James raised an eyebrow and gave me a little smirk. "What the hell makes you think Nico doesn't want you like that? I've watched him around you for years now. And trust me, I saw that picture. Men don't kiss women like that unless they want them."
"We were both a little shit-faced, James. He probably didn't even realize what he was doing."
James laughed outright at that. "You are delusional, my friend. But we'll come back to that. Tell me about these other men you've been dating."
"There's no one special. Nobody I wanted to go out with a second time, really, except for Liam. His son goes to preschool with Gracie. We went out three times."
"And?" he asked, waggling his brows comically.
"Stop with the eyebrows," I scolded. "You look like Groucho Marx' dorky cousin!"
He clutched his chest in pretend pain. "You wound me, Allie-cat. I'm clearly the more handsome younger brother. And quit avoiding the question. Spill the tea, woman. Did you get any action?
"What???" I sputtered out a laugh.
"Come on...was there a happy ending? A little hanky-panky? Did you fog up the car windows?" At my pointed look, he added "Tell me you at least got a goodnight kiss?"
I blushed a little. "God, you're a nosy fucker, you know that? Yes, since you must know. After our last date, we did go back to my house for a while. We, uh, we made out a little."
"Clothes on or off?"
I shot him another look. "What?" he asked innocently. "It's important information to have."
I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Clothes on, pervert. A little askew, maybe, but still on." He snorted at that. My grin faded as I got serious for a moment. "It was nice, being close to somebody again, but I just couldn't do it. It felt wrong. I...I felt like I was cheating."
He nodded in understanding and put his arm around me to draw me in for a hug. "It wasn't cheating, you know," he said, kissing my temple. "He wanted you to be happy." I didn't have the heart to tell him I hadn't been thinking of Alex while I was with Liam. I'd felt like I was cheating on Nico.
James made it a point to lighten the mood after that, asking me about Gracie's latest antics. We sat there talking for a while longer before he headed home. As I closed the door after him, I realized how lucky Alex had been to have James as his best friend, and how grateful I was that he was still in our lives.
