“I’m not saying that, but usually your primary criteria for a guy is he has to be good-looking, sexually adventurous, and open to threesomes. Someone you can have an intellectual discussion with doesn’t seem to factor into your consideration when you’re more concerned about how skilled he is at sucking your dick. After all, it makes it a little difficult to have a conversation with him when his mouth is full of you.”
I laughed hard at Felix’s trademark bluntness, but Isidore stopped me with his keen observation. “Armand has always been attracted to intelligent men. That’s why he stays away from them. It saves him from the danger of falling for his conquests.”
His point was a reminder that Arsène wasn’t the only one who knew me so well sometimes. “Zio’s not a conquest. He’s everything I didn’t know I wanted.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him!” Felix looked downright gleeful at the prospect. “He has to be hot, right?”
To satisfy their curiosity, I texted them a few of the pictures of Zio I had snapped while he was unaware and the ones of us together. Arsène must have pulled them up on his computer screen because they all reacted at the same time.
“What the fuck? He’scute! Since when do you docute?” Wren asked in outrage.
“Wow, I would have lost that bet on who’s your type. I figured he would have been a buff model, not an adorable cutie,” Felix commented with surprise. “Damn, no wonder you were interested in me when we first met.”
I snickered at his reaction. He certainly wasn’t wrong. There were quite a few similarities between them that didn’t escape me.
Isidore nodded to himself. “It makes sense that you’d fall for someone who is the complete antithesis of the men who normally warm your bed.”
“Most importantly, you are happy with him,mon ami,” Arsène said with warmth. “You look at him with so much love already. All you need to do is tell him with words so he understands. Do not make him guess when you are so clearly enamored with him.”
“I hope it goes as well as you think it will.” The idea of confessing my feelings to Zio filled my stomach with a nervous flutter I hadn’t experienced before.
“There isn’t a man who could resist falling for you if you truly loved them,” Isidore added.
Wren scoffed. “I certainly wouldn’t fall for him!”
Isidore pulled his boyfriend closer by the waist and gave him a sweet kiss. “That’s because you’re in love with me.”
Wren cuddled against him with a happy noise. It meant everything to me that Isidore had that kind of partner. “Yeah, I am.”
“All jokes aside, it’s awesome that you’vefinallyfound someone to be serious about,” Felix said. “You’re so great at taking care of people, so having a boyfriend to cherish will be good for you.”
“Merci, Felix.”
“Maybe now you’ll quit teasing me,” Wren muttered, making all of us laugh.
“I’ll never do that when it is so entertaining getting you riled up.”
He crossed his arms over his chest with a pout. “You’re such an ass.”
“I miss you, too,mon petit chat, but I’ll be back to play with you soon enough. Hopefully, with a newbeauin my life.”
“If you need anything else, all you have to do is ask,” Arsène said.
“Merci beaucoup,mon ami.” I really had lucked out with the best friend in the entire world. “That means everything to me.”
I ended the call after exchanging goodbyes with everyone. While I was still nervous about being honest with Zio about my feelings, I had a renewed sense of hope that maybe things would work out for us.
