He slid into the booth beside me, his arm wrapping around my shoulders as he leaned in and kissed me. “Hey, sweetheart.”
I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in deeper, giving him a hard kiss like I hadn’t seen him in months. I didn’t care about the guys sitting across from us, and I kissed him longer than I should for being in a public place.
Did I give a damn? Nope.
But he was totally into it, smiling as he kissed me, like he loved all the attention.
When I pulled away, I looked back at the guys. Matt stared with wide eyes like he enjoyed the front-row show.
Charlie kept drinking his beer and looking across the bar as if he hadn’t noticed anything.
“What were you guys talking about?” Dax pulled his arm from my shoulders and rested his hand on my thigh. His long fingers gave my leg a possessive and masculine squeeze, making me feel like I was still all his even when the kissing stopped.
I gave a blunt answer. “Our bomb-as-fuck sex.”
A slight smile moved onto his lips, like he was a little embarrassed but also flattered that I was praising him to my friends. “I hope I came off well.”
“Definitely,” Matt blurted.
“It certainly made Charlie jealous.” I looked at my best friend, who was still staring across the bar.
He let out a deep sigh before he drank from his beer. “Hopefully, I won’t have to be jealous much longer…”
“What’s going to happen with that?” Matt had stopped obsessing over Dax and his excellent bedroom skills and shifted to a different subject, one I’d rather avoid. “So, she’s even seen their mutual attraction with her own eyes. Does that mean she accepts it?”
Charlie finally turned his gaze back to us, participating in the conversation once again.
Dax waved down the waitress and ordered himself a scotch, his hand on my thigh the entire time, making it clear to anyone who watched that he was off the market for good.
I gave an exaggerated shrug. “Dude, I don’t know…” This drama had nothing to do with me, but somehow, I was in the center of it. It was exhausting, borderline childish, because I felt like I was in high school again. “Bottom line, this is always going to be hard for her, and I don’t know what to do about it. There’s no clear answer, you know?”
Charlie didn’t have much of a reaction, but he released a long and quiet sigh, his eyes dropping with his mood. “I don’t mean to sound like an ass, but she needs to get over it.”
I took a drink of my wine before I looked at him. “I agree, but that was an asshole way of putting it.”
“Don’t you think she should know the truth?” Matt turned to look at Charlie. “Remember the first time you told me how you felt about Denise? You said you felt like shit, but there was nothing you could do to stop it. It was mushy-mushy bullshit, and that’s saying something coming from a gay man.”
Charlie gave me a hard look.
Matt turned back to me. “Maybe we should just tell her. She would understand the significance of the situation and know this is really important to Charlie. And if she ever loved him, she would want him to be happy.”
I knew it was more complicated than that because her heart was on the line. “How would you feel if the person you were in love with left you because they found love with somebody else? That was the mysterious reason your relationship ended? Yes, I think it would be exactly what she needs to hear to move on, but think of the cost. Think of the way it will make her feel. It’s…cruel.”
Dax started to rub my thigh through my jeans, silently comforting me because he knew this was hard to endure. I didn’t want my best friend to be crushed, and I didn’t want my other best friend to be miserable.
Matt gave a shrug. “I guess I’m biased because Charlie is my best friend and I want him to have whatever he wants. I care about Kat too, obviously, but…I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his mood turning sour like Charlie’s.
Charlie rested his hand on top of his glass and looked down at the golden liquid inside. “I did everything I could to protect her from getting hurt, kept as much integrity as I could through the process because I did love her, and a part of me always will, but I can’t make any more sacrifices for my happiness. I waited long enough to pursue what I really want. I can’t put any more time on hold for somebody else. Maybe that makes me sound like a jerk, but I don’t care anymore.”
I was literally in the middle of this whole ordeal, the nucleus that pulled everything close together. I could just step aside and let Charlie figure it out, but I suspected it would break hearts on the way. I wanted my hands to remain clean, but not if it caused more pain.
He spoke again. “How would you feel if this were you and Dax? That the only man you really want is off-limits because Kat used to date him?”
If I couldn’t have Dax, it would be unbearable. Now that I’d allowed myself to really feel again, I’d realized how deeply I’d fallen for him.
Charlie stared at me, silently telling me exactly what he wanted me to do.
I dropped my gaze down to my glass and stared at the red wine that warmed my stomach as I sipped it. “Fine…”
Dax turned to me, slightly confused by my statement.
Charlie angled his body away. “Thank you.”
“What just happened?” Dax asked, his eyes moving back and forth between Charlie and me.
Matt answered. “They just did one of the weird telepathic things they do.” He pointed at his eyes then pointed between us. “You know, talking without actually talking.”
Charlie directed his gaze to Dax. “She’s going to tell Kat the truth.”
I released a quiet sigh. “And I’m not looking forward to it at all.”
We watched the game in the living room, enjoying slices of pizza and beer.
Dax had already become one of the guys, fitting into our group so perfectly, even if we weren’t seeing each other.
“You can’t be serious.” Dax sat forward with his arms on his knees, looking at Charlie in the armchair. “He’s not the best quarterback in football history. A couple Super Bowl rings don’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things.”
Charlie fired back. “But there’re a lot of teams that have never won a Super Bowl ring, and that means a lot.” He pointed at Dax with the neck of his bottle before he turned back to the television.
Jeremy and Matt sat together on the other couch, cuddled close as they drank their beers and relaxed.
Dax shook his head. “I don’t agree. I think there’re a lot of other quarterbacks who have more talent.”
“The guy is pushing forty,” Charlie countered. “Most guys retire in their early thirties, if not before.”
Dax continued to disagree. “Not quarterbacks. I still think the guy’s overrated.” He turned back to the game and watched the TV.
I sat beside him, and with my hand across his thigh, I gave him a gentle squeeze that told him I didn’t care to listen to him argue about football with my best friend.
That immediately got his attention.
He turned back to me, showing a special look in his eyes that he only gave to me, like I was the morning light at dawn. “I’m not paying enough attention to you, am I?”