Cael was in love with him. Had been for years.
The whole thing just plain sucked because Cael couldn’t tell him. If he did, he knew Zach would feel guilty about the fact that he didn’t reciprocate Cael’s feelings and he would try to make him feel better somehow. Zach didn’t need that burden, and the truth was, Cael felt better anytime he was around him, even if he couldn’t touch him the way he so desperately wanted to.
Cael had pressed his leg lightly to Zach’s in the tight space beneath the table, and either Zach hadn’t noticed or he didn’t care. Probably the latter, because Zach had never been one to shy away from his touches, even if he wasn’t interested in guys. Of course, that also meant Cael had to be extra vigilant in not going too far beyond the friend zone.
“No freakin’ clue,” Cael said in answer to Zach’s question about the bet as he opened a package of butter and began spreading it over his waffle so it could melt.
“Well, let’s see if we can piece together the clues we do have,” Zach said as he cut up the last bit of sausage before mixing the over-easy eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage together the way he always did. “Abbey and Chloe placed bets on when something involving the both of us would take place, and they did so years ago.”
Zach paused, scrunching his face, twisting his lips sideways and pinching his brows together. God, he was so cute when he did that.
Chloe had discovered Cael’s crush on Zach years ago, and Cael was sure she’d told Abbey. Those two were nearly as inseparable as him and Zach, only neither of them had fallen in love with the other the way Cael had gone and done.
“Don’t forget the blinders comment,” Cael added. He had to keep up appearances and look as if he were actually helping Zach decipher the puzzle.
“Oh yeah. So that’s gotta have to do with something you and I aren’t seeing.” Zach stared at Cael as he took a bite of the sausage, potato, and egg mixture, then a drink of coffee.
Zach’s eyes locked on his. Cael could see the gears grinding. Zach was thinking hard, trying to come up with the answer and solve the puzzle Cael’s little sister had just fed him, and Zach was a sucker for puzzles, often to the point where they would consume him.
The way Zach looked at him now, however, it was as though he was reading his soul. After a moment, Zach’s searching gaze morphed and his dark brown eyes narrowed in the slightest, barely discernible amount, as if he’d found something he hadn’t expected to find.
Zach’s potential discovery jacked Cael’s pulse up a bit, but he’d been hiding the way he felt about Zach for so long now that he immediately and instinctively applied his defense mechanism.
Cael raised one eyebrow and feigned a smirk as if he’d caught Zach nosing somewhere he didn’t belong. “Keep looking at me like you want to kiss me and you might regret it.”
“Shut up.” Zach half grinned as he said it, then blushed and looked away, grabbing a package of strawberry jam. As he peeled back the foil cover, Zach gave his head a subtle shake.
Cael wasn’t sure what that was all about, but he couldn’t resist giving him a hard time about it. “You want it, Pook, all you have to do is ask.”
Zach rolled his eyes, smearing jam over a triangle of toast. “Two offers in one day? Shit, Manning, you that hard up?” He smirked, his eyes shining with laughter and mischief and… something more.
“Hey, gimme a break. I’ve been looking after your sorry ass for the last couple months.”
Zach’s voice softened, and the light in his eyes faded again. “Yeah, thanks.”
“Sorry, Pook. Seriously, though, you need to let go and move on.”
Zach looked up from his plate, searching Cael’s eyes, as if looking to him for answers. He sucked in a sharp breath, dropping his gaze a little, and drew his bottom lip into his mouth with his teeth. When he lifted his eyes again, Cael swore he could see the question hiding behind them. Christ, he’d give Zach whatever he needed or wanted, if he would just ask, because as much as he loved him, Cael wasn’t a freakin’ mind reader.
“What?” Cael asked, hoping Zach would just tell him.
Zach shook his head and stared past him out the window. “Nothing.”
***
The fifteen-minute drive to Gramm’s remained quiet, which could be normal for Zach, but the silence drove Cael crazy because Zach had been tight-lipped and contemplating ever since that nervous look of realization passed over his face at breakfast. If Zach had figured out Cael was hiding something from him, Cael would be stuck lying to him or telling him the truth, and either way, things would get weird between them because, in reality, how could they not?
It would be like the embarrassing moment in some movie where the gay guy is found to be in love with his straight best friend, only it wouldn’t end with the predictable, happy ending where the best friend realizes he’s gay too, because real life simply didn’t work that way, no matter how much Cael wished it would.
“Dude, you okay?”
Zach’s concerned voice dragged Cael from the cruel torture his brain had inflicted upon him, and Cael looked at him for a brief second before turning into the cracked, asphalt driveway of his grandmother’s house.
“Yeah. Why?” Cael put the truck in park and switched off the engine.
“You just seem a lot quieter than usual.”
“Oh. Nah, I’m good. I was just trying to give you some quiet to work through that puzzle in your head.” Cael faked a grin and a small laugh. “Speaking of head, how’s that hangover doin’? Those little leprechauns still at it?”
