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“That’s three,” Kojo pointed out.
“I haven’t seen him in a year. You can hardly expect me to remember every detail.”
“Fair enough.” Kojo picked up a glass jar of sliced peaches and inspected the label, glancing up briefly. “Chloe?”
Eric shook his head. “What’s the point of this stroll through Trauma Town?”
“Don’t be dramatic.” Kojo’s voice held zero sympathy. “Chloe.”
“Beautiful.” Eric paused. “Wanted to see the world. Confident.”
“Nadia?”
“Jesus, mate, that was a decade ago.” Since Eric knew that Kojo wouldn’t let it go, though, he crossed his arms and considered it. “Pretty, sweet, the popular girl.”
Kojo set the jar back down with a satisfied nod. “I rest my case.”
“What case?”
“The first thing you said about Lucas, Chloe, and Nadia? Some variation of ‘eye candy’.” Kojo leaned forward, mouth curved into a triumphant smile. “The first thing you said about Adrian? ‘Smart’. Followed by ‘funny’.”
“Sexy,” Eric said weakly because he’d said that, hadn’t he?
“That’s the third thing you said, yes. Which, frankly, is a bit more personal than ‘gorgeous’ or ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’.”
Eric inhaled slowly, and exhaled again. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that maybe this is different. That maybe this time, you’re in love with an actual person rather than some idealised version of them.” Kojo blew out a breath. “I sure as hell didn’t hear anything like ‘he settles me’ when you were with Lucas. More like ‘he’s out of my league’ and ‘how do I keep him interested?’”
“I’m.…” Eric took a step back and bumped into a shelf. “I mean, I’m not, like… I was a little in awe of Lucas, I guess. And Adrian is every bit as amazing, but he doesn’t… He makes me feel safe.”
Kojo’s smile turned quiet. “So help him.”
“You think so?” Eric hesitated. “You don’t think it’ll come across as too much?”
“Look, I can’t see inside the bloke’s head. But I’ve seen married couples that look more casual than you two.”
Adrian had looked shocked when he’d found Eric packing—like it was the rotten cherry on top of yesterday’s fungus-infested cake.
Eric pressed his lips together, exhaling through his nose. “I thought I could send Lucas a message, ask him to make Max mention the Gletscherhaus. That should be enough to boost bookings, right? And the way things went down, they owe me.”
“Fuck yeah, they do.”
“So you think I should?”
“What’ve you got to lose?” Kojo returned.
It would be a statement—not quite a declaration, but sure as hell a departure from the casual arrangement with Adrian that Eric had signed up for. Also… “It’ll clue Adrian in to how I’m a bit more successful than I told him.”
Kojo made a considering noise. “And how do you think he’ll react?”
“He’ll be upset I wasn’t honest.”
“You don’t think he’ll be delighted to learn he bagged a rich guy?” Kojo tagged a grin onto the end of the question,
“No.” Eric shook his head. “He wouldn’t take my money even if I shoved a duffle bag at him and ran before he could hand it back.”
“I like that in a person,” Kojo said.
