Cheesy on the Eyes by Teagan Hunter Page 0,73

“But that’s nothing compared to my latest foolish act. You see, last month I enlisted the help of a kind stranger. I asked him to pretend to be my boyfriend, and he agreed. We made a list of rules and set boundaries. But, because fate works in ways none of us anticipate, we broke the rules. He fell in love with me.”

A smattering of awwws go up, and I can feel some eyes on me.

I don’t look though. She’s all I can focus on.

“Right? Lucky me, huh? Only I was a dumbass.” She holds her hand up. “I know, another shocker.” Another sharp breath out. “See, when he asked me to leap, to embrace the fall with him and take a chance, I ran. I gave it up because I couldn’t be brave.

“As wild as that is, it’s not even the craziest part of it. No, the crazy part is that I fell in love with him too.” She gulps. “Big-time. Like the kind of love you see in the movies or read about in books…the kind of love that makes you realize fate did have a hand in it all along.”

Thea looks right at me, and my heart starts to work overtime.

“Hey, Sully? I’m ready to leap.”

I waste no time crossing the floor to her.

I don’t hesitate to wrap my arm around her.

She holds the microphone at her side, and there’s joyful applause around us as she speaks to just me. “I’m sorry. I know this is all really cheesy. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer.”

“Thea…”

“No, listen. I’m still scared, Sully—fucking terrified—but you’re worth the risk. We’re worth the risk. I want this. I want us. I—”

“Thea?” I interrupt, dropping my forehead to hers.

She swallows. “Yes?”

“I’ll catch you.”

“Hand turkey promise?”

“Always.”

A Slice of the Future

Thea

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I mutter.

“I can’t believe it either, but it feels like it’s been a long time coming.”

“It’s a huge step. I’ve never done this before. It could change everything.”

“We’ll take the leap together,” Sully promises.

“What if we hate it?”

“What if we don’t? The only way we’ll know is to try.”

I exhale shakily. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Are you? Because this is seriously the dumbest thing I have ever witnessed and I have two children who aren’t the brightest bulbs in the box.” Simon glares down at us. “What do you want?”

“We’ll take a slice of pepperoni each.”

“Pepperoni? Pepperoni? You just did all that bullshit to order a pepperoni? You’re finally going to try my pizza and that’s what you order?” He growls, tossing his hands up in the air. “I quit. I fucking quit.”

“Bring us cheese fries too!” I call after him before turning back to Sully. “Do you think he hates us?”

“Probably.” He takes a sip from his milkshake. “But it’s fun to screw with him.”

“I can’t believe he hasn’t banned us all yet.”

“I’m sure it’s coming, especially after breakfast last week when Foster and Winston started a food fight.”

I eye him. “Because I’m sure you and Porter were completely innocent in all that.”

“I mean we didn’t not participate, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.”

“I regret nothing.” He shrugs, then stretches his arm across the table.

I slide my hand into his waiting palm, and he begins tracing a pattern over the lines.

“How much longer do we have?” he asks.

“Thirty minutes, give or take. I’m the co-owner, so really I can take as long of a lunch as I want.”

Over the last year and a half of dating, meeting once a week at Slice for a long lunch has become our thing. We promised early on that we’d make the effort to spend time together because I have a tendency to shut out the world and only focus on work.

“You like tossing that word around.”

“Hey, I worked damn hard to become co-owner. I deserve it.”

Six months ago, my dad decided to take his own leap of faith and make me co-owner of the shop. With Jonas and Frankie living in Colorado with my beautiful baby nephew, they wanted to free up time to travel and visit their grandbaby more often.

All I had to do was promise to take weekends off entirely and clock out no later than half an hour after close.

With Sully waiting for me, that was no longer a deal-breaker for me.

“I’m proud of you,” he says, still tracing my palm, his light touch making my skin pebble.

It’s crazy to me how much his touch still affects me.

How much he still drives me crazy.

I know