He laughed, his brown eyes creasing at the corners.
“All right, my turn,” I said, laying an anchor tattoo on Josh’s impressive biceps. “Window seat or aisle?”
He watched me slap on the wet napkin. “Middle seat. That way I’m next to you no matter which one you want.”
Gah. This man. So selfless.
He’d said it so casually it was like thinking about me first came naturally. Like it was knee-jerk for him. My lips twisted into a smile, and we gazed at each other for a moment.
He was having a good time. He was happy. I wondered if he was this happy when we weren’t together. If he had this much fun with his friends, or the crew at work.
Or any of the dates he went on.
I didn’t. Not even with Sloan. It was different with Josh. It just was.
How many good days like this did we have left? In a few weeks, I wouldn’t be seeing him anymore. I’d be recovering from my surgery, and he would be long gone. The wedding wouldn’t throw us together. I already gave Miguel his job back. Creepy or not, I needed to replace Josh. Miguel knew the work and had his own garage to build out of so I’d never have to see him.
Everything was already taken care of. Everything except how I’d feel when this all ended.
And there was nothing to do about that.
“I need to send Sloan a picture of this,” I said, shaking myself out of my thoughts. I angled the camera to get my whole arm. Then I sat back in the booth and started texting. “I keep getting autocorrected from ‘queso’ to ‘quest.’” I shook my head. “Trust me, phone, I’m never going to talk about a quest. It’s queso. Always queso.”
Josh snorted. Then he nudged me, nodding to a girl in a skirt way too short for her, teetering in heels on her way back from the bathroom.
I laughed. “Look at the guy she’s with. He’s resource guarding. Growling over her like a dog with a bone. He’s eyeing every man that comes within ten feet of her.”
Josh chuckled. “Want me to test your theory? Pretend like I’m gonna try and talk to her?” His eyes twinkled.
“Oh my God, yes. Please.”
He set his beer down and slid from the booth, and I watched, grinning, as he made his way over to the bar, shooting me a wolfish look over his shoulder. When he got close, Dog Bone Guy puffed his chest and wrapped an arm across his girl’s boobs. Josh veered left, laughing.
I put a hand over my smile. His boyish charm always got me. He was adorable.
He made his way back to our table and scooted in next to me, putting an arm around me. “You were right.”
“That was fucking hilarious.” I giggled, leaning into him.
His eyes gleamed and he drew his lower lip between his teeth, looking down at my smiling mouth. And like it was no big deal, like there weren’t any rules, as if we were a couple just out on a date, having a good time, he leaned in and kissed me.
And I let him.
TWENTY-NINE
Josh
She kissed me back. She didn’t push me away and get pissed, she didn’t object. She didn’t remind me that we’re just fuck buddies or tell me this wasn’t a date.
She kissed me back.
I hadn’t brought up the Vegas call—I didn’t have to. She was so different with me today it finally felt like we’d turned a corner. Maybe she’d missed me all those weeks or it was me telling her I loved her that night on the phone. Maybe she was over Tyler. I couldn’t be sure what finally opened her up to me. All I knew was it was a gift.
Her fingers clutched the front of my shirt, and I pulled her in, pressing her into my chest, loving the taste of hops on her tongue, inhaling her perfume.
The kiss was slow and full of emotion. And it was the first time we’d kissed when it wasn’t about sex.
I cherished this small gesture, this tiny public display that I had any claim to her. This stolen contact that didn’t adhere to any of her rules.
When we broke apart, her sideways smile was light and unguarded. She draped her arms around my neck. “You’re my favorite monkey to throw poo with, you know that?”
I stared into her eyes. “Then why aren’t we together, Kristen?”
And then like that, she was gone.
Her expression fell like a heavy curtain dropping.