He met my gaze steadily. “In a manner of speaking.”
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I cleared my throat. “I was just kidding, you know?”
“I know,” he replied. “Nobody’s gonna touch a hair on Mark’s head as long as he leaves Brendan alone.” He pointed at the sandwich on my plate. “Eat. Your stomach’s been complaining this whole time.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “You like taking care of people, don’t you?”
Tony’s mouth turned down in a frown. “I was being pushy. I apologize.”
I hastened to reassure him. “No, that’s not it at all. It’s nice. You don’t get that a lot when you live alone.”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Unless you have nosy, interfering younger brothers.”
A wave of longing came over me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken to either of my siblings. “You’re lucky to have them,” I said. “I enjoy watching the three D’Angelo brothers get together. It’s easy to see how much you love each other.”
He smiled fondly. “Yeah, when they’re not driving me crazy.”
There were a few minutes of silence while I ate my sandwich and Tony finished his coffee. He set down his cup and tilted his head slightly. “What are we doing here, Greg?”
I’d been waiting for that question, and I had my answer all prepared. I hoped he would be on board with my suggestion. “I want us to be friends,” I began.
His brow furrowed. “I kinda thought we were.”
I took a moment to organize my thoughts. “We are, but before now, we’ve only spent time together when there was some event that involved Jeremy or someone’s birthday. Now that we live in the same city, I was hoping we could get together moreoften, like today’s happy accident. Maybe grab a drink or a bite to eat. Just to hang out and talk.”
“It seems to me we did a lot more than talk last night,” he said, his expression unreadable.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Dammit. I hated that I couldn’t get past my own fear. “We did. And I loved every minute of it.”
“But…?”
Best to rip off the Band-Aid. “But that’s all it can be for me.”
His brows drew together. “Meaning what?”
I couldn’t understand why this was so hard for me to say. It never had been before. “Meaning I’d like us to be friends with benefits. No strings. No commitments. We stop whenever it stops working for us. But we keep the friendship.”
Once again, his expression became unreadable as he processed what I’d said. Finally, he nodded, a slow smile curving his lips. “Okay. I can do that.”
Relief washed over me. “Really? That’s great.”
“Did you think I’d say no?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I wasn’t sure. You seem like the kind of man who wants marriage. A home. Maybe kids and a dog.”
For a brief moment, sadness flashed in his eyes so quickly I would have missed it if I hadn’t been looking right at him. “Yeah, well, for the time being, it’s not in the cards for me. If that changes, I’ll let you know.”
I grinned and held out my hand. “Deal?”
He chuckled and shook my hand. “Deal.”
CHAPTER NINE
TONY
I hit Sal’s number, unsurprised when he answered before the end of the first ring. “Anthony. Is it settled?”
“It’s settled,” I replied. “Our friend Mark won’t be hassling Brendan anymore.”
