Art and I have sat at this table a hundred times, and we’ve never come close to touching. I’ve never even considered where his knees were. That realization settles wrong, and I shift uncomfortably.
Lance’s shoulders are tense and he lifts a single brow, glaring into the bowl.
“It’s stew, not poison.”
His lips twitch, and if he weren’t so violently opposed to expressing human emotion, I’d think maybe he’s enjoying annoying me.
Finally, he brings the spoon up to his mouth and takes a bite.
Meanwhile, I’m pretending I’m not watching his reaction.
“Good?”
He grunts, already taking another spoonful. “It’s fine.”
A warm fire settles in my chest, and I lean back, our knees brushing again when I do.
I pull away like I’ve touched something hot.Why is my stomach jumping?It shouldn’t. Not from an accidental knee tap. Not fromhisknee, especially.
Clearing my throat, I dive into my own stew and tuck my feet behind the legs of my chair, and I don’t look at him again until I’m done.
Unfortunately, when Ido, he’s smiling. And it’s…transfixing. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him genuinely smile before.
I stare at him without blinking.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“What do you mean, what am I doing? What areyoudoing?”
“You were gawking.”
“I wasnotgawking.”
He tilts the chair back until it’s balancing on two legs. “Do you know the definition of gawking?”
“I don’t know the literal definition, no.”
“It means to stare openly and stupidly.”
Standing up, I rip the empty bowl from him and carry it to the kitchen, filling it with a second helping. “What are you, Merriam-Webster?”
He smirks.
“If you wanted to call me stupid, you didn’t have to weave it into conversation like that.”
The bowl smacks the table as I set it in front of him.
“I don’t think you’re stupid.” He glances at the food. “You were counting.”
“And? You have a problem with numbers?”
Lance watches me silently.
His attention shouldn’t bother me like this. It never feels like my soul’s trying to jump out of my body when Art’s here, and I have no idea how two guys who are best friends could be so incredibly different.
“It’s just something I do sometimes,” I say.
