How to Fail at Flirting(86)
“Agreed.” I laughed, and he took the glass, planting a playful kiss along my jawline. “How is the happy couple?”
“Eric loves having his photo taken—he’s in heaven. Tyson loves Eric and is tolerating it. I was released into your care,” he said breezily, and I wondered if some alcohol was part of the wedding planner’s technique for cajoling wedding parties.
“I’ll do my best to keep an eye on you.”
“I’ll keep an eye on you, too,” Jake said with a boyish grin, setting the glass aside and wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Worried I’ll get ornery?” I asked, wrapping my other arm around him.
“I like it when you’re ornery.” He planted a quick kiss on my lips and tasted like champagne. We swayed to the music playing from across the lawn, and his grip tightened on my waist. “But I like you all the time.” He flashed a smile again. “Except when you leave dishes in the sink instead of putting them in the dishwasher right away. We’re gonna fight about that.”
“That, and how you squeeze from the middle of the toothpaste tube.” I rubbed my hands over his shoulders.
“And the toilet paper should roll from the top—”
“You’re always going to be wrong about this. Bottom.”
“I can’t wait.”
“You can’t wait to fight?”
Jake gripped me tighter and lowered me into a playful dip. “I like making up with you.”
I can’t wait, either.
“Hey, cut it out. Way too much PDA,” Tyson said from behind us as he and Eric approached, hands clasped.
“That’s impossible,” Jake returned, smiling at the couple and dropping his lips to mine. “How can I not publicly display my affection for this beautiful woman?”
I gave both grooms hugs. Tyson had warmed up to me once Jake and I reconnected, though I was back on thin ice for taking his best friend a thousand miles away. I kissed him on the cheek.
I gestured around the space. “The ceremony was so beautiful. I cried.”
“I knew you would,” Jake said, pulling me to his side.
“It turned out well,” Eric said in a rare moment of humility about this event he’d been planning for a year. “And the cake looks good,” he said, taking Tyson’s hand.
Tyson stretched to bump fists with Jake. “All those tastings were worth it.”
“If you say so,” Jake countered. “It meant a lot of extra time at the gym and every baker in the city thinking we were a couple.”
“That one woman who insisted we practice feeding each other!” Tyson’s face lit up when he laughed like that.
Jake shared his laugh. “Hey, I was willing to play along so you could practice.”
“I know how bad your aim is, man. The cake would have ended up on my shoulder or the hood of my car.” Tyson turned to Eric, and his smile softened. “Besides, there’s only one person I ever plan to share my cake with.” He pulled Eric to him with an adoring expression. “So, no practice necessary.”
Eric beamed at his new husband before addressing me. “And you’ve been warned about Jake’s potential bad aim, Nay,” Eric said. “If you bring him cake tasting for your wedding, maybe bring a poncho.”
I chuckled but eyed Jake nervously, though he was exchanging a look with Tyson I couldn’t read. I never wanted to push, knowing how badly his marriage to Gretchen had ended. We were happy the way things were. We planned to be together, had vaguely discussed starting a family, but I honestly didn’t know if he wanted to be married again, and I was okay with that.
When the grooms were pulled away by Tyson’s grandmother, I asked Jake, “What’s up with them trying to push us down the aisle?”
He bent his head to my ear, his warm breath on the delicate skin behind my earlobe, and whispered, “I was thinking we’d pick the cake together.”
I turned abruptly and looked up at him in surprise, my eyebrow raised. “What?”
“I have experience now, but you love cake more than anyone I know.” Jake circled his arms around my waist again, and I tried to decide if he was joking or proposing, scrutinizing his grin.
He must have seen the question in my face. “Oh, I’m not asking you to marry me, if that’s what that face means.”
“Good to know.” I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I didn’t bring the ring with me, so you’ll have to wait and see what I have planned.”
My jaw dropped, and I again tried to read his tipsy expression.
He waggled his eyebrows and planted a playful kiss on my mouth, my face still turned up in surprise. “Don’t worry. For now, I can’t wait to fight about the toothpaste, check things off our list, fall asleep with you every night, and wake up with you every morning.”
Sounds good to me.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Naya found her happily ever after at the end of a long and winding road. If you or someone you love is, or may be, experiencing intimate partner violence, information and resources are available nationally and through agencies in your local area when you’re in a safe place to access them.
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE
thehotline.org espanol.thehotline.org