Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bromance Book Club #3) - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,32
hand.”
Mack raised his hand and repeated the question.
“She stared, you know . . .” Noah let his voice trail off. But when all the guys leaned forward, he gestured toward his pecs. “Here.”
His face got hot again as he lowered his hand and waved it below the belly button. “And here.”
One by one, the guys met one another’s eyes and then in unison, busted into loud, table-shaking laughter. Noah looked around the restaurant and then hissed at them to be quiet.
Mack wiped his eyes. “Dude, she was staring. The real kind of staring.”
“Sure sign,” Colton said. “The happy trail is like catnip for women.”
Noah gaped at him. “The happy what?”
The Russian lifted his shirt and pointed to his stomach. “The line of hair from your belly button to your pork and beans.”
Mack leaned left to whisper, “Frank and beans.”
The Russian looked baffled. “Who is Frank?”
Colton raised his hand. Noah shook his head. “Next.”
“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask!”
“Doesn’t matter. It’ll be inappropriate. Next question.”
“Who is Frank?” the Russian asked again.
“Someone fucking tell him,” Noah growled.
Malcolm leaned over and whispered in the Russian’s ear. He giggled and covered his mouth.
Their food arrived, but Noah barely had time to take a single bite before the questions continued.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Mack asked.
Noah poked his eggs with the corner of his toast and feigned ignorance. “Do about what?”
“The staring,” Colton said.
Noah lifted a shoulder. “Nothing.”
“You can’t do nothing, man,” Colton said. “She stared.”
Noah snorted even as his pits began to sweat. “You guys have read too many romance novels. Which, by the way, the one you gave me? It’s total bullshit. Do you even know what that book is about?”
Mack leaned back in his chair. “I do. What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s about a guy who abandoned his daughter! You seriously expect me to learn something from this guy?”
“The secret baby trope is a very popular plotline in the romance genre,” Mack said.
Noah made a noise that was part snort, part laugh. “Secret. Baby. Trope?”
Mack shrugged. “Guy finds out he has a kid he never knew about.”
“And people find this romantic?”
Mack sighed and looked to the ceiling as if praying for patience. “It’s a plot device for a larger message, Noah.”
“What larger message?”
“Forgiveness.”
This time, Noah laughed outright. “Bullshit. Some things are unforgivable.”
Mack sipped his coffee. “True. But that’s not the point.”
“Yeah, the point is that there’s no freaking way I’m going to learn how to build a relationship with Alexis by reading about a guy who’s as much of a bastard as her father.”
“You can’t judge the book based on one chapter,” Malcolm said. “Give it a try.”
“No.” He sounded as stubborn as he felt.
The Russian patted his arm. “Noah, why are you so angry all the time?”
“He’s not angry,” Colton snorted over the rim of his coffee mug. “He’s horny.”
Noah pointed. “Fuck off.”
“Dude, Alexis could not be making it any clearer that she wants more and is ready for more,” Mack said. “What the hell are you waiting for?”
“Didn’t you hear what I just told you about her father? She’s going through a lot right now. She’s emotional, and—”
“Alexis isn’t exactly fragile,” Mack said.
Noah bristled. “I know.” Just the opposite. Lexa was the strongest person he’d ever known. “I’m just saying she is going through some deep stuff now, and I’m not going to add to her burden by asking her why the hell she was staring at my nipples!”
The restaurant got instantly quiet, and twenty heads turned toward their table.
“He’s talking about his dog,” Mack said loudly with a lift of his hand. “Nothing to see here.”
Noah heard a growl rumble from his chest. “I’m going to hack into your phone and leak all your nudes on Facebook.”
Mack spread his hands wide. “Naked is my best angle, man.”
“Look,” Malcolm said, wadding up his napkin. “I think what Mack was attempting to say is that there’s a fine line between being sensitive to what Alexis is going through and treating her like she doesn’t know her own mind.”
“Doesn’t change a goddamned thing.”
“Of course it does.” Malcolm leaned forward. “Your relationship with her is built on unrequited feelings. That’s not fair to either of you. She deserves to know how you really feel about her, and you deserve to know if she feels the same.”
“I can’t risk our friendship like that.”
“And you’ll be happy to remain friends with her, only friends?”
“If that’s what it takes to be in her life, then yes.”