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“I swear.” Coury put a hand over his heart. “Well, you might have almost fallen out of bed changing, but no one other than me saw it. Your virtue is safe with me, Lionheart.”
He remembered the roar trying to get up the stairs and almost falling out of bed. “That’s it? Nothing else someone will tell me about later?”
“Nothing you should be embarrassed over.”
“So I did do something.”
Coury totally knew Liam kissed him. Why was he pretending they hadn’t? The same reason Liam was pretending? Was he embarrassed? Not sure how to bring it up? Feeling guilty about Beckett?
Or maybe he couldn’t tell Liam he felt the same way.
Coury patted the blanket atop Liam’s right leg. “Come on. Get up and let’s eat.”
Liam’s head spun.
“That’s a serious face,” Coury said. “Everything all right?”
“Just trying to remember last night.” Close enough to the truth.
“Stop stressing. I told you, you were fine.” He stood and raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay to get breakfast? We’ll stay away from the greasy stuff.”
“Ugh,” Liam covered his stomach with his hands.
“Yep, totally been there.” He opened his closet and pulled out a towel. “It’s clean, I promise.”
“I trust you.”
Coury’s smile faded. “Good. Let’s shower and we’ll eat before we head home.”
“The thought of food makes me queasy.”
“I know a place that specializes in not making hungover college kids queasy.”
“Don’t tease me. I’m not up for it.”
“I’m not messing with you, Liam. I wouldn’t do that.” Coury stopped by the end of his bed. “I’ll always tell you the truth.”
There was a message in Coury’s choice of words. Fog still enveloped his brain, and he struggled to burn it away. Coury hadn’t acknowledged the kiss, but he hadn’t denied it either.
“There’s that serious face again. Didn’t I tell you not to worry about last night?”
“Yeah, but . . .” Liam pushed back the sheets, still wearing Coury’s clothes.
“There are no butts allowed, unless it’s totally hot and attached to a single guy or girl.”
“Just the guys, thank you.” Just one specific guy.
Coury smirked as he swung Liam’s legs off the side of the bed and helped him sit up. “Whatever you like, so long as you get up. I did not drink last night, and my stomach would like to get paid for sparing my liver the damage.”
“It’s not like I poisoned my liver either. I only had three.” He winced and looked away. “That I remember.”
Liam felt the prickly heat on his profile where Coury stared at him. Then he shifted, moving into Liam’s view. “Like a good chaperone, I kept careful tabs on your consumption and cut you off when I thought you’d had enough. Unfortunately, I allowed you one too many. I’ll do better next time.”
“Nope. You were great. Thank you.” He stood and wondered if he should go for a hug. He wanted to feel Coury when he was sober. He refrained. “For everything last night.”
“Whatever, it was fun. I’ll have to find something else for us to do next Friday so we can keep your streak alive.” Coury winked and motioned with his head. “Let’s get ready. I promised my mom I’d be home around noon.”
* * *
If Liam ever needed to bring a date somewhere for breakfast, The Flax Shack would be on his shortlist. Coury hadn’t been kidding when he said no greasy food. The ancient-grains-themed pancakes came with fruit and a salad. Liam had been skeptical at first, but this was better than advertised.
“How did you find this place?” Liam asked, before he stuffed another bite of the sweet yet hearty breakfast into his eagerly waiting mouth.
“I cannot tell a lie, Nico told me. He makes it his job that I eat healthy. Said he didn’t want to share his boyfriend, so I had to eat better to cut down on Luke’s sick days.”
Coury looked healthy to him. “Has it worked?”
“It utterly failed to prevent me from tearing my oblique.” He crunched a bite of toast.
“It doesn’t work like that, you know.”
“That’s what Nico said.” He smiled, and it was sweeter than the syrup on his pancake. “I’m sticking to, ‘He made false promises.’”
“Yet you brought me here?”
“I promised you something your stomach wouldn’t hate you for eating. I couldn’t think of anywhere better.”
The waitress walked by and set their check on the table on a black plastic tray. Coury snatched it up.
Liam reached for his wallet. “How much should I give you?”
“Nothing, this was my treat.”
Liam straightened, a funny flutter in his stomach. “What? No. I mean. You don’t need to do that.”
“I want to.” He dropped his credit card on the tray and slid it to the edge of the table. Raising his coffee in Liam’s direction, he said, “I need your last memory of this Friday Fun Night to be a good one.”
“The whole night was a good memory,” Liam said quietly. It wasn’t a date, but it was the best date Liam had ever had.
