‘I was the one that got you into this fake-dating thing,’ Sam says. ‘Let’s give them a show.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
SAM
Day Four
‘If we’re going to double-date with them, we have to convince them that we truly are a couple,’ I say, working behind the coffee counter to make Will’s caramel latte. Will looks up at the dusky sky, lost in thoughts that I’m trying to pull him away from. He’s been quieter than usual.
Will perks up as the machine hisses and the milk steams. ‘What are you thinking?’
About that boat trip. About how you made me rock solid.
Mum had to shout my name a few times today, because I was lost in the rocking motion of it all. Quite literally, in some senses. I swear the room still sways. When I messed up a fifth customer order, she’d told me to snap out of it.
‘What do we like to do?’ I ask him.
‘Play—’
‘Don’t say play video games,’ I say, laughing. ‘No. What do we like to do that is sexy?’
Will drums his fingers on the table. ‘Maybe you should tell me what your ideal date is.’
I place Will’s latte in front of me, busying myself with making a cappuccino. Mainly to distract myself from the way he’s staring at me, and the way he’s making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge, taut with excitement.
‘For me, I don’t want fuss,’ I say, before clearing my throat. Why is it so hard to say what I like? ‘I like being outdoors. So, if he can join me there, then that’s even better.’
Like how we swam together. I chance a glance at Will, seeing that he’s cocked his head.
‘What’s with that grin?’
Will feigns a shocked expression. ‘I’m not saying anything.’
Coffee made, I come from around the counter, heading towards him. ‘Why don’t you tell me your favourite date?’
‘Oh, no, I’m enjoying listening to yours.’
‘I’d like to take a guy on a hike, show him the sights, see him take it all in. Then sit with him, watch the sun set. Talk. Maybe we could have a picnic, or a drink. We’d simply sit together. Enjoy each other’s company.’
Like how we pressed together in the ocean. How he definitely felt my dick hardening as we touched. I’m sure his responded, too. How I could have kissed him, and I’m sure he would have wanted to kiss me. But that might risk ruining our rekindled friendship, and I don’t want that to happen.
‘And what if you take someone on a hike and they hate it and then you get to the… I don’t know, summit or whatever, and you find that you have nothing to talk about.’
I cock an eyebrow. ‘That didn’t happen when we went to the Acropolis.’
‘You saying that was a date?’
I baulk at this, choking on my coffee, and he moves towards me, as if to ease my discomfort. I hold him off, tears in my eyes.
‘Cool,’ Will says. ‘Real smooth.’
‘I’m saying those would be the dates we go on. Hypothetically.’
‘Of course,’ Will says. ‘And my ideal date is sitting in a coffee shop.’
His words feel like a weight dropping on the table, thudding between us.
‘But it would be better if I had a cake, not going to lie,’ Will adds.
