out great wine, so I’ll do the same.”
I liked that he didn’t change his behavior around me, that he wasn’t being fake, that I could accept him as he was or dislike him for the same reason. It didn’t matter to him. I’d never told Renee this, but I didn’t want her to be with a man who bent over backward to gain the validation of someone else. He was secure in his true form.
When the waitress came over, they ordered their wine, and I got an appetizer because I was starving. It was a late dinner, and I hadn’t had time to eat much for lunch.
Renee looked at her menu again. “I don’t know what I’m getting…”
William eyed the menu. “The salmon looks good.”
“That’s what I’m having,” I offered.
“Then it’s settled.” He set the menu down. “What about you? I know you hate fish.”
“I think I’m getting the steak.”
He smiled slightly, like he was amused by her choice.
When the waitress brought the drinks, she took our orders then left.
William took a sip. “Definitely a good choice.”
Renee eyed us back and forth, clearly uncomfortable by the whole thing, like I’d challenge him to a duel or something. She was normally calm and collected, never uncomfortable even in the direst situations, but this was important to her, like she needed my approval even though she claimed she didn’t.
I turned to William. “Baseball or basketball?”
“Basketball,” he said immediately. “But I’ll watch a game of baseball if it’s on.”
“I play in a basketball league with some friends. If you ever want to join, let me know.”
“Wow, thanks for the invite. I’d love to pop in sometimes. My routine is the same every morning, and it gets old.”
Renee eyed me with a raised eyebrow.
“That’s exactly why I do it. Lifting weights to music is repetitive.”
“I used to be runner, but that got too boring,” he said with a chuckle.
“Competitively or as a hobby?”
“Competitively in college, but it became a hobby later. But it requires so much time to really put in the miles. It’s much quicker to pump out a workout with weights.”
“Definitely,” I said. “When I was—”
“What is happening here?” Renee eyed me suspiciously.
My gaze turned back to her. “Meaning?”
“You aren’t going to ask him where he went to college? What he does for a living? You’re really going to talk about sports?” Renee spoke her mind in front of William, like it was eating her alive.
William smiled again before he took a drink of his wine, like her outburst was funny to him. “She’s been anxious about this dinner all week…”
“Do you want me to interrogate him?” I asked incredulously.
“You’re just…being weird.” She lowered her voice as if William wouldn’t be able to hear her even though he was right beside her.
“Renee, I don’t give a shit where he went to college or what he does for a living. All I care about is the way he feels about you. If he’s good to you and does right by you, that’s all that matters to me. So, let me get to know him.”
She dropped her gaze, like she was embarrassed by her outburst.
His arm moved around her shoulders, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. “She’s just worried because she’s crazy about me.” He grinned as he looked at her, his hand rising to her hair and gently brushing it from her face. “Obsessed with me, really.”
“Oh, shut up.” She hit him playfully. “Am not.”
“Sure, baby.” He pulled his hand away. “Whatever you say…” His eyes lingered on her for a few seconds before he looked at me again, and those few seconds told me everything I needed to know about him.
He was the one crazy about her.
Renee excused herself to the bathroom after dinner.
I watched her walk away before I turned back to him. “I’m not sure what she told you about me, but I’m not some crazy psychopath.”
He was about to drink from his glass but stopped because he couldn’t control the laugh that came from his lips. “She didn’t say anything like that.”
“It seems like it.”
“We’ve been seeing each other for a while, and I suggested we all get together. She’s met my parents.”
“Really?” She didn’t mention that to me.
“Yes. But trust me, she resisted. Of course, they loved her. Come on, why wouldn’t they?” He drank from his glass. “But every time I suggested the two of us getting together, she kept sidestepping it, avoiding it, making excuses…”
I shook my head in disappointment.
“Look, I’m gonna be straight with