A smile pulls at his lips. “That sounds nice. Should we hit Raul’s?”
“Oh my god, yes. That sounds so good right now. Next time we go out, could you remind me I’m not twenty-five anymore before I drink ten shots?”
Briar chuckles. “Apparently I forgot that myself.”
“It was so much fun though.”
“It was.” Briar sits up, his hands resting between his bent legs across my lap. “You’re a good fake boyfriend. Everyone is so jealous of me.”
I gently rub his chin. “They should be jealous of me. You’re a catch and a half.”
“Thanks.”
“And you deserve to feel like that.”
His eyes meet mine, so big and brown and full of warmth and vulnerability. “Now if I could just find a you for real…”
“You never know.” I want to kiss him. I want to so badly I don’t stop myself from leaning forward and planting a very soft peck on his lips, completely ignoring the vow I just made in the shower. I feel his gasp on my mouth, which makes me smile. “Is that okay?”
He nods, his tongue retracing where my lips touched. “Yeah.”
“Tate’s right, you know. We should try to act like boyfriends when we’re alone too.”
Briar’s eyes reflect nothing but pure terror.
“Is that a terrible idea?”
“Oh,” Briar says, blinking. “Um, no. It’s a good idea. I just, um, barely remember how to be a boyfriend.”
Chuckling, I nod. “Same. Even more reason then. We’re both rusty.”
“True. Okay.”
“Uh, so if I do something you don’t like, just let me know. I’ve only dated women. I don’t know the rules.”
Briar laughs, his cheeks blushing. “There are no rules. We just do what feels okay for us.”
“Yeah, so I can like, hold your hand and open doors and…” I shrug. “Boyfriend shit.”
He nods. “Yeah. Boyfriend shit is good.”
We search each other’s eyes for several seconds. I don’t know what Briar’s thinking, but I’m definitely feeling things I haven’t before.
What I’m gonna do about that is anyone’s guess.
Briar
Sitting at Raul’s, armed with two gorgeous Spicy Bloody Marys, I study the menu even though I already know I’m getting the chilaquiles, but I never know if something new will draw me in.
Jude sets the menu down, leaning back in his chair, legs spread wide. It’s basically his stance and after seeing what he was packing this morning, I understand why he needs as much space as possible. I wish I could somehow forget seeing all his delicious dick, but that’s a memory for the spank bank. Even flaccid the thing was huge. My body aches just thinking about what that must feel like to fuck.
“You okay?”
I blink, shifting my eyes to Jude. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. You sort of…whimpered.”
Fuck. “Oh. Um, I was thinking of this...recipe I saw this morning. It looked so decadent.”
“Yeah? What was it?”
Shit. “Um, it was a cheesecake,” I answer, suddenly remembering the show I watched. “I’m not a huge fan of cheesecake usually, but this one looked really good. It was bananas and cookie wafers and pound cake.”
“Mm, that does sound amazing. You gonna make it? I’ll be your test kitchen.”
I laugh. “Maybe I will. Oddly enough I don’t have a springform pan though.”
“And that’s a thing you need for cheesecake?”
Nodding, I answer, “It’s needed.”
The waiter comes and we order, I get the chilaquiles as per usual, and Jude orders a Miami omelet with chorizo sausage. After ordering, Jude sips his drink, and we watch people walking on the sidewalk in front of the beach.
“What should we do after this?” Jude asks. “It’s a gorgeous day. We should take advantage of it.”
“Sure. Like what?”
“What would you do with a boyfriend?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Of course I do. I asked.”
I study his face for a second while our food is delivered. We both dig in, eager to soak up last night’s damage with some heavy carbs and protein.
“I want to go shopping.”
Jude glances up, chewing his bite of sausage. “Shopping? For what?”
“There’s a really cute farmer’s market not far from here. They have all kinds of things. I’ve always wanted to go, but I didn’t want to do it alone.”
“Sounds like what we’re doing next then.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. Which must mean I want to.”
I laugh softly. “Okay.” I take a bite of breakfast. “What do you want to do? You have a fake boyfriend too.”
Jude smiles. “I am doing what I want to do. Eating brunch and hanging out with my favorite person.”
Grinning, I push my food around with my fork. “You’re pretty good at this boyfriend shit.”
“Am I? Good to know.” He winks. “Finish eating so we can see this market.”
“Okay.”
Hours later, after roaming the entire market, I sit on a bench waiting for Jude by the entrance. He said he saw something and ran off to get it. As the sun shines on my face, I smile. It’s been a perfect day with a perfect man. I just have to remind myself it’s not real. None of it’s real. He’s being a good friend, but he’s not being a boyfriend. Once the wedding is over, we’ll go back to being regular friends.
I wish that didn’t sound as awful as it does.
Jude
I find Briar sitting on a bench, his head tilted up to the sun. As I start to approach, a man sits next to him and says something that causes Briar to turn in his direction, cupping his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight. The man leans in, and I can tell from his body language he’s interested in Briar. I stop walking, waiting for Briar’s reaction. I don’t want to cockblock him from a chance at a real relationship even if the idea makes me strangely nauseous.
Briar sits up, his body rigid, giving me the feeling this conversation isn’t welcome, so I hustle my ass over to break it up.
“Hey, babe,” I say, moving next to Briar and shifting my glare to the stranger.
Briar’s shoulders drop as he grabs my hand. “Hey.”
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, uh,” the man says, scooting back. “I was just, um, I should go.” He stands and hurries off before another word is said.
“The fuck was that about?”
Briar presses his forehead against my stomach, clutching on to me.
“Briar? What happened? Did he say something rude?”
Briar looks up at me, and he’s laughing so hard there are tears streaming down his face.
“You’re laughing.” I relax. “Okay.”
“Sorry.” He tries to compose himself. “What a fucking tool.”
I sit on the bench next to him, tucking my bag by my feet. “What happened?”