he looks over at me with a look I can’t quite place. “Seriously woman. Best. Damn. Pizza. I have ever had. And I have an Italian momma back home who would whoop my ass for even thinking that let alone saying it.”
That damn blush creeps up my neck yet again at his words, “I’ll admit, I am pretty proud of my pizza, I use my great-grandmothers’ recipes for the dough and the sauce. My great grandfather used to say he got it from an Old Italian Nonna while he was over in Europe during The War. Who knows if it’s true, but he loved to tell the story of how he met a little old woman in a market, in Paris of all places, who took pity on his skinny little self and brought him home. She offered him a warm meal and taught him her family's secret recipe. He was so damn proud of his recipe and considered it the most important thing he could pass down. My grandmother kept the Sunday Pizza Night tradition going, and I plan on doing the same. It may be just Evan and I, but he will have some ties to our history, even if he never gets to meet any of the people in the stories,” I say quietly, looking down at the slice in my lap as I fiddle with the edge of the crust absentmindedly.
“He will know them. He’ll meet them and have memories through you. He’ll love you for that; I’m sure,” Sawyer responds. I can feel his gaze on me, but I can’t bring myself to look over at him. With a little nod I bring my pizza to my lips and take another bite, hoping we can move past this moment.
We continue to eat and watch the movie, laughing and, to my endless surprise and delight, singing along. He may not win any awards with his voice, but he could hold his own in a carpool karaoke any day. The fact he actually knows most of the words to all of the songs gives him a major bonus points in my book.
Not that I should give him bonuses… or even an entry in my book! Nope. He and his musical corkscrew cock can stay right where they are.
As the movie finishes, I get up to clean and Sawyer once again starts talking to Evan like they are having the most interesting conversation in the world.
I’m only gone a couple of minutes but when I come back into the living room I see Evan curled up on Sawyers lap, snuggled into his shoulder and digging at his face with his little fists, a clear sign my little man is ready for bed. I refuse to let myself spend any amount of time looking at or soaking in the Hallmark moment in front of me. Nope. Not one second of the sight of this hulking biker with my tiny little baby boy snuggled into him like he is the best teddy bear in the world will enter my mind or imprint in my memory.
Not a word from you, my traitorous vagina. Not one fucking WORD.
Deciding it’s dangerous to stand here and gawk a second longer, I walk up to the boys and reach out for Evan to take him from Sawyer. To my surprise Sawyer shakes his head at me and stands, motioning for me to lead the way as he shifts Evan more solidly onto his shoulder.
Well, okay then. Guess he is helping with bedtime? When the hell did I fall into the Twilight Zone? Am I even okay with this? The last thing I need is for Evan to get attached to someone right before we need to leave again. Shit! What if Evan imprints on Sawyer like the sweet little baby duckling he is and then we leave and I take Sawyer from him and then he is scarred for the rest of his life and blames me, hates me and…
My spiraling thoughts are brought to a halt by a warm hand pressed to small of my back and the deep rumbling sound of Sawyer’s voice close to my ear.
“Relax, I’ll just bring him upstairs and help you settle him but then I’ll head out. I don’t want to get in the way of your bedtime ritual or overstay,” he whispers, his lips so close to my ear I can feel the warmth of his breath fan over my cheek.
“It’s not…” but he cuts me off.
“It’s ok. I could see the tension rolling off your body and I promise I’m not looking for anything more than you are ready to give.”
I feel my shoulders drop, not realizing how tense I was.
“I’d love the chance to see you again. Next time, dinner is on me and we’ll have an El Dorado sing along. You can school me at that one too. Sound good?” he whispers, stepping forward and catching my eyes. His gaze pins me in place with those warm bourbon eyes and feel him a warmth run over the ice around my heart. He knows he has me dammit. He gives a little chuckle and I feel his fingers flex against my spine.
“Lead the way Tess. E-Buddy’s ready to sleep.”
For the thousandth time tonight I take a steadying breath before I square my shoulders and head up the stairs with the most adorable bromance trailing behind. When we get to the nursery, Sawyer surprises me yet again by offering to help get Evan changed and ready for bed. I know he is only doing it to be polite because no way in hell does he actually want to deal with the domestic things like bedtime routines. I shoo him off downstairs and he motions that he will wait while I get Evan down.