by Jack Harbon
“Patricia Hayes,” was all Jordan said.
“Patricia who?”
“Hayes. She writes fast-paced, sexy paranormal romance. I’m assuming you also didn’t like how chaste and sweet everything was in Duke’s?”
A smirk crossed Rex’s lips, and he leaned back in his seat. “It was fine. I would’ve liked something more explicit.”
“Then start with Patricia’s Beasts of Brooklyn series. It covers all the bases. Fast, sexy, lots of blood and action, and there’s even an asshole that gets exactly what he deserves. No offense, of course.”
Rex licked his bottom lip, and without another word, he pulled his phone from his pocket and slid it across the table. Jordan barely caught it before it fell from the edge and clattered to the ground. His eyes went wide.
“What is this for?”
“Write a few more recommendations down. I’ll forget, otherwise.”
Jordan took a moment to think before he began listing series names and authors that he thought Rex might enjoy. He steered clear of anything too low-stakes, opting for the dramatic side of the spectrum. Books with intrigue, murder, and scandals. Those happened to be his favorite as well, so by the time he finished, the list on Rex’s phone was longer than he’d intended.
“Done?” Rex asked.
“Yep, here you go.” He started to hand the phone back when Rex shook his head.
“Put your name and number down in there, too.”
“W-what?” Jordan blinked. He couldn’t be serious. “Why?”
“In case I have any pressing issues with these books, or the club. Everyone else in the club has your number, right?” The Cheshire grin he wore told Jordan that this was about more than just books. Was this his roundabout way of flirting or making the first move?
“Okay,” he said, quickly creating a new contact and adding his information. He saved and slid the phone back to Rex, slipping his hands underneath the table to wipe the sweat from his palms. He didn’t need Rex seeing just how much he affected him. Taking back control of the situation, he produced his own phone from his pocket and handed that over as well.
“Put yours down, too.”
Rex cocked up an eyebrow but said nothing. He took a moment to put in his number and handed it off. Jordan reached for the phone, but Rex kept his grip. His eyes grew more intense, and in a low hum, he said,
“Feel free to text me about anything you’d like. Anything.”
Jordan swallowed hard and pulled his phone free, placing it on the table. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please do.” Rex reached for a fry off of Jordan’s plate, dipping it in ketchup before he popped it into his mouth. “Anyway, I’ve got to get out of here. See you around.”
“Yeah,” Jordan murmured, glancing at the woman standing off to the side of the restaurant. She looked remarkably like Rex with her deep green eyes and wild brown hair.
Rex stood up and straightened his jacket, winking at Jordan before he and the woman headed out. Left alone, he relaxed and took a slow breath, trying to make sense of what had just happened. They’d traded numbers under the guise of Meet Cute Club business, but he wasn’t naive. He and Rex both knew what the real message was.
Anything.
It had been far too long since Jordan had ever felt his heart quicken this much. At the call center, many women had tried their best to flirt, but when he eventually told them the truth—that they were beautiful, but barking up the wrong tree—the flattery stopped. If he were being honest, he couldn’t remember the last time a man had made his interest this apparent.
Sure, Jordan didn’t get out of the house much, but he’d tried his hand at various dating apps. None of the matches had lasted longer than a few weeks and a number of traded pictures. Besides, what did he need to talk to other men for? If they didn’t make him feel as giddy as the latest Maureen Phisher romance did, what was the point?
Still, Jordan would be lying if he said Rex’s forwardness was a complete turnoff.
Rex’s intentions were clear, and Jordan wasn’t sure how to proceed. Rather than figuring it out, he reached for his phone on the table and scrolled through his contacts. He didn’t find Rex’s name anywhere in the R section. Confused, he went through every name again. It wasn’t until he got to the Ys that he saw a new contact.
“’Your New Favorite’,” he read aloud. Jordan couldn’t help but laugh. Rex Bailey. The cockiest bastard Jordan had met in all twenty-six of his years living in Sweet Rose. He put his phone away and tried to read his book again, but every thought returned to Rex.
He hated himself for falling for Rex’s charms, but damn if they didn’t feel good.
Four
“Sherleen Jackson,” Jordan said to the woman working the front desk of Garden Views Assisted Living. Jordan had almost been surprised when he stepped up and was asked his name. Any other time he visited his grandmother, the receptionist told him to just head inside. The brunette behind the desk must have been new.
“Ah, there she is,” she said, typing on her computer quickly. “She’s in room 308.”
“Perfect, thank you.”
Of course, he was well aware which room his grandmother was staying in, but it wasn’t worth pointing out. If this new woman lasted long, she’d eventually get accustomed to seeing him around anyway. Jordan maneuvered through the winding halls of the building, slipping around staff members and residents as they hurried back and forth.
When he reached 308, he knocked rhythmically, letting the woman inside know exactly who he was. A moment later, the door swung open, and he was greeted with the glowing face of his favorite grandmother in the world.
“There my baby is,” she said, pulling him into a hug with surprising strength. “I was starting to wonder if you were gonna come today.” She situated him on the sofa and had a glass of sweet tea in his hands before he could even blink.
