There’s a distinct scowl forming on my lips as Jake snatches my phone again, putting it on speaker and placing it on the table.
I glare at him while my lips curve wickedly. “Lockwood, is this your way of asking if I’m single? Because trust me, what with my history with your husband, I really don’t think it’s a good idea…”
I grin snidely at Jake, who fakes a laugh.
Suddenly, there’s a new voice barking at me through the phone—Ryan Harper. “Um hello, Tate. My husband is not hitting on you.”
My head tilts. “Oh hi, Ryan!”
“Hey. So this guy Lance—”
“Oh my God, whatever you do,don’ttell him where I am,” I breathe my exasperation out loud. “I’m trying to freeze him out so he gets the hint. I’m a fucking idiot and I can’t chase straight closeted guys anymore. It’s, like,beyondfucking toxic.”
I shoot Jake a look, to which he nods like he gets where I’m coming from.
But then a familiar brogue rumbles over the receiver, “Tate…”
My eyes widen. Jake’s eyes widen.
I mouth, “He’s there?!” And Jake shrugs, appearing baffled by this turn of events.
How the hell did he find Ben’s house??
This guy is like… nuts.
“Oh… fuck.” I rub my eyes. “Dude, boundaries! I can’t believe you came all the way down here!”
“I’m sorry, I just…” Lance’s voice trails for a moment, before he whispers, “I needed to see you.”
This is all so overwhelming. It’s been easy to brush him off with the distractions of work and living my life. But now that I’m here, andhe’sapparently here… And my best friend is staring at me with fucking swoon all over his face… I just don’t know what to think.
I swallow hard and ask, “Why?”
“To say that I’m sorry,” Lance speaks firmly. “And to tell you that I’ve been… thinking about you. Aboutus.”
I shake my head. “Yea, I told you, that’s not—”
“I mean before,” he cuts off my rebuff. “I was thinking about you before I saw you at Pride. For like… a while.”
Jake is motioning all around with his hands while I’m just blinking at my phone, flustered as hell and hating it.
I don’t get flustered… Ifluster. I’m not the one who should be feeling this way. But at the same time, I can’t help how my chest is melting inside like the ice cubes in my drink.
I hear people chattering in the background of the call. A female voices shouts aboutforgiving himandaccepting the love.
My head wobbles swiftly. “You guys don’t get it, okay??” I say to everyone who’s apparently listening to this whole embarrassing conversation go down. “It’s not that simple…”
“Can we at least talk?” Lance asks, his tone deeply pleading.
I can’t believe he can sound so rugged and masculine while he’s basically begging.
Begging forme…
“No,” I grunt.
“Tate, I’m already out here,” he breathes softly. “I drove for over five hours on the off-chance I might be able to track you down. I won’t stop until you agree to see me.”
Jake pouts at me, and I hear Ben grumble, “Okay, that’s really fuckin sweet…”
