God. He hoped not.
“What?” Candi asked, whipping out her phone. Her brow furrowed as her fingers flew over the screen. “You can’t back out now, Jeremy. I could have sworn you RSVP’d.”
She’d said the same thing when they’d run into each other at the gym. The woman was apparently a master at rewriting reality to suit her needs. Jeremy gave himself a mental eye roll. He’d been so focused on using this committee meeting of Candi’s as an excuse to see Nick again that he’d sort of pushed its actual purpose out of his mind. Now that she had him in her sights, though, he wasn’t sure how he was going to avoid getting roped into being a part of her committee, much less the reunion itself.
“I think I’ve got something else going on, on that date,” Jeremy said, mentally scrambling to think what excuse he could use. Gavin’s wedding? He couldn’t remember the date of the reunion, but if it was this summer, maybe that would work. “Something that I can’t get out of,” he added, hoping that would be enough.
“When is the reunion?” Nick asked, his mind-reading abilities in full force as he stepped in to tag-team the dodge.
Jeremy bit back a smile. The man was perfect. Well, okay, almost. Gay would have tipped the scales. Even bi. Actually, Jeremy didn’t really care what label got used, as long as it was one that included Nick wanting to get naked with him.
And for real, he had to stop thinking about getting naked with Nick.
The idea was occupying way too much of his attention lately.
He shifted in his seat, tugging the hem of his shirt down to cover his lap, just in case he failed to get the thought completely out of his mind.
“It’s the last weekend in September,” Candi said, her gaze sharpening. “There’s still plenty of time to adjust your plans, Jeremy. This is important! We only have a ten-year reunion once, you know.”
“Um…” Shit. Gavin was getting married in June. Jeremy had nothing for September. He shot Nick a look of desperation, forgetting for a moment that they were supposed to make it look like they weren’t getting along.
“Sorry, Candi,” Nick said, sliding his hand from the back of Jeremy’s neck to his shoulder and giving him a reassuring squeeze. “Jeremy and I will be in Seattle then.”
“We will?” Jeremy asked, a little frisson of excitement moving through him before he remembered that this was all play-acting.
But for real, he’d always wanted to visit Seattle. Not to mention how nice it sounded to have travel plans with his boyfriend. Fake boyfriend. Fake travel plans with his fake boyfriend.
“That’s the weekend of the Tough Mudder, remember, Pumpkin?”
“That’s right,” Marcie said, crossing her arms in front of her with a frown. So much for Candi’s claim that Marcie would feel better about Nick’s lack of attention once she “found out” he was gay. Girl looked distinctly sour. “Candi, you told me that they were training for it, remember? It was in Jeremy’s Facebook post.”
“But does it have to be that weekend?” Candi asked plaintively. “Reunion weekend? Can’t you enter a different race instead? Maybe one closer here in Oklahoma. Why would you want to fly all the way out west just to get dirty?”
Jeremy pressed his lips together, holding in an inappropriate comment about the lengths he’d be willing to go to in order to get dirty with Nick. Knowing Nick, it would probably make him laugh, but the way Marcie was looking at him, it might also cause her to commit bodily harm. He’d save it for never.
“Nope,” Nick answered Candi, giving her an easy smile as he shook his head. “I haven’t missed the Seattle Mudder in years, and I’m not going to start now.”
“But do you need to take Jeremy?” she pouted.
Nick shot him a look, silently raising his eyebrows. Apparently Nick wasn’t the only one who could read minds, because Jeremy could tell as clear as day that Nick was asking if he wanted to use the current topic to pick a fight.
The break up fight.
Jeremy gave a slight shake of his head. Definitely not. And then he grinned. Because if he was going to go along with the fiction that he was flying out to Seattle with Nick in September, he wouldn’t be able to stage a break up at all, not without giving Candi an excuse to push him into attending the reunion. Maybe Nick hadn’t thought it through, but using this excuse meant that they were going to have to keep fake dating. At least, as far as Candi was concerned.
“I do,” Nick said to Candi, staying in character by draping his arm around Jeremy’s shoulders and pulling him more tightly against his side. “He’s never been farther than Dallas, and I’m looking forward to showing him my hometown.”
