If anything, it makes him more attractive. There’s something about the way he carries himself, confident but not arrogant,experienced but not jaded, that suggests he’s lived enough life to know what he wants.
“I love the little bit of silver in your hair, Uber man, makes you look distinguished,” Sage says, shoving more pancakes in her mouth.
Nitro chooses to ignore her and turns to me instead. “She always like this?”
I chuckle as Sage drops her mouth open in mock shock. “Yeah, she has awholevibe.”
Nitro shrugs. “I dig it.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir,” Sage chimes, bowing her head and waving her fork through the air. “We can keep this one, Marles.”
I chuckle out a laugh. “Okay, too much sugar for you this morning.”
Nitro smiles at me. “You don’t wanna keep me, Small Town?”
I grin, because I do. Ireally, reallydo. “Look, I’m just a small-town girl… living in a lonely world… I don’t need to be corrupted by a city boy.”
Nitro raises an eyebrow at me. “Is that what I am, a city boy?”
I shrug, trying to look innocent. “Well, you called me Small Town. Seems only fair you get a nickname too.”
“City Boy,” he repeats, testing it out. And then he grins.
Sage snorts into her salted glass of orange juice. “You guys are so fucking weird.”
The rest of breakfast passes in a blur of laughter and teasing, and Sage dramatically declares that she’s never drinking again.
A lie.
We all know it’s a lie.
But the whole time, I’m hyperaware of Nitro across the table.
The way he listens when I talk, and like every word matters.
The way he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention.
The way my heart speeds up every time our eyes meet.
This is probably a terrible idea.
Fake dating to make my ex jealous.
But terrible ideas have never been so damn tempting.
And as Nitro stands to leave, promising to text me later so we can ‘think about it’ even though we both know I’m already in, I smile.
“Thanks for breakfast,” Nitro says, pausing in the doorway. “And for the entertainment.”
“You’re welcome anytime, City Boy,” Sage calls from where she’s flopped back on the sofa with a pillow over her face. “Just bring coffee next time. Lots of coffee.”
He looks at me, and there’s something in his expression that makes my breath catch. “I meant what I said, Small Town,” he says quietly. “You’re beautiful. Don’t let anyone make you forget that.” Then he’s gone, the door closing softly behind him, leaving me standing in Sage’s living room with my heart pounding, my head spinning, and the distinct feeling that my life just changed in a way I can’t quite articulate.
“You’re gonna fall in love with him,” Sage mumbles from under her pillow.
“Shut up.”
“I’m serious! You’re going to fake date him, and then you’re actually going to date him, and then you’re going to marry him and have adorable babies with red hair and big muscles.”
