I can’t help but snort a laugh. “You sold access to your mouth for the price of a cocktail?”
“Hey, those things are expensive, and it was only one kiss.” He shrugs his shoulders, but they’re stiffer now. “Or it would have been.”
My eyebrows lift in surprise. “What happened?”
Logan pipes up at that one. “Patrick piked.”
“I changed my mind,” Patrick argues, his face now beet red.
I glance at Toni, who’s smile has become forced. He shifts in his chair, as if it’s suddenly grown spikes. “It turned out Patrick couldn’t bring himself to sample the goods.” One hand gestures to his lips with a flourish and he shrugs a single shoulder. “I still got the free drink, though, so I didn’t care.” Picking up his current drink, he takes a quick sip. “About an hour later, I found these two making out on the balcony of the club.”
A semi-awkward silence blankets the table as Toni and Patrick avoid looking at each other, and I’m officially horrified at the thought of Toni feeling rejected. I get he didn’t have any actual interest in kissing Patrick, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t sting when Patrick backed out of their deal.
Determined to fix the situation, I turn disbelieving eyes on Patrick. “So, you’re telling me you had the option of making out with dimples here,” I gesture to Toni, “or the chump over there,” my hand swings in Logan’s direction, “and you chose the chump?” I throw emphatic hands in the air. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Toni cracks a small grin while Patrick drops his head into his hands and Logan laughs his head off.
“There was nothing wrong with anyone,” Patrick insists. “It just turned out the chump, I mean Logan,” he corrects himself, looking at the man beside him, “Logan, was the right man for me.”
Gazing at his boyfriend, adoringly, Logan shakes his head. “Took you long enough to figure it out.”
“Yeah,” Patrick agrees. “I had to get my head out of my arse first. Thankfully, I had a good friend who helped me along the way.”
“A friend with benefits,” Logan adds, and they lean in for a brief kiss.
I like seeing Logan this happy. We didn’t know each other well when we were in school, but we were friendly. It’s good to know life has worked out for him.
The loud slurping of a straw begins beside me. Toni is laying waste to the remains of his drink, shoulders slumped and resignation where he usually keeps his fabulous.
A sly grin spreads out over my lips. This I can fix.
“Would you like another?” I ask, my low murmur still loud enough to be heard by everyone at the table. When he looks up, I raise an eyebrow at him. “I’d love to buy you a drink.” Every word of my sentence drips with innuendo.
Toni’s eyes drift closed, even as the corners of his mouth lift. “Why would you do such a thing?”
I lean closer, placing a hand on his knee under the table. “Because I’m longing to kiss you.”
Patrick laughs out loud, while Logan whoops in encouragement and claps his hands.
Now it’s Toni who’s turning pink. The flush of colour kicks my heartrate up in a way it no longer responds to anyone else. Because Toni is the right man for me, as Logan was the man for Patrick. I want Toni to understand that.
“You don’t have to buy me a drink to kiss me,” he murmurs, happily. “All you have to do is say please.”
I cock my head to one side as I stare at his mouth. “Pretty please with sprinkles on top?”
With a low chuckle, he shifts closer. One hand lifts to my jaw, his fingertips curling along its length. “Kiss me slow, darling.”
I do as I’m told, my lips touching his in a soft, leisurely kiss. We don’t go deeper, we’re still sitting in a restaurant, after all. But our kiss is a promise of more to come, a conversation put on pause until we get home.
Maybe we should skip dessert.
TWENTY-TWO
______
TONI
A barbecue with my family won’t necessarily be as much fun as our double date with Logan and Patrick. There’ll be less kissing involved, and even fewer cocktails. Still, there’s no avoiding it. When I told my mum I have a boyfriend, she completely lost the plot and started planning today’s introduction lunch on the spot. I’m not sure how to interpret the enthusiasm of her response. Granted, I’ve never brought anyone home before, but did even my own mother think I’d never find a boyfriend? I feel vaguely indignant about that.