Jeremy was surprised that Nick had remembered that fact, but it wasn’t the first time Nick’s memory for detail had impressed him.
Candi looked back down at her phone, frowning at it, her expression for all the world as if she expected to find something there that would give her more ammunition to get her way.
“Jeremy, you should have put the date of the mud run in your original post,” she said accusingly. “All you wrote is that you and Nick were doing it ‘later this year.’ That is… truly inconvenient.”
Marcie peeked over her shoulder, her eyes scanning the little screen as if she might pick up on something that would help her friend make her case.
“So you two go rock climbing?” Marcie asked.
Sam—someone Jeremy vaguely remembered as being outdoorsy from back in high school—perked up. “You guys climb at Chandler?”
Jeremy had no idea what Sam was talking about. The park out toward Prattville? Was there rock climbing there? He felt his cheeks start to heat up. This was exactly what he’d been worried about with that post. The fact that it was fake was going to become pretty obvious if they kept pressing him on it, and while it wasn’t the end of the world, it was definitely going to be embarrassing.
“Not yet, but I’ve been wanting to check Chandler out,” Nick said, leaning forward like he was genuinely interested. “Are there any bolted routes?”
“Yeah,” Sam said, nodding. “There are a few on Moffat Wall. Where do you guys normally go, then?”
Sam had been looking back and forth between the two of them, but his gaze settled on Jeremy.
Um.
Okay.
He could take this one… “Nick and I went last weekend, actually,” he said. “We were at, er—”
“New Heights,” Nick offered, jumping in to save Jeremy’s floundering.
“Right!” Jeremy said, grinning. “It was fun.”
“I’ve been meaning to check that place out,” Marcie said, butting back into the conversation. “Maybe you can take me sometime, Nick.”
Jeremy frowned. Nick laughed. Candi swatted Marcie on the shoulder.
“Marcie,” she hissed in a completely audible stage whisper. “He’s taken.”
“Sorry, Jeremy,” Marcie said, obviously not meaning it.
She was eyeing Nick up and down like she wanted to lick him, and while it was a sentiment Jeremy could completely relate to, nuh-uh. Girl needed to back the hell off. Nick was his.
Well, sort of.
“I’m just still having trouble believing Nick’s really gay,” she added. “I mean, just look at him.”
“See this bit Jeremy says about ‘ripping each other’s clothes off’?” Candi asked, waving her phone in front of Marcie’s face as she tapped the screen in proof. Because if it was on Facebook, for God’s sake, it must be true, right? “This is why Nick was never interested in you, Marcie.”
“Is that what we do in our spare time, J? Rip each other’s clothes off?” Nick asked, leaning closer to whisper the question in his ear, laughter in his voice. “And here you told me you weren’t big on physical activity.”
“Well, I may not hit the gym that often,” Jeremy whispered back, giving him a cheeky grin and refusing to be embarrassed. “But let’s just say you inspire me.”
So true.
Sooooo true.
Nick laughed, droppi
ng a hand onto Jeremy’s knee like he had in the truck. Which, given the direction of Jeremy’s thoughts, was inspirational enough to make him thankful he’d taken the time to position his shirt earlier.
“Candi, have you confirmed with the venue?” One of the other girls—Brittney—interjected, holding her tablet up with a frown. “Tom just noticed that they’ve got a different event listed for the same date.”
“What?!” Candi asked, her attention immediately shifting. Marcie grabbed Candi’s phone from her as Candi went into a huddle with Tom and Brittney.
“I can’t believe how varied your interests are, Jeremy,” Marcie said, her eyes scanning the little screen as she ignored the venue drama behind her. “What got you interested in astronomy?”
Jeremy was starting to think that it might have been a bad idea to come. Case in point, getting grilled by Tulsa’s most eligible bachelorette. Having her go through that stupid Facebook post point by point was putting him on the defensive.
And astronomy, God. Jeremy liked the idea of it—he’d read enough interesting factoids over the years to have sparked the interest that had made him list it in the first place—but the truth was that he really didn’t know much about the stars.
