I leaned forward, resting an arm on the table, and took my time glancing up at him. “You know damn well what’ll happen if you pull something like that.”
“We crash?” Finn said, some of his sexy confidence leeching away.
“Well, yeah, maybe.” My eyes flicked to the side, then back to him. “But I was going to say, I’d fuck your ass so good as soon as we got home that the only thing you’ll want to ride ever again is my big, hard, leaky, thick, throbbingcock.”
Finn’s eyes widened. “Fuck,” he said, under his breath, and glanced at his lap. “Don’t get me hard right now, man. This is a nice place.”
I laughed, again too loud for the atmosphere, but then so did he. Our drinks arrived just as the laughter died down, and the server took our orders. I got the Butter-Poached Lobster, Beurre Blanc, and also ordered the beef tartare and escargot to start. Finn went with the pan-roasted duck breast.
After clinking our precarious glasses, with almost zero spillage, I said, “To never letting the past get in the way of the future.”
We each took a sip. “Mmm, that’s good.” The martini was as perfect as the vibes. “How’s yours?”
“Uh, good. Strong.” Finn’s eyes didn’t meet mine.
“It’s a martini. Of course it’s strong.” I laughed.
Finn wasn’t listening. He glanced at me, opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and looked away. I stared at him until he met my eyes again.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
I peeked at him from under my brow. “Spit it out. Say what’s on your mind. You can tell me anything, man. For real. You know that.”
With one more apprehensive look, he said, “Why’d you say that? When we cheersed.”
“I dunno. Felt like a nice thing to say. And, we’re sitting here in this nice ass restaurant, and we’ve known each other forever, and we were just joking about me fucking you, and I…” I shrugged, frowned, and shook my head. “I don’t know.”
Finn’s brow furrowed, as if he were deciding something. Once made, his face melted. “You know I was never into guys.”
“DoI know that?” I tilted my head.
“I mean…” He looked at the table as his eyelids fluttered. “I guess I mean,Inever knew I was into guys.” He met my gaze. “But I always looked up to you. I thought you were so badass. So cool. Even if you never had the time of day for me, you weren't a dick about it. Everyone loved you, and you were so good at everything. But—”
I shifted in my chair. “Let’s not rewrite history. I wasn’t good at everything, and not everyone liked me.”
“Okay, you were good at anything you wanted to be good at, and the people you loved loved you back.”
“Still not true, but closer.”
“What I’m trying to say is I think I’m realizing that I might’ve always had a crush on you, but just didn’t know it.”
Finn thought he was baring his soul, and in a real way, he was. But I couldn’t pretend I didn’t know that.
“Yeah, man. I knew. But I also knew you probably didn’t. That’s why I steered clear of you when we were younger. Because I had a crush on you, too, and if something happened back then, when you weren’t ready, or even able to understand your own feelings, it would’ve been a huge mess, and I’d be an even huger asshole than I already am.”
Finn looked surprised, but not shocked. “You’re not an asshole.” He chuckled. “Maybe if you had made a move, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to figure it out.”
“Yeah, well. Fucking my brother’s buddy might have put a strain on the relationship.”
We laughed.
“I always thought you didn’t like me when we were younger.”
“Nope, had a boner for you instead.”
We laughed again.
