Page 166 of Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions
What in the hell was wrong with me?
Being disappointed I hadn’t been offered a sweaty shirt?
Who the hell was I?
“If you need to borrow clothes, you’ll be borrowing mine.” His tone left no room for argument. Alex gathered a pair of ill-fitting—for me, not him—boxer briefs and joggers from his suitcase. He didn’t chuck these at me. These he handed gently, making sure to invade my space as much as possible, as per usual.
When he pecked my cheek, the action nearly took my breath away.
So innocent, but intimate.
“Now, grab your toothbrush,” Alex commanded, retreating to his own corner for just that.
I grabbed my toothbrush. And…morethan my toothbrush. Sliding the bottle of lube Alex had left in my backpack surreptitiously into the pile of clothing. I didn’t know where he’d gotten the bottle of lube in the first place, and truthfully, it didn’t matter. I was eager. And like him, I preferred to be prepared.
I’d initiated this.
The shower—that we both knew would lead to sex.
Which was something I’d never done.
As we made our way to the communal bathroom—because he was nosy—Alex couldn’t help but push. “Why did you only bring a tiny little backpack?”
Crickets were chirping, but otherwise, the world was eerily quiet.
“You don’t strike me as the kinda guy who comes unprepared,” Alex added, still talking. “That doesn’t seem like you at all.”
“My suitcase was, regrettably, lost,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I asked them to contact me, but as you know, my phone is still in your glove box.”
Alex took a second to reply. “So the backpack was…what? A backup bag in case your suitcase got lost—which it did?”
“Correct.”
“That is either genius-level of preparation, or paralyzing paranoia.”
“Things have a way of biting me in the ass,” I replied. “I’ve learned to…circumvent that.” Like the dildo—RIP Neil. Like the snake in the creek. Like my family’s matchmaking efforts—though admittedly, the ass-biting from that was far more pleasant.
“Oh.” Alex processed this. “What about a suit for the wedding? Are you going to wear what you had on at the airport?”
Fuck.
I’d nearly forgotten.
How was that possible?
“Absolutely not. That is casual linen. Not wedding appropriate.” I kicked at a rock, and Alex caught my elbow, twisting me to look at him. “I figured I’d ask Joe to take me to Columbus at some point to find something. I’d rather not look like a schmuck at your sister’s wedding. I would’ve gone earlier but I got…distracted.” By Alex.
Alex’s eyes held no guile. “I’d be happy to take you suit shopping.”
“You’re busy. I don’t want to inconvenience you.“
“Baby, you’re not an inconvenience.” Alex laughed, like I was being delightful and not an anxious ball of stress. “I need to head to Columbus anyway. I’m picking up my dad. You could come with me? We could leave tomorrow…or should I say, today? Considering the hour. What do you say? Shall we make it a date?” Alex kept talking, but I was stuck on the fact that he’d just invited me on a date.
Aformaldate.
“Dinner could be something fancy—” Alex tacked on, getting excited. “There’s this Italian place I fucking love. Best lasagna I’ve ever had. Oh shit! And the ice rink. I wanna take you there—and no, I won’t ask you to kiss my hockey skates.” Thank God he’d listened when I said I wouldn't. Kissing his napkin had been weird enough.
“I’ll fall on my face.”