But okay, she hadn’t asked for astronomy facts. She’d only been asking what drew him to the subject, right?
“Books,” Jeremy said, an easy answer. Plus, true. “You know, reading about them. It got me interested. Because they’re interesting.”
Oh, God. That was the worst answer in the history of answers. Jeremy didn’t always do well under pressure. Marcie’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t going to let it go at that, was she?
“You said right here—” she tapped Candi’s phone, “—that it was a shared interest, but you and Nick really don’t seem to have a lot in common. I don’t know if I buy it. He’s never mentioned liking astrology.”
“Astronomy,” Jeremy corrected her. “And even if someone isn’t interested in the stars themselves, everybody likes stories, and there are a lot of interesting ones about the stars.”
“Like what?” she barked out, in full interrogation mode.
“Um,” he said, having no idea what he’d follow it up with. Still, it was a good, all-purpose word that would hopefully buy him some time while he tried to dredge up something from memory. And he would. He’d think of something if it killed him. The girl wanted his man, and she wasn’t going to give up graciously.
Well, fine, not technically “his” man, but whatever.
He narrowed his eyes right back at her.
It still wasn’t going to happen.
“You know the Summer Triangle, Marcie?” Nick asked, lifting Jeremy’s hand and tracing the freckles on his wrist with a finger.
Shiver-licious.
“No,” she said. “What’s that?”
“It’s a constellation. Three stars, Vega, Altair, Deneb.” Nick touched one of Jeremy’s freckles with each word. “You’ve never noticed it in the night sky? They form a triangle that’s easy to see this time of year. Vega is one of the brightest stars up there, and the Summer Triangle looks just like this.”
He rotated Jeremy’s wrist to show her. Jeremy had always hated those three freckles. They were on the inside of his wrist, and after an asshat on the playground had insisted they were dirt that he needed to wash off, he’d gone through a few years of middle school wearing nothing but long sleeves to hide them. Eventually, he’d gotten over the bit of petty bullying, but still, he’d never been a fan of the blemishes.
Until now.
“I’ve never heard of it. I only know how to find the big dipper,” she said, her eyes flicking over Jeremy’s wrist dismissively. “And the guy with the belt. Ryan?”
“Orion,” Nick corrected her. “You’ll only see that one in the winter. But there’s a legend about two of these—” he rubbed his thumb over Jeremy’s freckles, making his skin quiver, “—Vega and Altair. They’re lovers, separated by the Milky Way, and only allowed to meet once a year, on the seventh day of the seventh month.”
“Oh my God, that’s so romantic!” Candi said, rejoining the conversation.
“Is it?” Nick asked, his lip quirking up. “I’ve always thought of it as more sad than romantic, but then again, I’m not that good at romance.”
“Just think of it as a long-distance relationship,” Candi said perkily.
“I’ve never been a fan of those,” Nick said, laughing. He lifted the wrist he’d been holding and planted a kiss over the Summer Triangle freckles, winking at Jeremy as he added, “I’m just glad it’s only a story. It would suck if I only got to see you one day of the year, J.”
Nick had just kissed him.
Kissed.
Him.
Fine, just his wrist. But, still. The man’s lips had been on his skin. Jeremy tossed a triumphant look at Marcie, but honestly, even better than the look on her face was the way Nick laced their fingers together and acted like it was no big deal. Which, okay, it wasn’t, technically, but… it also was.
Or at least, it felt like it was.
Jeremy wanted it to be.
He slanted a look at Nick out of the corner of his eye, trying to remember if he knew any other straight men who would get into character quite as wholeheartedly as Nick did. The man was doing a fantastic job of making it look like they were really a couple. Making it feel like they were a couple. And sure, he said he was straight, but seriously, a straight guy wouldn’t go to the lengths that Nick did, would he?
Jeremy frowned.
Actually, come to think of it, he didn’t spend a whole lot of time with straight guys, so maybe he wasn’t the best judge. The only two that came to mind were Danny’s husband, Mace, and Gavin’s fiancé, Ben. And okay, fine, neither of them technically qualified as straight anymore, even if they’d started out that way.