“Sorry about being so late, Grams. I was on the phone with my boss all morning.”
“What’d he want?”
“Same old. Telling me I need to do better and work harder,” Jordan muttered. “He wants me to take on more responsibilities at work but isn’t willing to pay me more.”
This had been a point of contention between him and his job for the past few weeks. Every time he started getting used to the additional tasks he was taking on, Jordan’s managers threw something else at him. He was working accounts that they were supposed to be dealing with on top of the ever-growing queue of customers needing his help with tech support. Whenever he’d bring up the topic of a raise, they’d change the subject, and he was getting quite sick of being jerked around.
Sherleen sucked her teeth and shook her head. “That’s just like some corporate bitches to try and play you like that. Don’t let these white men punk you, Jordan, you hear me? Put your foot down and tell them no.”
He smiled bashfully. Grams’ vulgarity was one of his favorite defining traits about her. “Yes, ma’am.”
She reached over and gave his hand a light squeeze. As she opened her mouth to say something else, the oven timer dinged. Reaching for her cane, Sherleen crossed the room and slipped on an oven mitt.
“What’s that?” Jordan asked.
“Well,” she said, bending over to pull out a tray of muffins. “You remember that handsome man I told you about a few weeks ago? The one that volunteers every now and then?”
Jordan thought back to their conversation earlier. “The one that looks like he could be Terry Crews’ son?”
“That’s him. Powell Robertson. He’s been coming by and giving me new recipes to try out, and I’m starting to feel like Black Betty Crocker out here.”
Ever since he’d first started volunteering, Sherleen brought up Powell whenever she could. She waxed poetic about his rich brown skin and his perfect cheekbones and full lips. There were times Jordan wondered if this was just a bit of banter between them, or if she was considering going full-on cougar. There was also the possibility that she was trying
to set him and Powell up. He wasn’t sure which option was worse.
Sherleen held up one of the muffins. “Try this.”
Jordan stepped into the kitchen and took the warm muffin Sherleen handed him. When he bit down, he was immediately hit with the cranberry flavor, and his eyes went wide. Before he knew it, he’d already eaten half of it. “Jesus,” he said.
Sherleen gave him a stern look, and he quickly apologized for taking His name in vain. “That’s not even the best recipe he’s given me, either. I think he’s trying to fatten me up so none of these other men want me except for him.” She waggled her brow suggestively.
“Oh, so Powell’s your boyfriend now, is he?”
“Not yet, but wait until I show him the secret recipe I’ve got for him.”
“Grams!”
The two of them quickly dissolved into a fit of laughter, Jordan shaking his head at just how explicit she was being. Clearly, she was on one. After they put away the muffins, Jordan helped her clean up some of the dishes. While he washed, she dried and stored them in the cabinets. They were a well-oiled machine.
It was times like these that reminded Jordan of just how good he had it. It might not have been much to others, but these little things, like singing Teena Marie songs with his grandmother and cleaning up around the house, reminded him that he knew how to have fun outside of historical fiction and family sagas, Tony and Carla be damned, he thought.
By the time they were finished, it was nearly eleven, and Jordan unfortunately had to go. “Do you mind if I take a few of these with me?” he asked, gesturing to a plastic bowl filled with muffins. Sherleen waved her hand lazily.
“Take all you want, baby. My blood sugar’s been pretty bad lately.”
An ice bath of panic ran down the back of Jordan’s neck. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said with the same level of interest she’d given the muffins. “Nurse says I just need to watch what I eat. I say that old ugly bitch needs to mind her business.”
“Grams, be nice,” he warned. Jordan was relieved to hear that it was nothing serious. She was all he had left, and he didn’t care if he had to eat every last sweet in the place or have a long, hard chat with this Powell man, he wasn’t going to lose her too.
“You be nice,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You heading out?”
“Yeah, I have to get ready for my book club.”
“Oh yeah, Saturdays. How’s that going, by the way?”
He shrugged with one shoulder. “Fine. There’s this new guy…”
The mention of a man in Jordan’s life was the flame to Sherleen’s moth-like attention, and she turned to face him, an eager grin spreading across her face. Her brown eyes practically gleamed. “A man? What’s his name?”
It was still strange, having these conversations with Sherleen. All her life, she’d used derogatory names and harped on his parents for not putting him in more “masculine” activities like sports. She’d grown up in a different time with different views, and though that wasn’t an excuse, to her credit, she’d listened when he finally unloaded all of the internalized pain she’d caused him. It took years for her to not just wave off all her actions, but they were in a better place because of everything.
“I’d love to stay and chat, but…” Jordan tapped the watch he wasn’t wearing and made his way to the door.
“Boy, if you don’t get your narrow ass back—”
“Bye, Grams! Love you forever, I’ll call you later tonight!” He closed the door behind him and hurried back to his car before she could grab her cane and chase after him. Not only did he avoid being hit, but he also avoided having the conversation about who or what Rex was to him.
On paper, they were nothing.
They were members of the same club. They read the same books. They occasionally sent each other memes at three in the morning and then pretended they didn’t know each other after sunrise. It was nothing to write home about, and it was certainly not something Patricia Hayes or Jacquie Montgomery would ever find worthy of putting in their books.
