“Yes,” he rasped, his eyes shining as he drifted closer.
Oh god, was he sad? Enraptured? I eased back. “How can we be sure you’re ready? Do we wait a few months? What about weeks? What are the boundaries?”
“I’m not sure.” He chuckled, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. “What are you hoping for?”
Comfort. Companionship.
Not love, exactly.
“I’m curious,” I said.
“About being with a guy?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Well, I know how women work.” I was one. I stroked the fair hair on his forearm and it prickled to attention. “I’ve wondered what it’s like to be with a nice man.” One who could make me laugh. They were shockingly hard to come by, in my experience. One who valued my friendship without access to my body was even rarer.
“Am I a nice man?” He grinned.
“So far, yes.” I struggled to keep my gaze on his twinkling eyes instead of his charming smile. “But I’d like you to be honest, even if it means we’re incompatible. Forget everyone else’s happiness. What doyouwant?”
He inhaled deeply and wrapped his arm around me, craning his neck toward the ceiling. “Cuddles, chats, and maybe sex. Right now, all I want is someone I can talk to. Someone who doesn’t expect me to be ‘on’ all the time, or that I’ll take her out every weekend, or suck up to her friends.”
“That won’t be a problem. I hate going out, and I don’t have many friends.”
Sal laughed, then sat up. “Wait, are you serious?”
I nodded and pushed up my glasses. “I moved and changed my name. Now, I have online friends, but they sort of cycle depending on what game I’m obsessed with at the moment.” There weren’t guilds in Craft Cove, though. I was expected to make real-life friends to build with. At least I had. Sort of. “We’re friends, though, right? Friends who kiss?"
“Sounds like we might be heading toward a friends-with-benefits situation,” Sal said, awkwardly shimmying closer with a little laugh.
But what about his other friends? I cringed at the idea of that white-haired waiter congratulating him for hooking up with someone, asking for details, or pushing him to get someone better. Even that bouncer guy might judge us for our arrangement. I could see him calling us idiots. My brother would definitely have an opinion about this. Would there be a weird tension between me, Sal, and Ash?
None of that mattered, but my insides twisted all the same.
I stroked his fuzzy cheek. “You won’t…tell people about what we’re doing, right? We can keep it private?”
His smile twitched. “Sure.”
“I don’t want any drama. Or games.” I frowned. “Except Craft Cove. And maybe Just Rock, if I can get that track pad to work again.”
He chuckled and shook his head, his dimples fully on display. “Can I kiss you again?”
“Yes.”
My heart raced into overdrive, and I sealed my lips over his.
If we’d started out above average, I could only imagine how excellent we’d be with practice.
20
Friend Like Me
We didn’t make out for the whole evening. Space Spies 3009 was too engrossing. But there were moments we sparked. Stolen glances. Shared laughter. Analytical banter about the characters.
Sal pointed at the screen with a piece of pizza. “That spy is just like my uncle Paulie. He always knows someone. You need a mechanic? Or a parking ticket taken care of? He’s got you covered.”
I eyed the remaining boxes. “If he’s half as social as you, I’m not surprised he has lots of friends in weird places.”
“What’s weird about my friends?” He chewed on his pizza at a diagonal angle and stretched his free arm behind me, his eyes twinkling.
