Rex’s tone, though even, seemed jaded, like this knowledge was the silver lining of an entire sea of failures and swings and misses. He’d had to learn this lesson the hard way, witness to a man that knew his own limitations but refused to respect them. A man that left one failed family to try again with another, an act that bore identical results.
Rex drowned his bitterness in the slightly floral flavor of his pho broth.
Jordan picked at his plate of rice. “Sometimes I wish I had that skill. I worry about everything, all the time, forever.”
“I know you do,” Rex said. “That’s why you should listen to me more when I say that things will work out. Just like I can recognize my own abilities, I can see it in other people, too.”
Jordan turned to face him, sitting up and crossing his legs. “What do you see when you look at me?”
“I see a nerd with too much time on his hands,” he said in a noncommittal tone.
“Seriously, Rex.”
Rex sighed and sat up as well. He took a moment to look at Jordan, to really study him, before he said, “I see a lot of potential.”
Jordan kept his lips pressed tight together.
“I see someone that can do a lot. Anything, really. But he’s so high-strung that he always finds himself doubting his ability. Kind of obnoxious in an endearing way, but at the end of the day, if he stopped standing in his own path, he’d be able to move mountains.”
Rex felt the knee-jerk reaction to cap his analysis off with a joke, but the way Jordan stared at him, eyes soft and brows forming slopes, he fought back against his natural instinct.
“Rex, that’s…”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Thank you.”
Rex’s eyes darted between his food and Jordan, and he gave a lazy shrug with one shoulder. “Don’t let it go to your head. You’re still a nerd.”
“And you’re a good guy.”
Those words shouldn’t have been an ice water bath over Rex’s nerves, yet there he was, swallowing a lump of food down his bone-dry throat like he was eating gravel and glass. His fleeting gaze found Jordan once again, and, not trusting himself to speak without sounding hoarse, he gave him a short, quick nod.
This was the kind of stuff that made Rex’s skin itch like a bad case of the hives. He was allergic to any real affection, and no matter how much sarcasm or snark he gave, none of it protected him from this adverse reaction. He avoided these conversations on purpose, fully aware that despite all his attempts at putting up a barbed wire fence around himself, all it would take was a single moment of intimacy to send a butterfly soaring through the chain links to rest in the pit of his stomach.
“Do you want another spring roll?” he asked, changing the subject entirely.
Jordan didn’t fight him on it, either. “Sure,” he said, reaching for another. Rex watched him bite down on it after dipping it in peanut sauce.
He wasn’t entirely certain, but Rex was convinced Jordan gave him a knowing smile as he ate.
Ten
Jordan was quite impressed with himself. When he’d tried to indulge in his thespian side in high school, he’d been laughed at and told he didn’t have the acting chops, yet here he was, smiling at his fellow members of the Meet Cute Club and acting like Rex hadn’t just rearranged his insides.
Never in his life had he considered himself a quickie kind of guy, but with Rex, he found himself doing things he hadn’t ever thought to do. Things like being bent over the counter and getting a fast one in before any of their guests were expected to arrive.
Jordan began the club meeting as laid-back as he could, but it was hard to keep his eyes from darting to Rex, who seemed all too pleased to have captured his attention this easily. Almost pointedly, Jordan avoided that side of the living room, instead mainly looking at Charles and Gloria. They listened attentively, none the wiser about how hard he was trying to keep from just staring at Rex.
Gloria took up most of the conversation during this meeting, seeing as she had actual experience in the medical field like the heroine of their latest romantic thriller, and Jordan was more than happy to let her speak. These were the moments he got most excited about. Getting to see his friends connect with the characters was always a joy for him.
As he listened, he couldn’t help but feel Madeline’s eyes on him the entire time. They weren’t angry or anything, but he did shift in his seat frequently, trying to block them out. After a few moments of suspiciously staring at Jordan—which he tried his best to ignore—Madeline waited for the room to fill up with other conversations before she lowered her voice and said,
“Is something going on between you and Rex?”
Jordan blinked, stunned by her accurate observation. “N-no… Why do you ask?”
How had she been able to suss that out? Rex came over earlier than usual to help set up, and they were always careful about not getting caught. Aside from the time they’d been interrupted by Charles, he and Rex had mastered the art of playing it cool around the rest of Meet Cute Club.
That was the way it had to be, too. The last thing he wanted was gossip about him and Rex, especially if things ever went sour. Those situations always ruined the dynamics of friend groups, with everyone taking a side and choosing who they were closer with. The club was already struggling, and a divide like that would only cause more shockwaves to their already crumbling foundation. It was better to not cause any further problems and keep this all to themselves.
“Don’t play coy with me,” Madeline said with a wry smile on her ruby red lips. “I know what mutual pining looks like when I see it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Oh, you don’t?” She tilted her head and smiled patronizingly at him. “You think we don’t notice how Rex is always here before anyone else? How you two are always spending time together, setting up flyers, all of that? Get real, Jordan. We’re old, but we’re not senile.”
Flushing from his neck to his cheeks, Jordan looked away, suddenly overcome with humiliation. They’d tried so hard to keep it just between them, but leave it up to the group of people that could find chemistry in two characters glancing at each other across the room to figure out about him and Rex.
“You can’t tell anyone,” he said in a low voice. “I’m afraid it’ll be weird. And we’re not even official or anything.”
“No? Huh.” She looked over at Rex as he and Charles talked quietly, then glanced back at Jordan. “Huh.”
“Huh? What do you mean, ‘huh’?”
“Nothing!” She held up her hands to show she was innocent, but that wasn’t good enough for Jordan.
“What, do you think there’s something more there? He’s never said anything to me about it.” For all Jordan knew, they were just friends. Friends that hooked up—frequently—and sometimes went on nice, quiet dates together, but friends nonetheless. There’d been no official titles, no moment where they sealed the deal and became exclusive. They were friends with benefits. Really great benefits, if he were being honest.
“Look, I don’t know much about Rex, but I’ve been around my fair share of men in my life. And I mean that. Me and men are no strangers, okay?” Her raised eyebrows added all the emphasis, and Jordan cracked a smile. There was no doubt about Madeline’s foxiness. “I know the look he gives you. It’s not just a quick glance. He holds on you longer than anyone else. He watches the way your mouth forms words. He’s probably told you it means nothing, but…”