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He waved his hands around again, nearly spilling more drink. “No! Jesus, if I knew advanced moves, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t… I’d…” He seemed distracted by his own thoughts. “Can you teach me some advanced moves? Maybe we can do that while we’re fake dating. That would be amazing. Like… like sex lessons. Sex sessions. Sexions.”
“I want to eat your entire foot.” When I scraped my bottom teeth against the tender arch of his foot, he yelped and pulled his foot back.
“Ticklish. Rude.”
I thought about his sex lesson proposal. He clearly didn’t need any kind of lessons, but if agreeing to it gave me the ability to return to his bed several more times before parting ways…
“Yes. I will teach you the advanced moves,” I said solemnly. “But you must agree to be an enthusiastic and thorough student.”
“I was top of my nursing class,” he said absently. “I’ll do you proud, Teach.”
Teo’s feet snuck back onto my lap, and I began massaging them again. “Maybe I need a grand gesture,” he said after a while, looking up at the ceiling. “Like in those romance movies.”
“What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you… haven’t you ever wanted someone to swoop in and just, like… flash mob you or something?”
“No. Definitely not.” The very idea of a public declaration made me sweat. What if the person rejected you right there in front of the fucking Bean? No. No, thanks.
“I want a grand gesture one day,” he said dreamily. “I want Chris to… just… forget about everything else for one shining moment of… of Teodor Parisi is the center of my world. Maybe write it in flowers on the Sky Deck or something, I don’t know.”
He was so cute. I could watch him all night long with his quirky grin and bright eyes. “And what grand gesture would you do for him?”
He snorted. “He’d be happy if I got him a chili dog and cold beer. It’s the secret indulgence no one’s allowed to know about.” His eyes went wide, and he clapped his hand over his mouth. “Wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”
I rolled my eyes. “A Chicago boy likes a hot dog and beer. That’s espionage-level classified shit right there.”
Teo dropped his hand. “I guess you’re right. He’s not really the grand-gesture type. Maybe most men aren’t. But…” He shrugged. “It’d be nice to have some kind of proof once and for all that someone loves me enough to draw a line in the sand and say, you’re worth a little embarrassment. You’re worth a hundred bucks of daisies laced end to end in the shape of our initials. You’re worth a moment on the Kiss Cam at the Cubs game.”
I imagined leaning over and tasting his lips during a baseball game. “You’re worth a moment on the Kiss Cam, Teo,” I said. “And if he doesn’t think so, you need to find someone who does.”
He was quiet for long enough, I wondered if maybe he’d passed out on me. I continued to run my hands up and down his calf muscles. After a while, he spoke softly. “Boyfriend Jack?”
“Mm-hm?”
“You promise you’ll give me lessons?”
Now I was the one half-asleep. I was so comfortable there with him, warm and buzzy from the drinks and good company. “What kind of lessons, babe?”
“Mm… not just sex lessons, but… but maybe boyfriend lessons too?”
I opened one eye to peer at him. “What kind of boyfriend lessons?”
He lifted one shoulder, shifting my worn-out hoodie until I could see a peek of his creamy skin through the neckline. “Like how to go on dates and stuff. I’ve never done any of that, and he’s dated like… everyone.”
“I don’t know if I’m such an expert on relationships, Tee. Every time I’ve ever tried dating anyone, it’s gone horribly wrong.”
Teo sat up straighter and then sort of tipped forward and let his momentum carry him until he was sitting in my lap again, curled up against my chest. He smelled like cinnamon and chocolate from a weird candy called Chicken Bones I’d picked up as a joke.
“I should probably feed you an actual meal,” I murmured into his hair.
“No, tell me about the dates. The guys you dated, I mean. And why they didn’t work out.”
13
Teo
I mostly wanted to get closer to him so I could inhale his cologne. When Jack had run out of there earlier that morning to meet Nate, he hadn’t had time for much more than a splash of cold water and a quick brush of his teeth. At lunch, he’d smelled like airplanes and snow mixed with the faint remnants of the hotel shower soap from last night, but I’d noticed when I’d woken up from my nap, he’d smelled like some kind of sexy cologne.
And the thought he’d put it on for my benefit drove me nuts. I could never ask him about it, but I sure as hell could suck it in like my life depended on it.
