Page 25 of Two’s Better

“Oh my God.”

He snorted at his own antics, then we were both laughing. Underneath our table, just like back at Tamara’s and Ezra’s, his ankles were hooked around mine. He rolled one or both every other minute, not-so-casually stroking the side of my foot with his own.

I could barely meet his gaze, my heart and lower belly fluttering and popping like they were made entirely of fizz. It felt like I was in an alternate universe, the fact that I was literally having one of my dream dates with my best friend, and that best friend was Uzezi. I repeated the sentence in my head because it just refused to feel real.

The restaurant was truly luxurious, modern, with bright, low hanging lamps that bathed the place in soft yellow light. Pale, yellow-brown wooden floors contrasted nicely with dark tables and walls, and lovely, comfortably cushioned dark grey chairs.

Despite Uzezi’s insistence that I order anything I want, we didn’t even have to do that because he’d apparently already pre-ordered one of the restaurant’s recommended full courses when he’d booked our spot.

While they prepared our starter course, we were served the best wine I’d ever tasted—and I didn’t even like alcoholic wine.

“No, but let’s be serious,” Uzezi said, swirling the wine in his glass, looking at me with hooded eyes. I’d barely taken a sip of my own and I already felt drunk. “Tell me more about yourself.”

“Uzezi,” I said flatly. “You literally know everything about me.”

“Do I?”

“Oh my God.”

He tried to hold back his laughter, taking another sip from his wine. “Let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

I sighed like I was put upon, even though my lips were curving helplessly. “If you must.”

“Favourite colour?”

“You know what my favourite colour is, Uzi.”

“Do I?”

I wanted to tease him about how badly he pissed me off when I actually thought about the question. My favourite colour had changed from the last time we’d talked about it, which must’ve been years ago.

“Fine,” I said, deciding to indulge him. “It’s pink. Like, a magenta pink.”

His eyes roved briefly, pointedly over my curls, his smile smug. “Is it?” he said with exaggerated surprise. “But I could’ve sworn it was yellow.”

“You know it’s no longer yellow.”

“For the purpose of our date, let’s assume I don’t know anything about you that’s changed since we were teenagers.” He waggled his eyebrows.

I shook my head, even though we both knew I was still going to play along. The smile I was failing to keep off my lips said as much.

“What’s your favourite colour?” I asked with faux breathiness, leaning forward and widening my eyes like I really wanted to know.

“Guess.” He winked.

“That’s not how this works, Uzi.”

“Damn, I didn’t know there were rules to this game—a game I literally just made up, mind you.”

I snorted. “What do I get if I’m right?”

His eyes dropped briefly to my lips. My lower belly tightened. “A kiss.”

My pulse went wobbly. “So, you weren’t already planning on kissing me after our date?” I flirted, peeking up at him from underneath my lashes.

His gaze darkened. “Two kisses.”

Oh my God. It took effort to hold in my laughter; if I didn’t, I’d probably bray like a donkey.