Did his heartbeat suddenly skyrocket when Your New Favorite popped up on his screen? Maybe. Maybe mind your business, too.
Jordan knew not to expect much from this, deep down in his heart. He’d been around guys like Rex. They were fun for a while, but they never committed. Romantic nomads, bouncing from one guy’s DMs to the next. He was just having fun. That was all.
Seriously.
Jordan made it home with thirty minutes left to spare before Meet Cute Club started. It was prep time. He ran all over the house, same as he did every weekend, perfecting the place and making it as welcoming as he could. While he fluffed all the pillows and laid out the prettiest muffins on the table, he fought back the self-doubt nagging in the back of his mind.
He wasn’t sure how many more meetings they’d have, and the act of not knowing always made him uncomfortable. Jordan needed to be in control, at all times, and with their membership slowly dwindling with every passing month, things weren’t looking great.
Scolding himself, Jordan clenched his fists at his side. No. No more negativity. Even if he’d eventually have to put an end to all of this, he was going to enjoy the now. That’s what life was about. Not living every day with one foot in tomorrow. He wanted to stand firmly in the moment.
As usual, Lana was first, strolling in with dragon queen-tier bleach blonde hair. Jordan nearly choked when he saw her.
“Oh my god,” he exclaimed. “You look amazing.”
Her saunter was exaggerated as she walked to the living room. “Decided to try a new hairstylist, and she convinced me to try a new look. Plus, now that it’s blonde, I can dye it any color when I eventually get bored of all this.”
Lana may not have been all that reliable, but Jordan admired her willingness to go with the flow and follow wherever her desires took her. For him, everything needed to be neat and pretty. If he lacked any kind of order, he found that his stress levels got even worse, and with high blood pressure running in his family, he made sure to keep his health a priority.
The meeting began at exactly noon. Jordan was surprised to see that Rex had made it on time. He’d expected Rex to show up near the end of the meeting, not at all committed to actually being there. He ignored the urge to simply stare at Rex from across the room and stood up, starting off the meeting.
“Thanks for being here today, everyone!” he said, looking around the room at the other members. “I’ve been really excited to talk about The Duke’s Deadly Bride all week.”
“Me too!” Gloria said, nodding. “Jennifer really outdid herself on this one. I mean, that twist at the end? Probably the best thing I’ve read all year.”
And so began the discussion of their latest book. Gloria went on and on about how well-paced this book was compared to Jennifer’s last release, and Jordan had to agree that she had a point. A Duel of Dukes was steamier, but it didn’t have the same kind of oomph that Jennifer’s other books did. Madeline chimed in to say that it was nice seeing a Black character that wasn’t treated terribly or just outright ignored.
As their conversations tripped over one another, Jordan couldn’t help but notice how quiet Rex had been all afternoon. He’d nodded in agreement, but despite his love of getting on Jordan’s nerves, he hadn’t said much of anything.
“What about you, Rex? Did you like the book?”
“I did,” he said, glancing at the others. “It’s…kind of the first romance book I’ve read, so I have nothing to compare it to. It wasn’t that bad, though.”
Satisfaction warmed Jordan, and he smiled confidently. “Hey, ‘not that bad’ is a step up from the other things you said.”
“I’m making progress,” Rex replied facetiously. Despite his grumping and complaining, Jordan was pleased that he’d actually finished the book in its entirety. The man he’d met at Millerstone wouldn’t have touched one of these books, let alone read it through.
When the convers
ation branched off and the members talked amongst themselves, Jordan rose from his seat and headed into the kitchen for refills. He had a hard time keeping the grin off his face as he brought out more muffins. This was what he needed. The stress of work and the impending doom that might fall upon Meet Cute Club had kept him from enjoying the good things he had going on for him.
“Do I get a gold sticker for finishing this thing?” Rex asked when Jordan took a seat across from him.
“Not until you do all your other chores, like taking out the trash and making your bed,” Jordan replied coolly, though his words lacked any bite. He knew what Rex was doing, trying to distance himself from the fact that he’d read Duke’s.
“That hardly seems fair.”
“I can pull an Elizabeth and tell you that men shouldn’t be rewarded for doing what’s required of them.” Jordan raised an eyebrow, challenging him. One thing he’d loved about the book was how Elizabeth rarely took any of Hawthorne’s shit.
“And do you remember what happened immediately after that scene, Jordan?”
Jordan flushed. He recalled desperately flying through those pages, devouring their love scene despite how innuendo-heavy and vague it had been. “I remember.”
“So, if you’re Elizabeth and I’m Hawthorne, that means—”
“Would you look at the time?” Lana said, glancing at her phone. “I’ve got to get out of here, but I’ll text you guys later! Can’t wait to start Deadly Lovely Mine.”
Charles nodded and said, “Yes! That one sounds really good.”
Soon after Lana left, the others decided to head out as well. Jordan stood by the door, thanking each of the members for coming and wishing them a safe drive home. When he turned around, Rex stood in the living room with his gaze aimed right at him. Jordan swallowed hard.