God, was he just looking for reasons to justify his crush?
Yes.
Yes, he was.
But… did that necessarily make him wrong? Could Nick be into him?
Jeremy took a breath, letting it out slowly as he tried to give himself a reality check. He really wasn’t doing well with the remembering-it’s-just-make-believe thing. At all. Maybe it would be better for his own sanity if they did break up. Moving into the exes-that-are-still-friends category would still allow him to use going to Seattle with Nick as an excuse to get out of the reunion, right?
Or, like Lucy had said, he could just tell Candi some version of no when it came to both the committee and the reunion, with no explanation required.
But… breaking up was probably for the best, all around. Jeremy ignored the sick feeling the thought gave him in the pit of his stomach, and with an apologetic look at Nick—God, he really was going to come out of this looking like an ass, because who in their right mind would break up with Nick?—opened his mouth to get on with it.
“So is that what your books are about, Jeremy?” Marcie asked with a frustrated look at his hand. Which Nick was still holding. “Star-crossed lovers?”
“My books?” he asked, thrown off his about-to-break-up stride by the change in topic. What books? Astronomy books? He stocked a lot of different genres at Sir Reads-a-lot. Although yes, maybe his inventory was skewed a bit heavily toward romance, but it was the most read genre for a reason. Who didn’t love a good love story?
“Oh, that’s right!” Candi said excitedly. “You’re a published author, too! God, Jeremy, you’ve done so many interesting things!”
Oh.
Right.
Shit.
His hand tightened on Nick’s, and he could feel some of that not-sexy nervous sweat threatening to break out. Why did he even care what these people thought? What had Lucy said? Claim April Fools? Or could he just say that calling himself “published” was maybe a bit, um, premature? After all, he had written a few books. Just not, you know, actually had them published.
Jeremy swallowed, reaching for the tray of hors d'oeuvres on the coffee table. He
grabbed a chocolate-looking thing, then picked up a second one for Nick. Putting it in his mouth would save him from answering for another minute, right? And chocolate always helped.
“Oh, those are my favorite,” a blonde girl said from across the room. Lanie? Courtney? Jeremy had never been able to tell the two of them apart back at Edison, and he had zero extra mental capacity available to try now. “I just love the ones with nuts, don’t you?”
“Nuts?” Nick asked, his mouth full of chocolate. “Shit. I’m allergic.”
“Oh, no!” Candi said, scrabbling for a can of soda and handing it to him. “Drink this!”
So that Nick could… what? Wash it away? Was she kidding? Jeremy was pretty sure it didn’t work that way, but seriously, he couldn’t worry about her lack of first-aid knowledge at the moment. Weren’t nut allergies a Big Deal?
“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes roaming over Nick for signs of impending doom. Nick hadn’t broken out in hives yet, or had his face puff up, or, well, anything visible, really. He still looked completely mouthwatering, but Jeremy was not going to be distracted by that. “Do you need Benadryl? An EpiPen? The emergency room?”
“Yeah, maybe. We might need to go, J,” Nick said, his eyes sparkling.
Was that a sign? Death by sparkle? Oh, God. Jeremy had always intended to take a first-aid class. He was totally bumping it to the top of his goal list.
“Sorry, Candi,” Nick said, clearing his throat and rubbing his neck. “I’m gonna have to go take care of this.”
“Oh my God,” Jeremy said, jumping to his feet and pulling Nick up after him. He shoved a hand in the pocket of Nick’s jeans, fumbling around as he felt for his keys. And for real, he was not even distracted. Much. The idea of Nick’s head exploding or whatever was about to happen was taking 100% of his attention. Well, okay, maybe ninety-nine. Definitely not less than ninety-eight. Point five.
Damn, the man had thighs of steel.
But that was not important now.
“I’ll drive,” Jeremy said, forgetting to say his goodbyes as he pulled Nick out the door. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”
“You offering to give me mouth-to-mouth, Pumpkin?” Nick asked, plucking the keys from his hand with a wink when they arrived at the truck. “You did want to leave, right?”
The Delicious Series: The First Volume Page 51