“Okay, but if I end up shitting in the street like Maya Rudolph in Bridesmaids, I’m gonna be pissed.”
I grin. “Guess it’s a good thing you’re already married. No trying on wedding dresses.”
Austen barks out a laugh.
We make our way down the steps and I lead us to the restaurant. If you had asked what I’d be doing tonight, not in a million years would I think it would be this.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Austen
I sip my beer—the same one I’ve been nursing all night—unable to stop grinning. I can’t remember the last time I laughed like this, the last time I hadfunlike this.
“Come on, just try one,” Cam says, shoving a sashimi slice of tuna at me. I glance down at the bright pink coloring, my stomach already protesting. Up until tonight, my idea of sushi was a California roll, or a smoked salmon and cream cheese roll, both of which havecookedfish in them. I’ve never eaten raw fish before. Just the thought of the cold, wet, slimy texture—gross.
I look up at him, noting his smirk.
I set my beer down and sigh, knowing that smirk means I’m going to give in whether I want to or not. And maybe there is apart of me that wants to impress him. That wants to show him I’ve changed and I’m not the same guy he left back in Virginia all those years ago. That I want to prove to myself, I’m not the same man…
“Just one,” I say, trying to give my best poker face. “But if I get sick—”
Cameron rolls his eyes, his tongue darting out to lick his lips as he watches me. I stab the piece of fish with my chopsticks and dredge it in enough soy sauce that I hope it blankets the taste. I let out a breath and chuck the fish into my mouth as fast as I can, and chew.
My eyes widen as I realize it’s… not bad.
The texture is almost buttery and it’s soft, and not at all unpleasant. I swallow, licking my lips as Cam smirks back at me. He pushes me another piece and I shake my head, grabbing it wordlessly.
“Just one, huh?” he says victoriously.
“You are a terrible influence,” I tell him. The second piece goes down easier as he casts me a wicked grin.
He drains the rest of his drink. “Uh huh. Don’t I know it.”
I wash down the salty taste of the soy sauce with the rest of my beer just as our waitress brings our check.
One check.
I reach for it, but Cam shoves my hand out of the way.
“I got this,” he says, his voice stern, but not overbearing. Yet, still, every muscle in my body stiffens from the tone. Including the annoying one between my fucking legs.
I cross my legs, knowing he can’t see me do so, quelling the sudden hardness.
“Cam—”
He waves me off as he slips his credit card on the plastic, over top of the bill, and hands it to the waitress.
“No buts, Austen,” he says, draining the last of his drink. I want to argue with him, want to protest. Gifts are mylove language, at least that’s what Alex tells me. He says it’s an inherited trait.
All the Brewers like to spoil the people they love. Sometimes in place of actual affection—okay, a lot of the time.
But there’s also a part of me that feels all warm and tingly from Cam’s gesture, and I can’t help the blush that creeps into my cheeks.
It’s just dinner, I know that. A dinner betweenfriends. But there’s a part of me that wonders ifthisis what it would be like to behis.
I never got to know many of Cam’s boyfriends, mostly because they didn’t stick around long enough for me to get to know, but even if they had, I would’ve been critical of them.
I wouldn’t have liked any of them, because none of them were ever good enough for him, in my opinion.
