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“You’re the one who is always telling me everyone has an angle and I shouldn’t trust people so easily.”
I inwardly wince. “Don’t listen to me. I’m a jaded asshole.”
Alexsei isn’t, and it doesn’t suit him. He’s an optimist, a fun-loving team player, who tears up when sweet girls don’t get the final rose on The Bachelor. Nothing about him needs to change, and I’ll be damned if it does now because Luna McNeill has double standards for dating.
“Why are you so jaded?” he asks, like it’s just occurred to him to wonder why I’m the way I am.
“You’ve met my mother. If you ask her about emotions, she pinches everything she has up so tight she looks like a freeze-dried prune. She thinks hugs are for lower life forms.” I love my mother, don’t get me wrong. But she’s a retired prosecutor and not a warm and fuzzy woman. At forty-two, she’d decided no man was ever going to cut it as a life partner and had gone to the sperm bank with a laundry list of requirements and selected the one with the most potential for producing an intellectual prodigy. Her words, not mine.
The end result was me and a childhood filled with flashcards and rules, but no cuddles and nothing sticky. Chewing gum and Play Doh would just about send her over the edge. The apple didn’t fall far from the fucking tree there. I hate sticky anything outside of the bedroom.
My comment distracts Alexsei from his angst. He even cracks a grin. “Do you need a hug, bro?”
“No, but you obviously do.” I really don’t need hugs. They make me feel incredibly awkward.
That’s why I chose the path of science, and ultimately, technology. Minimal human interaction. There’s no one to question why I’m so straight-forward. I’m straight-forward because I don’t like bullshit. Or games. Or leading questions. Or fishing for compliments. Or needling. Or guessing.
Which is ironic, given my feelings for Alexsei, but I’m not ruining my friendship with him.
Otherwise, say what you mean and let’s fucking get on with it.
Which is why when Alexsei grumpily says, “I’d like a hug from Luna,” I tell him, “Then let’s go get you one.”
“Wait. What?”
“Let’s go to Luna’s.” I’m already calculating where we are and how to get there the fastest route possible.
He gapes at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Why?”
“To tell her how you feel. To call her out. To ask her out.”
“But she told me no.”
“Did she though? Officially? Did you even ask?”
That stops him cold. “I… fuck, I don’t know. I guess not. What do I say when we get there?”
“That if she can date the coach, she can date you. That she is denying herself unlimited pleasure at your hands.”
That’s a little cringe-worthy to my ears, but it sounds like something Alexsei would say and could pull off.
He sits up straighter. “You’re right. Damn it, you’re right. Let’s go.”
“On it.” I pull into an alley and then back my car up so I can turn around and head east.
“She’s not going to turn me down, is she?”
“No.” I feel confident she won’t. She likes Alexsei. She’s just being stubborn because he talked her into staying at our place for two days. “She doesn’t trust herself around you. Why is that? Because she can’t resist you.”
“I can be very persuasive,” he says, rolling his head and shaking his hands, like he’s warming up for a game.
“Put that tongue to good use,” I tell him.
That has him cracking a grin. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”
“I’ll be your wingman.” I can be persuasive, too, and I know just the right way to handle Luna.
Twenty minutes later, we park in front of the bakery. The bookshop and bakery are dark, but the windows over the front door have lights glowing.
