Linc and Darren broke apart. Linc was adorably flustered, cheeks glowing pink as he smoothed his hair. “Darren forgave me.”
I laughed. “Well, I hope he wouldn’t kiss you like that if he was mad.”
Darren grinned and shrugged. “I’ll always want to kiss him. It’s why we’re doing this thing, right?”
Linc smiled at him. “Yeah. Still, I should have kept my big mouth shut.”
“Well, your big mouth is one of the things I love.” Darren wiggled his brows.
“Darren!” Linc smacked him as he blushed harder. “Stop. Maverick and his boyfriend are going to think we’re horny pervs!”
“Oh, we’re not boyfriends,” I said quickly. “We’re just?—”
“Mav,” Damon cut in, voice tight. “Can I talk to you alone for a minute?”
Shit. Shit shit shit!
Linc looked between us. “Uh-oh. Did I put my foot in it again?”
“Maybe we should go,” Darren said, reading the room appropriately. “Thanks for all the work you’re doing to help us with the floral arrangements. We’ll be in touch.”
They slipped out the door, the chime echoing into the tense silence left in their wake.
I turned slowly, dreading what Damon might say.
“I’m so sorry,” I blurted. “I didn’t tell anyone we were a couple. Linc just assumed, I guess, and I don’t know what Iola’s said. I shouldn’t have asked you to come by the festival. I wasn’t thinking.”
Damon blinked. “Well, I thought we were a couple. I guess I got it wrong, huh?”
What?
“But you’re in the closet.”
“Am I?” he challenged. “I told Lyle right after we hooked up. I told my family today too. I admit, they heard the rumors and asked, but I never planned to hide anything. Do you really think I’d have gone through Iola for that date if I was worried about secrecy? She’s a huge gossip.”
My heart fluttered with hope. “So, you’re okay with people knowing about us?”
“If there’s an us,” he said. “I wasn’t sure by the way you kept deflecting.”
“I was doing that for you!” I exclaimed. “You haven’t taken me out anywhere or said anything about a relationship. I thought maybe I was just, you know, some sexy fun.”
His eyes softened, and he closed the distance between us. “Maverick, I knew you wanted a relationship when you wentalong with the matchmaking. You went on all those shitty dates, and I knew you deserved better. I’d never have started something with you just to string you along.”
“Oh.”
His smiled sadly. “But if I’m not the kind of boyfriend you want, I’d get that. I didn’t exactly make a great impression on you with the pranks. And let’s be real, I’m not great at relationships, which apparently the whole town knows about.”
“I pranked you back just as much,” I said, realizing it was true. Our prank war could have been one skirmish. It took two to keep it going. “If I’m honest, Ilikedpranking you. I kind of miss it.”
He chuckled. “Really? Does that mean you won’t kick my ass if I prank you again?”
“Oh, I won’t kick your ass. But I will pay you back tenfold.”
He grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“So, you’re really okay with people knowing that we’re dating?” I asked nervously. “Because I’ve kind of been strung along before. I guess I was projecting some of those fears onto you, which isn’t fair, but I really don’t want to be that foolish again.”
“And I really don’t want to be the asshole ex again.” Damon raised his hand to my cheek, cupping it and leaning in to kiss me. “I promise that I’d never make a fool of you, Mav. You might have been my pain-in-the-ass neighbor all these years, but I’d have lain down in traffic for you. That’s the truth. All this time…” He licked his lips. “I guess I was kind of crushing on you. I just didn’t know it.”
