Love, Exes, and Ohs (Cactus Creek #4)(29)

But it didn’t come.

Instead, she made a showing of eying the clouds. “Hey look. It looks like rain.”

The weather? She wanted to discuss the weather?

His exasperated look finally made her crack a smile. “What’s with you the last few days? Normally, you’re unshakeable. Mr. Cool & Collected.”

He cast her a heavy sidelong glance before passing her the dumplings and tea. “Yeah, well, lately you’ve been managing to unhinge me with shockingly little effort, so you can blame yourself for my behavior the past few days.”

She hesitated for exactly half a second before snagging the dumplings and taking a big bite, sighing happily, the tea clutched to her chest like a Hobbit ring.

He grinned. And just barely resisted the urge to tell her, ‘I-told-you-so.’”

“So are we going to have that talk now?” he asked when the food and tea began doing its magic on her mood.

“Is that a part of the perfect date and perfect sex plan?”

He couldn’t have named those better himself. “I didn’t plan last night—the date yes, but not anything else.”

She nodded her head. “I believe that. Even with this new flirty, dommy dwarf thing you have going on, you’re still nice and serious dwarf.”

Chuckling, he settled back against the bench. “Now we’re getting somewhere. So tell me your date’s flaws. C’mon, lay it on me.”

She popped a crispy little Asian pastry in her mouth and studied him while she ate. Then with a candid smile, she shrugged and began ticking off a list between bites. “He hums a lot—the most atrociously bad songs, at that—during the oddest of times. Drives me crazy.” She began counting off with her fingers. “He plays fantasy football like he’s the commissioner of the NFL, he can’t sit still in a movie to save his life, and he always wants to hold my hand.”

At the reminder, he reached over to do just that, ending a year-long drought of the intimacy by pulling said hand up to brush his lips over her knuckles. It thrilled him to no end to see her mouth curve up unconsciously in pleasure.

But her frown came back soon after. “Isaac, as much as I want to, we can’t go back.”

He looked at her in utter seriousness. “Who says I want to go back? I love our friendship now. Wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“So we agree.”

“Not at all. I don’t see why we can’t be together and be friends. Just give us a chance, Xo.”

“But what happens if it doesn’t work out again? I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you as a best friend anymore.”

Leaning over to cup her cheek, he held her gaze to make sure she was hearing him when he promised, “If we did break up again, I’d fight even harder than I did the first time for us to stay friends. I don’t ever want to lose you either.”

Her voice sounded torn down the middle. “I admit what we had last night was incredible, but I’m being deadly serious when I say I would take your friendship for the rest of my life over a thousand of those nights. I’m not willing to risk the possibility of losing you forever.”

He fell silent and processed that. “But—?

“Please, don’t try to persuade me to change my mind because if last night is any indication, you might end up succeeding.”

He brushed his lips against her hand again, her palm this time. “What I was going to say is, what if you didn’t have to choose? If you could keep the friendship and have the perfect dates and perfect sex?”

She frowned. “You mean as in friends with benefits?”

“Sort of. More like friends with ‘unalienable rights.’” He grinned, knowing she would appreciate his use of her own words in his argument.

She did. And it gave him some leeway. “What kind of rights?”

“The right to kiss each other whenever we want. The right not to try to impress each other when we’re together with hair products, or fancy clothes, or clothes in general.”

A half-smile twitched at her lips.

“The right,” he continued, “to be a…let’s go with ‘grouch’ when an MMA ring girl shoves her boobs in my face.”

She was back to frowning—rather ferociously at that—when she countered with, “And the right to sabotage my dates?”

“No,” he growled.

That made her shoot her gaze up to meet his in surprise.

“No other dates. We’d exercise the right to be happy just with each other.”

She sighed. “Isaac, what you’re describing is a relationship.”

“No, not a new one at least. I’m just expanding the scope of our existing one. It won’t affect our friendship. The very second it does, we’ll stop.” He looked into her eyes, refusing to back down. “Do you really see it being all that different, Xo? We see each other most mornings, talk before bed most nights. Now we get to have sex on top of that. I don’t see a downside here.”

He was wearing her down, he could see it.

“Honestly, I’ve never been able to have that sort of relationship with someone. The sex…it complicates things.”

“Okay then, no sex,” he compromised easily. “No full benefits, just...partial ones.” He grinned.