My heart did things it probably wasn’t supposed to. I knew what this was—friends with kinky benefits—but it was sweet that they were taking the “friends” part seriously too. That they didn’t just have me over for sexy times and then boot me out the door while they went on with their lives. And now they were willing to bring me along on their lunch date?
“Yeah.” I smiled. “I’ll be there.”
Thirty
Will
Aaron put our drinks down in front of us at our usual table. “No Kelly?”
I shook my head as I pocketed my phone. “Nope. I thought he was coming, but I guess not.”
“Huh. Damn.” He took his seat. “I guess it’s just us, then.” From his smile, he wasn’t too disappointed about that. Neither was I. It would have been great to have Kelly join us for our lunch date, but I was never going to object to spending time with Aaron.
“So, how is your day going?”
Aaron shrugged. “It’s one of those low-key days that makes me think there’s a shitstorm on the horizon.”
I grimaced. “Ooh. One of those.”
“Uh-huh.” He folded his arms behind his drink. “I didn’t even have to go to court today.”
“Really?” I whistled. “That’s two days in a row, isn’t it?”
Aaron nodded. “Hence the shitstorm on the horizon.”
I grunted in agreement. It really was feast or famine for him sometimes, and the bigger and quieter the lull, the longer and more chaotic the busy period would be. “I still don’t get how that roller coaster doesn’t drive you crazy.”
He laughed. “Says the guy who can somehow effortlessly have multiple projects open on his computer at the same time.”
“I don’t know if I’d say ‘effortlessly’…”
“You know what I mean.”
“Mmhmm, I do. But when I get slammed, no one’s going to jail if I miss a deadline.”
Aaron grinned. “But that’s the stuff that keeps life interesting!”
I just laughed. If we ever had to switch jobs, neither of us would last a day, but we were both perfectly happy in our lines of work.
Exhaling, Aaron picked up his drink. “Anyway, I’m just enjoying the chill time while it lasts. I’ll probably—” He did a double take, looking past me, and his face lit up. “Oh, there’s Kelly!”
I turned just as Kelly swept into the coffee shop. He quickly found us, and as he hurried across the room, he sighed with exasperation. “I am so sorry.” He tsked. “I was painting and lost track of time.”
Laughing, I said, “Oh, I can relate. If I didn’t have alarms set for every last thing, I’d never step away from a project.”
“Okay, so it’s not just me.” He hooked his foot under the leg of a chair at an unoccupied table and brought it over to join us. “Still. I’m sorry. I really did mean to get here on time.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Aaron gestured at the counter. “You want to order something?”
Kelly glanced in that direction. “Oh. Right.” He got up again. “Be right back.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” I said. Okay, so neither of us could stay here forever, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry to get back to work, and Aaron’s schedule was light today. I suspected we could both spare ten or fifteen minutes extra to hang out with Kelly.
When Kelly came back a minute later with a green tea in hand, he said, “I ordered one of their paninis. Are they any good?”
“Mmhmm.” Aaron nodded. “I get them all the time. I love them.”
“Okay, good. I should’ve asked for a rec before I went over there, but…” Kelly shrugged. “Anyway. I’m just glad I made it before you guys left.”
“We are too,” I said. “So what were you working on?”
He blushed, and for a moment, I thought he’d try to change the subject. He was still so self-conscious about his work. To my surprise, though, he shyly asked, “Do you want to see?”
“Definitely!” Aaron and I both said.
The blush deepened, and he took out his phone. He pulled up a photo, then handed me the phone. “It’s got a long way to go, but it’s from a sunset photo I took in Santa Monica last year.”
I pushed up my glasses and peered at the picture. It was definitely a work-in-progress, but it looked great. Though I’d never been to Santa Monica, I immediately recognized the famous pier from movies and TV. The Ferris wheel and some of the other carnival rides and tents had been partly sketched in with white pencil over a flawlessly blended